> 


IOWA 


AND 


THE   REBELLION. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   TROOPS   FURNISHED  BY  THE   STATE 

OF  IOWA  TO  THE  VOLUNTEER  ARMIES  OF  THE 

UNION,  WHICH  CONQUERED  THE  GREAT 

SOUTHERN  REBELLION  OF  1861-5. 


BY 

LUKTON   DUNHAM   INGEKSOLL. 


PHILADELPHIA 
J.    B.    LIPPINCOTT    &    CO. 

DUBUQUE  :  B.  M.  HAEGER. 

1866. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1866,  by 

LURTON  DUNHAM  INGERSOLL, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  District  of  lot 


MRS.  S.  S.  MONTAGUE 


WESTCOTT   &   THOMSON, 
Stereotypers, 

PHILADELPHIA. 


IN  MEMORY 


JOSEPH  HENRY  INGERSOLL 

MY     ONLY     BROTHER 

A.  :PRIVATE  SOLDIER,  OF  THE  TJNIO^ST 

SERVING  WITH 

THE  ELEVENTH  OHIO  BATTERY 

AND    SLAIN   AT  THE   BATTLE   OF    IUKA. 

L.  D.  I 


! 17173 


PREFATORY  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 


THE  following  work  was  first  entered  upon  a  little  more  than  four  years  ago.  The 
fine  achievement  of  the  Second  Iowa  Volunteers,  at  Fort  Donelson,  following  up  the 
admirable  conduct  of  the  Iowa  First  at  Wilson's  Creek,  of  the  Third  at  Blue  Mills 
Landing,  and  of  the  Seventh  at  Belmont,  impelled  me  to  think  that  the  State  could 
scarcely  help  making  a  fine  record  in  the  war  of  the  Union.  I  at  once  began  to  direct 
my  studies  to  military  works,  and  to  collect  materials  for  the  volume  now  offered  to 
the  public,  then,  of  course,  but  rudely  blocked  out  in  my  mind. 

First  of  all  am  I  indebted  to  the  reports  of  the  Adjutant-General  of  the  State,  which 
are  universally  acknowledged  to  be  more  full  and  complete  than  those  of  any  State  in 
the  Union,  Maine  alone  excepted.  Meritorious  works  of  a  general  nature  having 
much  bearing  upon  the  events  here  treated  of  are  rare.  But  I  acknowledge  obligations 
to  the  first  volume  of  Horace  Greeley's  History  of  the  Rebellion,  which  gives  promise 
of  being  the  most  candid,  philosophical,  and  entertaining  historical  essay  which  "these 
latter  years"  have  produced,-  to  the  Rebellion  Record;  to  Colonel  S.  M.  Bowman  and 
Lieutenant-Colonel  R.  B.  Irwin's,  "  Sherman  and  his  Campaigns ;"  to  the  United  States 
Service  Magazine,  a  most  valuable  publication ;  to  Harper's  New  Monthly  Magazine, 
but  not  to  the  articles  by  Mr.  John  S.  C.  Abbott,  which  are  for  the  most  part  the 
sketches  of  a  too  lively  imagination ;  to  the  Army  and  Navy  Journal  (which,  pub 
lished  in  volumes,  may  be  well  enough  classed  among  works  of  a  general  nature)  that 
has  contained  more  downright  reliable  information  upon  the  operations  of  our  armies 
than  can  at  this  time  be  found  elsewhere. 

Jomini,  perhaps  with  biographical  accuracy,  makes  Napoleon  speak  contemptuously 
of  the  press.  He  would  not  have  done  it,  had  he  lived  in  this  day  and  generation. 
In  the  columns  of  the  daily  journals  of  our  great  cities  have  appeared  finer  accounts 
of  the  battles  and  campaigns  of  the  late  war,  than  can  be  found  of  the  battles  and 
campaigns  of  old  in  all  the  pages  of  classical  literature.  I  may  have  a  bias  of  profes 
sional  feeling,  but  I  confess  the  deepest  obligations  to  the  leaders  and  letters  of  the 
New  York  Tribune,  Times,  and  Post;  Forney's  Philadelphia  Press;  the  Gazette  and 
Commercial,  of  Cincinnati;  the  Tribune  and  Journal,  of  Chicago;  the  Democrat,  of 
St.  Louis;  the  Republican,  Chronicle,  and  Intelligencer,  of  Washington.  But  I  am 
still  more  indebted  to  the  press  of  Iowa.  Mr.  F.  W.  Palmer,  of  the  State  Register ; 
Mr.  John  Mahin,  of  the  Muscatine  Journal ;  Mr.  Edward  Russell,  of  the  Davenport 
Gazette;  Mr.  J.  B.  Howell  and  Mr.  S.  M.  Clark,  of  the  Keokuk  Gate  City;  Mr.  Edmund 
Booth,  of  the  Anamosa  Eureka;  Mr.  A.  R.  Wickersham,  of  the  Washington  Press;  Mr. 
N.  H.  Brainard,  of  the  Iowa  City  Republican ;  the  Brothers  H.  A.  and  George  D.  Per 
kins,  of  the  Cedar  Falls  Gazette;  Mr.  A.  B.  F.  Hildreth,  of  the  Charles  City  Intelli 
gencer;  Dr.  Charles  Beardsley,  formerly  of  the  Oskaloosa  Herald,  now  of  the  Burling- 

5 


6  PREFATORY     ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 

ton  Ilawk-Eye ;  Mr.  J.  K.  L.  Maynard,  of  the  Waverly  Phoenix ;  Hon.  B.  F.  Gue,  of  the 
Fort  Dodge  Northwest;  Mr.  C.  S.  Wilson,  of  the  Pella  Blade;  Captain  James  JEL 
Knox,  of  the  Indianola  Visitor;  Mr.  W.  S.  Peterson,  of  the  Dubuque  Times;  Mr.  W. 
S.  Burke,  of  the  Council  Bluffs  Nonpareil,  have  personally  aided  me  in  the  collection 
of  materials,  whilst  their  editorials  and  the  letters  they  have  printed  from  the  army 
have  been  of  great  value  to  me  in  my  labors.  I  am  indebted  also  to  the  correspond 
ence  of  the  Dubuque  Herald  (especially  when  Mr.  Frank  Wilkie  was  writing  for  it,  in 
the  early  part  of  the  war),  Davenport  Democrat,  and  every  Republican  weekly  jour 
nal  of  the  State,  without  a  single  exception,  and  to  a  number  of  Democratic  journals, 
for  many  valuable  facts.  The  army  correspondence  of  the  Iowa  papers  was  remark 
ably  good.  Many  letters  appeared  in  their  columns,  which  would  have  done  honor  to 
the  best  correspondents  of  our  metropolitan  dailies. 

But  I  have  had  much  manuscript  authority — diaries,  narratives,  letters.  For  some 
regiments,  I  have  had  much  fuller  materials  of  this  sort  than  I  was  able  to  procure 
for  others,  but  I  can  safely  say  that  I  have  made  no  statement  of  fact  touching  any  of 
our  regiments  which  cannot  be  substantiated  by  evidence  in  my  possession.  For 
these  original  authorities  I  am  under  obligations  to  Goodsil  Buckingham,  of  the  First 
Regiment,  for  the  loan  of  his  spicy  diary;  to  Colonels  Weaver  and  Howard,  and  Major 
Ham  ill,  of  the  Second;  to  Captain  Daniel  E.  Cooper,  of  the  Fourth;  to  Adjutant  S. 
II.  M.  Byers,  of  the  Fifth;  Adjutant  W.  W.  Sapp,  of  the  Seventh;  Adjutant  Charles 
Mackenzie,  of  the  Ninth,  (who  gave  me  a  fine  history  of  that  regiment  and  a  fine 
rcaiimf  of  the  general  operations  of  the  armies  with  which  he  served) ;  Captain  A.  M. 
Head,  of  the  Tenth;  Major  A.  J.  Pope,  of  the  Thirteenth;  Surgeon  George  M.  Staples, 
of  the  Fourteenth;  Lieutenant-Colonel  Pomutz,  of  the  Fifteenth,  (from  whom  I  had 
several  hundred  pages  of  manuscript  and  many  drawings);  Adjutant  Fletcher  Wool- 
Bey,  of  the  Seventeenth ;  J.  Irvin  Duncan,  of  the  Nineteenth ;  Adjutant  Taylor  Pierce, 
of  the  Twenty-second ;  Captain  James  F.  Goolman,  of  the  Twenty-third ;  Lieutenant 
Thaddeus  L.  Smith,  of  the  Twenty-fourth;  Captain  John  N.  Bell,  of  the  Twenty-fifth; 
Adjutant  Joseph  Lyman,  of  the  Twenty-ninth  ;  Musician  A.  F,  Sperry,  of  the  Thirty- 
third;  Lieutenant  T.  L.  Dilley,  of  the  Thirty -fourth ;  Sergeant-Major  William  H. 
Caldwell,  of  the  Thirty-sixth;  Adjutant  David  H.  Goodno,  of  the  Gray-Beard  Regi 
ment  ;  Captain  0.  F.  Avery,  of  the  Thirty-eighth ;  Adjutant  L.  A.  Duncan,  of  the 
Fortieth  ;  Captain  T.  W.  Burdick,  of  the  Sixth  Cavalry ;— to  all  these  am  I  greatly 
indebted  for  many  pages  of  manuscript,  which  have  been  of  great  value.  I  am  also 
under  obligations  to  other  men  and  officers  who  have  most  kindly  replied  to  inquiries, 
ao  that  the  aggregate  of  my  manuscript  authorities  for  this  work  numbers  not  less 
than  five  thousand  pages.  I  confess  peculiar  obligations  to  Surgeon  Frederick  Lloyd, 
now  Secretary  of  the  State  Historical  Society,  and  editor  of  the  Annals,  and  who  is 
one  of  the  best  of  doctors  and  wittiest  of  men.  William  Reynolds,  Jr.,  of  Iowa  City, 
with  a  generosity  which  cannot  be  too  highly  praised,  drew  the  plans  of  battles  which 
illustrate  the  work,  "without  money  and  without  price,"  and  in  a  manner  which  it 
would  be  difficult  to  excel.  Lieutenant-Colonel  George  B.  Corkhill,  of  the  Pay  Depart 
ment,  placed  at  my  disposal  a  large  number  of  maps,  which  were  of  great  use.  I  beg 
to  return  hearty  thanks  also  to  Generals  Townsend  and  Nichols,  of  the  Adjutant- 
(MMicral'.-  nfii,..-  at  Washington,  and  to  Colonel  George  Thorn,  of  the  Engineers,  for 
favors  most  kindly  granted. 

Nor  can  I  think  it  unbecoming  to  state  that  my  wife  has  rendered  me  great  assist 
ance.  The  many  lists  of  killed  and  wounded  which  appear  in  the  work  have  been 
copied  by  her,  and  in  other  ways  she  has  lightened  the  labors,  and,  by  sensible  advice, 
and  generous  revision,  mollified  and  smoothed  down  the  constitutional  pugnacity  of 

IOWA  CITY,  February  22rf,  1866.  THE  AUTHOR. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

FIRST  IOWA  VOLUNTEER   INFANTRY. 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION— The  Attack  of  Traitors  on  Fort  Sumter— The  Nation  Aroused— The  Response 
of  Iowa  to  the  President's  Call  for  Seventy-five  Thousand  Men— The  Organization  of  the 
First  Regiment — Rendezvous  at  Keokuk — Encamp  there — Ordered  to  Report  to  General 
Lyon— March  to  Boonville— To  Southwestern  Missouri— Affair  of  Dug  Springs— McCul- 
lough's  Springs— General  Nathaniel  Lyon— Battle  of  Wilson's  Creek— Retreat  to 
Rolla — Mustered  out 17 


CHAPTER    II. 

SECOND  INFANTRY. 

Organization  at  Keokuk — Samuel  R.  Curtis,  James  M.  Tuttle,  and  M.  M.  Crocker,  the  first  Field 
Officers — Move  to  Western  Missouri — Important  Services  there — At  Bird's  Point — Guard  of 
McDowell  College  Prison— "Dead  Rabbits"— The  Battle  of  Fort  Donelson—The  Iowa 
Second  the  Bravest  of  the  Brave— Battle  of  Shiloh— Siege  of  Corinth— Quiet— March  to 
luka — Battle  of  Corinth — Campaigning  in  Tennessee — Winter  Quarters  at  Pulaski — Reen- 
listment— The  Campaign  of  Atlanta— The  Third  Infantry  Consolidated  with  the  Second— 
The  March  to  Savannah — Through  the  Carolinas — Home 33 


CHAPTER    III. 

THIRD  INFANTRY. 

Organization  and  Rendezvous  at  Keokuk — Ordered  to  Missouri — Active  Operations — Colonel 
Williams— March  from  Mason  City  to  Kirksville— Warfare  by  Proclamation— Various 
Movements — Battle  of  Bhie  Mills  landing — Proceed  to  Leavenworth,  Kansas — 
Quarrel  between  General  Sturgis  and  "Jim  Lane"— Go  to  Quincy,  Illinois  —  Again  in 
Missouri— In  Tennessee— Battle  of  ShiloJi—At  the  Siege  of  Corinth— Memphis— Battle 
of  Matamora — Movements  in  rear  of  Vicksburg — The  "Vicksburg  Campaign  in  1863 — 
General  Sherman's  March  on  Jackson— Desperate  Charge  of  Colonel  Pugh's  Brigade- 
General  Lauman  Relieved — Meridian  Expedition — Campaign  in  East  Tennessee  and 

Georgia— The  Regiment  Consolidated  with  the  Second 52 

7 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    IV. 

FOURTH   INFANTRY. 

PAGE 

Organization  and  Rendezvous  of  the  Regiment  at  Council  Bluffs— March  before  Muster— Drill 
at  St.  Louis — The  Pea  Ridge  Campaign — The  Battle — March  through  Arkansas — Long  stay 
near  Helena—  The  Battle  of  Chickasaiv  Bayou— Sherman  and  McClernand— Arkan 
sas  Post — General  Grant's  Successful  Campaign  against  Vicksburg— The  Second  Capture  of 
Jackson — In  Camp — March  to  the  Relief  of  Chattanooga — The  Battles  there — Battle  of 
Ringgold— The  March  to  "The  Heart  of  the  Confederacy"— To  Savannah— Through  the 
('iii-oll  uas — Home 75 

CHAPTER    V. 

FIFTH   INFANTRY. 

Organization — Mustered  into  the  Service  at  Burlington — March  in  Pursuit  of  "  Mart.  Green" — 
Voyage  to  St.  Louis — Up  the  Missouri  to  Jefferson  City — Fremont's  March  to  Springfield — 
A  Winter  in  Missouri — General  Pope's  Campaign  against  New  Madrid,  Island  No.  Ten,  and 
Fort  Pillow— The  Siugeof  Corinth  under  Halleck— Death  of  Colonel  Worthington— March 
ings  and  Countermarchings — The  Battle  of  luka — Battle  of  Corinth — Pursuit  of  the 
Enemy— March  into  the  Interior  of  Mississippi— Return— The  Vicksburg  Campaign— On 
Garrison  Duty  in  the  City — Move  to  Helena — March  to  Chattanooga,  Tennessee — Combat 
near  Tunnel  Hill — Barefooted  Men  living  on  Parched  Corn — The  Veterans  of  the  Regiment 
Transferred  to  the  Fifth  Iowa  Cavalry 94 

CHAPTER    VI. 
SIXTH   INFANTRY. 

Organization  and  Rendezvous  at  Burlington — Stop  at  Keokuk — Reenforce  Colonel  Moore  at 
Athens,  Missouri— Fremont's  Campaign  to  Springfield— Guard  Duty— Proceed  to  the 
Front — Battle  of  Shiloh — General  Grant's  Unsuccessful  Campaign  in  Mississippi — Garrison 
Duty  at  Mempliis^-Tho  Campaign  against  Vicksburg — The  Siege  of  Jackson — March 
to  Chattanooga,  Tennessee— Battle  of  Missionary  Ridge— Relief  of  Knoxville— Reenlist  and 
Return  to  Iowa — Back  again— General  Sherman's  Atlanta  Campaign — March  to  Savannah — 
Through  the  Caroliuas — Homeward  Bound 112 

CHAPTER    VII. 
SEVENTH   INFANTRY. 

Organization  at  Burlington— Proceed  to  St.  Louis— Pilot  Knob,  Missouri— Cairo,  Illinois- 
Encampment  near  Columbus,  Kentucky— Bird's  Point—  The  Battle  of  Beltnont— 
Ordered  to  Benton  Barracks — Frozen  up  in  the  Mississippi  River — Off  for  the  Front — Fort 
Henry— Fort  Donelson— Shiloh— Siege  of  Corinth— Pursuit  of  the  Enemy— A  Quiet 
Summer— Battle  of  Corinth— A  Year  of  Comparative  Quiet— "  Shebangs"— The  Atlanta 
Campaign— Passage  of  the  Oostanaula  River— The  March  to  Savannah— To  Washington 
City— Mustered  out 128 

CHAPTER     VIII. 

NINTH   INFANTRY. 

The  Regiment  Recruited  by  Hon.  William  Vandever— Rendezvous  at  Dubuque— Departure  for 
St.  Louis — Guarding  Railway — Army  of  the  Southwest — March  to  Arkansas — The  Battle 


CONTENTS.  9 

PAGE 

of  Pea  Ridge — March  across  Arkansas  to  Helena — Quiet — Active  Campaigning  again — 
Chickasaw  Bayou— Arkansas  Post— Attached  to  the  First  Division,  Fifteenth  Army  Corps — 
The  Campaign  of  Vicksburg — Of  Jackson — March  to  Chattanooga,  Tennessee — Battles  of 
Lookout  Mountain,  Missionary  Ridge,  and  Ringgold — Home  on  Veteran  Furlough — The 
Atlanta  Campaign— March  to  Savannah— Through  the  Caroliiias— To  Washington  City- 
Move  to  Louisville,  Kentucky— Home 146 

CHAPTER    IX. 

TENTH   INFANTRY. 

Organization  at  Iowa  City — Move  to  St.  Louis — To  Cape  Girardeau — Winter  Quarters  at  Bird's 
Point — Skirmish  near  Charleston,  Missouri — Campaign  of  New  Madrid — Of  Island  No. 
Ten— Move  to  Vicinity  of  Fort  Pillow— Siege  of  Corinth— Battle  of  luka— Battle  of 
Corinth— Campaign  in  Mississippi— Yazoo  Pass  Expedition— Vicksburg  Campaign— Battle 
of  Champion  Hills— Siege— The  Jackson  Campaign— March  to  Tennessee— Battle  of 
Missionary  Ridge — Home  on  Veteran  Furlough — Return  to  the  Front — March  on  Savan 
nah — Through  the  Carolinas — Move  to  Arkansas — Home 166 

CHAPTER    X. 

TWELFTH   INFANTRY. 

Rendezvous  at  Dubuque— Sickness  at  Benton  Barracks— Fort  Henry— Fort  Donelson— Shiloh— 
The  Regiment  Captured — Brief  Account  of  its  History  in  Captivity — Exchanged — Reor 
ganization—Move  to  Rolla,  Missouri— Join  the  Army  under  Grant  Operating  against 
Vicksburg — Then,  the  Army  of  Observation,  under  Sherman — Siege  of  Jackson — In  Camp 
near  Vicksburg — Veteran  Furlough — Return  to  the  Theatre  of  War — Active  Operations — 
Battle  near  Tupelo,  Mississippi— Two  Companies  of  the  Regiment  Defeat  Four  Hundred 
rebels  at  mouth  of  White  River,  Arkansas— Regiment  Posted  at  Holly  Springs— Severe 
March  through  Arkansas — Campaign  in  Missouri— Move  to  Nashville— Siege  and  Battle— 
The  Mobile  Campaign  under  Canby — Subsequent  History 181 

CHAPTER    XI. 

FOURTEENTH   INFANTRY. 

Organization  in  the  Fall  of  1861— Detachment  sent  on  Frontier  Service— Winter  Quarters— Move 
to  the  Theatre  of  War— Fort  Henry— Battle  of  Fort  Donelson— Battle  of  Shiloh— The 
Regiment  Captured— Reorganization— A  Long  Period  of  Quiet,  at  Columbus,  Kentucky- 
Down  the  Mississippi— The  Meridian  Raid— Sent  to  the  Department  of  the  Gulf— The  Red 
River  Expedition—  Capture  of  Fort  &e  ttussey— Rattle  of  Pleasant  Hill— Retreat- 
Battle  of  Bayou  De  Glaize— Affair  of  Lake  Chicot— Campaigning  East  of  the  Mississippi- 
Battle  of  Tupelo — Of  Old  Town— The  Oxford  Raid— Move  to  Missouri— Surrounded  at  Pilot 
Knob— Remarkable  Retreat  on  Rolla— Pursuit  of  Price— Return  to  Iowa  for  Discharge — 
Mustered  out — The  "Residuary  Battalion" — Colonel  William  T.  Shaw 195 

CHAPTER    XII. 

ELEVENTH    INFANTRY. 

Organized  at  Camp  McClellan— "  Starvation"  Era!— The  Army  Blue— Benton  Barracks— Jeffer 
son  City— First  Campaigning— "  Providence  Deserted"— A  Winter  of  Joy  and  Sadness- 
Move  to  the   Front— Battle  of  Shiloh— Colonel  M.  M.  Crocker— Siege  of  Corinth— Active 
Operations— Battle  of   luka— Battle    of  Corinth— Mississippi    Central    Campaign— Laka 
2 


10  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Providence — Campaign  of  Vicksburg— Expedition  to  Monroe,  Louisiana— Quiet  at  Vicks- 
burg — The  Meridian  Raid — Home  on  Veteran  Furlough — The  Atlanta  Campaign — Nicka- 
jack  Creek — Subsequent  History  of  the  Regiment — Personalities — Disbanded 211 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

THIRTEENTH   INFANTRY. 

Marcellus  M.  Crocker,  the  First  Colonel  of  the  Regiment— Rendezvous  at  Davenport— Armed 
at  St.  Louis — Winter  Quarters  at  Jefferson  City — Move  to  Pittsburg  Landing — Drill — Battle 
of  Shiloh— Siege  of  Corinth— Movements  in  the  Field— Battle  of  Corinth— Campaign  in 
Mississippi — Lake  Providence — A  Small  Canal  and  a  Great  Inundation — Operations  of  the 
Command  during  Siege  of  Vicksburg — "  Crocker's  Greyhounds" — Winter  at  Vicksburg — 
Tli»  Meridian  Raid—"  Thirty  Days  in  Iowa"— Again  at  the  Front— The  Atlanta  Campaign— 
Kenesaw  Mountain— Nickajack  Creek— Battle  of  Atlanta,  July  21st,  1864— The 
Buttle  the  next  Day — Last  Flanking  Movement  of  the  Campaign — Pursuit  of  Hood — 
March  to  the  Sea— To  Washington  City— Mustered  out  at  Louisville— Last  Camp,  at 
Davenport 229 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

FIFTEENTH   INFANTRY. 

Organization  at  Keokuk— Move  to  the  Front— Battle  of  Shiloh— The  Siege  of  Corinth— Quiet— 
A  Midsummer's  Campaign— Battle  of  luka— Battle  of  Corinth— The  Central  Mississippi 
Campaign— Winter  at  "  Memphis  and  Below"— The  Campaigns  of  Vicksburg  and  of  Jack 
son — A  March  in  Hot  Weather — Repose — The  March  to  and  from  Meridian — Home  on 
Veteran  Furlough — Return  to  the  Theatre  of  War — Kenesaw  Mountain  —  Nickajack 
Creek— TJie  Battle  of  Atlanta,  July  22d— The  Siege— The  Last  of  the  Flanking 
Movements — Pursuit  of  Hood — The  Campaign  of  Savannah — "  Slashing  through  the  Caro- 
linas" — At  the  National  Capital — Mustered  out 246 

CHAPTER    XV. 

SIXTEENTH   INFANTRY. 

Organization — Immediately  move  to  the  Theatre  of  War — Battle  of  Shiloh — Reconnoissance  to 
Purdy— Form  Part  of  the  Iowa  Brigade— Siege  of  Corinth— Active  Operations  around  Boli 
var,  Tennessee— Battle  of  luka— Pursuit  of  Price— Battle  of  Corinth— Pursuit  of  the 
Rebels — The  Central  Mississippi  Campaign — Return  to  Tennessee — Move  to  Louisiana — The 
Campaign  of  Vicksburg— The  Louisiana  Expedition— Quiet— The  Meridian  Raid— Veteran 
Furlough — Rejoin  the  Army — The  Atlanta  Campaign — Battle  of  Kenesaw  Mountain — 
Battle  of  Atlanta,  July  21st— July  22d— The  Regiment  Captured— Its  Subsequent  History...  269 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

SEVENTEENTH   INFANTRY. 

Organization  of  the  Regiment— Haste  to  Reach  the  Front— Goes  by  Water  to  Hamburg, 
Tennessee— Siege  of  Corinth— Battle  of  luka— Battle  of  Corinth— General  Rosecrans' 
Congratulatory  Order— A  Hard  Working  Winter— Yazoo  Pass  Expedition— The  Vicksburg 
Campaign— Battle  of  Jackson— Champion's  Hill—  Combat  at  Fort  Hill— Battle  of  Chat 
tanooga—Surrender  at  Tilton,  Georgia— Remarkable  Defence  of  Resaca  by  Colonel  Wever— 
Roster 


CONTENTS.  11 

CHAPTER    XVII. 
EIGHTEENTH   INFANTRY. 

PAGE 

Organization  at  Clinton— Ordered  to  Missouri— Defence  of  Springfield— Active  Campaign 
ing  in  Arkansas— March  to  Fort  Smith— On  Garrison  Duty 307 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 

NINETEENTH   INFANTRY. 

Organized  during  the  Summer  of  1862 — Campaign  in  Missouri  and  Arkansas — Battle  of 
Prairie  Grove — Return  to  Missouri — Active  Operations  in  that  State— Join  the  Army 
under  Grant  Beleaguering  Vicksburg — Active  Operations  after  the  Capitulation — Long 
Period  of  Quiet  at  Brownsville — Evacuate  that  Place  and  Return  to  New  Orleans — Meeting 
of  the  Regiment  with  its  Prisoners  Captured  the  Year  Before — Move  to  Florida — To  Missis 
sippi—The  Campaign  of  Mobile  under  Canby— Homeward  Bound 319 

CHAPTER    XIX. 

TWENTIETH   INFANTRY. 

Enrolled  in  the  Counties  of  Scott  and  Linn — Move  to  Benton  Barracks — March  into  Arkansas — 
The  Battle  of  Prairie  Grove — Encampment  on  the  Field — Return  to  Missouri — Active  Opera 
tions  there — Embark  for  Vicksburg — Take  Position  in  the  Line  of  Investment — Capture  of 
Yazoo  City — Join  the  Army  of  the  Gulf—  Combat  of  Sterling  Farm — Embark  for 
Texas — The  Occupation  of  Brownsville — Adventures  on  the  "  High  Seas" — Evacuation  of 
Brownsville— Capture  of  Fort  Gaines  and  Fort  Morgan— Again  in  Louisiana— In  Arkan 
sas—The  Mobile  Campaign— Mustered  out— Home  Again 340 

ft;    CHAPTER     XX. 

FIRST  CAVALRY. 

Fitz  Henry  Warren,  its  First  Colonel— Organization— Move  to  St.  Louis— Operations  in  Mis 
souri — Battle  of  Prairie  Grove — Capture  of  Van  Jiuren,  Arkansas — On  Duty  in 
Missouri— Move  to  Pilot  Knob— March  into  Arkansas— Capture  of  Little  Rock—"  Winter 
Quarters" — The  Arkansas  Campaign — Move  to  Texas — General  Custer,  Hero  of  the  Lash!...  358 

CHAPTER    XXI. 

SECOND  CAVALRY. 

Rendezvous  at  Davenport— Move  to  St.  Louis— Bird's  Point— New  Madrid— Island  No.  Ten- 
Siege  of  Corinth— Battle  of  Farmington— Raids — Battle  of  luka— Battle  of  Corinth— Raids 
and  Combats— The  Grierson  Raid— Battle  of  Moscow— Operations  during  the  Winter  of 
1863-4 — Operations  during  the  Summer  of  1864 — Battle  of  Tupelo — Old  Town  Creek — Expe 
dition  to  Oxford— Move  to  Reenforce  General  Thomas— Combats,  by  Day  and  Night— Battle 
of  Franklin— Of  Nashville— March  to  Huntsville— "  Roll  of  Honor" 374 

CHAPTER    XXII. 

THIRD  CAVALRY. 

Organization—Move  to  Missouri— Two  Parts  of  the  Regiment  Separated  from  each  other- 
Account  of  the  Detachment  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Caldwell— History  of  the  Regiment 
Resumed— Campaign  of  Pea  Ridge— March  through  Arkansas— Operations  about  Helena— 


12  CONTEXTS. 


PAGE 

Colonel  Bussey  takes  Command  of  the  Cavalry  of  the  Army  Investing  Yicksburg — Opera 
tions  on  that  Field— Again  in  Arkansas— The  Regiment  Reunited— Campaigning  in  1864— 
The  Campaign  of  Missouri— The  Wilson  Raid— Mustered  out 396 

CHAPTER    XXIII. 

FOURTH  CAVALRY. 

Organization  at  "  Camp  Harlan,"  near  Mount  Pleasant — Join  the  Army  of  the  Southwest — 
March  through  Arkansas,  to  Helena — Encamped  near  Helena  about  Nine  Months — Opera 
tions  of  the  Regiment  during  this  Period — The  Campaign  of  Vicksburg — Capture  of  Jack 
son — Raids — Reenlistment  of  the  Regiment — The  Meridian  Raid — Veteran  Furlough — 
Expedition  under  Sturgis — Expeditions  under  General  A.  J.  Smith,  first  to  Tupelo,  second 
to  the  Tallahatchee— The  Campaign  in  Missouri— The  Raid  under  General  Wilson— Mus 
tered  out — Home 417 

CHAPTER    XXIV. 

FIFTH   CAVALRY. 

An  Account  of  the  Command,  Previously  to  its  Organization  as  an  Iowa  Regiment — Becomes 
the  Fifth  Iowa  Cavalry — Operations  in  Kentucky,  from  the  Base  of  Fort  Heiman — Engage 
ment  at  Paris — Affair  near  Lockridge's  Mills — Death  of  Major  Bcernstein — Active  Opera 
tions — Garrison  Fort  Donelson — Move  to  Murfreesboro — Pursuit  of  Wheeler — Important 
Expedition  under  Major  Young — Various  Movements — Home  on  Veteran  Furlough — Return 
to  Nashville— The  Rousseau  Raid— General  McCook's  Raid— Battle  of  Jonesboro— 
Return  to  Nashville— Operations  on  Duck  River— Brilliant  Exploit  by  Major  Young— Battle 
of  Nashville— The  Wilson  Raid— Conclusion 441 

CHAPTER    XXV. 

TWENTY-FIRST  INFANTRY. 

Organization— A  Winter  in  Missouri— Battle  of  Hartsville—Dovrn  the  Mississippi— As 
signed  to  the  Thirteenth  Army  Corps— The  Battle  of  Port  Gibson— Battle  of  the  Big 
Black  River — The  Assault  on  the  Works  of  Vicksburg — The  Siege — The  Second  Campaign 
of  Jackson — Campaigning  in  Louisiana — In  Texas — Again  in  Louisiana — In  Arkansas — 
Tennessee — Once  more  in  Louisiana — The  Campaign  of  Mobile — Conclusion 457 

CHAPTER    XXVI. 

TWENTY-SECOND   INFANTRY. 

Organization  at  Iowa  City — Move  to  St.  Louis — To  Rolla — Embark  at  St.  Genevieve  for  the 
Front — Join  the  Thirteenth  Army  Corps — Battle  of  Port  Gibson — Tlie  Assault  upon 
the  Enemy's  Works  at  Vicksburg — The  Siege — The  Jackson  Campaign — Campaign 
in  Louisiana — In  Texas — Voyage  to  Fortress  Monroe — In  the  Trenches  before  Petersburg — 
Move  to  Washington— To  the  Shenandoah  Valley— Battle  of  Winchester— Of  Fisher's 
Hill— Of  Cedar  Creek— Move  to  Savannah,  Georgia— To  North  Carolina— Conclusion 472 

CHAPTER     XXVII. 

TWENTY-THIRD  INFANTRY. 

Organization  at  DCS  Moines — Move  to  the  "  Front" — Campaign  in  Missouri — Join  General 
Grant's  Army— Battle  of  Port  Gibson—  Battle  of  Black  River  Bridge— Colonel  Kins 
man  Slain — Battle  of  Milliken's  Bend — Siege  of  Vicksburg — Campaign  in  Louisiana — 
Voyage  to  Texas — Return — Move  up  Red  River  to  Reonforce  Banks — Campaign  in  Arkan 
sas — Campaign  of  Mobile — Again  in  Texas — Mustered  out — Disbanded  at  Davenport 490 


CONTENTS.  13 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 
TWENTY-FOURTH   INFANTRY. 

PAGK 

Called  the  Temperance  Regiment — Rendezvous  near  Muscatine — Embark  for  Helena,  Arkansas — 
The  Campaign  against  Vicksburg — Battle  of  Port  Gibson — Active  Campaigning — Battle  of 
Champion  Hills— Siege  of  Vicksburg— The  Red  River  Expedition— Battle  of  Sabine 
Cross  Roads— A.  Voyage  by  Sea  to  Fortress  Monroe,  Virginia— With  General  Philip  ' 
Sheridan  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley— Battle  of  Winchester— Battle  of  Fisher's  Hill— 
Cedar  Creek— Again  in  the  South— Home .»  501 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

TWENTY-FIFTH   INFANTRY. 

Organization  at  Mount  Pleasant — Move  to  Helena — General  Sherman's  Unsuccessful  Attack  on 
Vicksburg— The  Army  Moves  against  Arkansas  Post— Its  Capture— The  Campaigns  of 
Vicksburg  and  Jackson — General  Sherman's  March  to  Chattanooga — The  Regiment  En 
gaged  on  Lookout  Mountain,  Missionary  Ridge,  and  at  Ringgold— A  Quiet  Winter— The 
Atlanta  Campaign — That  of  Savannah — The  March  through  the  Carolinas — The  Cap 
ture  of  Columbia — March  on  Northward— Home 515 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

TWENTY-SIXTH   INFANTRY. 

Organized  at  Clinton— Move  to  St.  Louis— To  Helena— The  Battle  of  Chickasaw  Bayou— The 
Capture  of  Arkansas  Post — The  Campaign  of  Vicksburg — Of  Jackson — Affair  of 
Cherokee — Battles  of  Lookout  Mountain,  Missionary  Ridge,  and  Ringgold — Winter  in  Ala 
bama — Campaign  of  Atlanta — March  to  Savannah — Capture  of  Columbia — March  to  Wash 
ington  City — Conclusion 528 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

TWENTY-SEVENTH   INFANTRY. 

Rendezvous  at  Dubuque — Campaign  in  Minnesota — The  Campaign  under  General  Grant  into 
Mississippi— New  Year's  Day  Chase  of  Forrest— A  Winter  of  Suffering— The  Little  Rock 
Campaign — Return  to  Memphis — The  Expedition  to  Meridian,  Mississippi — Red  River  Expe 
dition — Battle  of  Yellow  Bayou — General  A.  J.  Smith's  Campaign  against  Forrest — Battles 
of  Tupelo  and  Old  Town  Creek — March  to  Oxford — Again  at  Memphis — Join  the  Army 
under  General  Thomas — Battle  of  Nashville — General  Canby's  Campaign  against  Mobile — 
Home  Again 539 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 

TWENTY-EIGHTH   INFANTRY. 

Organization  at  Iowa  City— First  Encampment,  near  Helena,  Arkansas— A  Hard  March— Expe 
dition  to  Duvall's  Bluff— The  Vicksburg  Campaign— Battle  of  Port  Gibson— Champion 
Hills— Jackson,  Mississippi— Red  River  Expedition— An  Ocean  Voyage— Sheridan's  Shen 
andoah  Valley  Campaign — Battle  of  Cedar  Creek — Voyage  to  Savannah,  Georgia — 
Disbanded ...  552 


14  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

TWENTY-NINTH   INFANTRY. 

PAGE 

Organized  at  Council  Bluffs — March  to  St.  Joseph,  Missouri — St.  Lonis — Columbus,  Kentucky — 
Helena,  Arkansas— The  White  River  Expedition— The  Yazoo  Pass  Expedition— The  Battle 
of  Helena— March  to  Little  Rock— Camden  Expedition— The  Battle  of  Terre  Noir— 
Retreat — "City  Guards" — Mobile  Campaign — Move  to  Texas — Homeward  Bound 566 

CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

THIRTIETH   INFANTRY. 

Organized  at  Keokuk — Move  to  Helena — Battle  of  Chickasaw  Bayou — Arkansas  Post — The 
Greenville  Expedition — Campaign  of  Vicksburg — Colonel  Abbott  Slain — Campaign  of 
Jackson — A  Summer's  Quiet — The  Affair  of  Cherokee — Colonel  Torrence  Killed — March  to 
the  Relief  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland — Battle  of  Chattanooga — Battle  of  Ring- 
gold — Winter  Quarters — Campaign  of  Atlanta — March  in  Pursuit  of  Hood — The  March  to 
the  Sea— Through  the  Carolinas— A  Railroad  Accident— Disbanded 574 

CHAPTER    XXXV. 

THIRTY-FIRST  INFANTRY. 

Organized  at  Davenport — Move  to  Helena — Engaged  in  the  Battles  of  Chickasaw  Bayou  and 
Arkansas  Post— Encampment  near  Young's  Point— Greenville  Expedition— The  Vicksburg 
Campaign — Siege  of  Jackson — Affair  of  Canton — Campaign  of  Chattanooga — Campaign  of 
Atlanta— Battle  of  Kesaca— Battle  of  Dallas— Siege  of  Atlanta— Jonesboro— Lovejoy — 
March  to  Savannah— From  Savannah  to  Washington— To  Iowa— Conclusion 587 

CHAPTER    XXXVI. 

THIRTY-SECOND  INFANTRY. 

Organization— The  Regiment  Separated  in  Detachments— History  of  the  Detachment  under 
Major  Eberhart — History  of  Command  under  Colonel  Scott — His  Evacuation  of  New 
Madrid— His  Trial  and  Acquittal— Campaign  in  Mississippi— The  whole  Command  at  last 
Together— Colonel  Scott's  Congratulatory  Order— Major-General  B.  F.  Butler— Major-Gen 
eral  N.  P.  Banks— The  Disastrous  Red  River  Expedition— Battle  of  Pleasant  Hill— 
Retreat—Services  of  the  Regiment  after  the  Red  River  Campaign 597 

CHAPTER    XXXVII. 

THIRTY-THIRD   INFANTRY. 

Samuel  A.  Rice— Organization  of  his  Regiment— Provost  Guard  at  St.  Louis— Proceed  to  Colum 
bus,  Kentucky — To  Helena,  Arkansas — Expedition  against  Fort  Pemberton — The  Battle 
of  Helena— The  Little  Rock  Campaign— The  Southwestern  Expedition— Battle  of 
Jenkins'  Ferry— Death  of  General  Rice— Regiment  at  Little  Rock— March  to  Van  Buren 
and  Return — Campaign  of  Mobile — Mustered  out 613 

CHAPTER    XXXVIII. 

THIRTY-FOURTH   INFANTRY. 

Rendezvous  at  Burlington — Sickness  in  "  Camp  Lauman" — The  Good  Samaritans  of  Burling 
ton—Voyage  to  Helena— Chickasaw  Bayou— Arkansas  Post  — Guard  of  Prisoners  to 
Chicago— Rest  at  St.  Louis — Haines'  Bluff— In  Louisiana — Morganza — In  Texas Profi 
ciency  in  Drill— Admiral  Farragut—  Capture  of  Forts  Gaines  and  Morgan— The 
Regiment  Consolidated  with  the  Thirty-eighth— Canby's  Campaign  against  Mobile— Subse 
quent  History  of  the  Regiment ...  624 


CONTENTS.  15 

CHAPTER    XXXIX. 

THIRTY-FIFTH   INFANTRY. 

PAGE 

Organized  at  Muscatine — Move  to  Cairo — Services  in  Illinois  and  Kentucky — Campaigns  of 
Vicksburg  and  Jackson — Operations  in  Tennessee — Red  River  Expedition — Brilliant  Suc 
cess  at  Henderson's  Hill — Battle  of  Old  River  Lake — Major  John  Commanding  is  Slain — 
Campaign  of  Tupelo  —  Campaign  of  Missouri  —  Battle  of  NasJiville— Colonel  Hill 
Slain — Winter  Quarters  in  Northern  Alabama — Campaign  of  Mobile — Conclusion 640 

CHAPTER    XL. 

THIRTY-SIXTH   INFANTRY. 

Rendezvous  at  Keokuk — Ordered  South — Stop  at  Columbus  and  Memphis — Helena — The  Yazoo 
Pass  Expedition — Disease — Return  to  Helena — Celebrate  the  National  Anniversary  in 
Battle— Join  the  Little  Rock  Expedition— General  Steele's  "  Southern  Campaign"— Battle 
of  Mark's  Mill— The  Regiment  Captured— Its  Organization  Continued  at  Little  Rock....  651 

CHAPTER    XLI. 

"THE  GRAY-BEARD  REGIMENT." 

The  Thirty-Seventh  Infantry  Composed  of  Men  more  than  Forty-five  Years  of  Age — Organized 
at  Muscatine— Brief  Account  of  its  Services— Mustered  out— The  Question  of  Bounty 661 

CHAPTER    XLII. 

THIRTY-EIGHTH   INFANTRY. 

"  Camp  Franklin" — Move  to  St.  Louis — To  Kentucky — Duty  at  New  Madrid — Siege  of  Vicks 
burg— Expedition  to  Yazoo  City— Port  Hudson— Sickness— Death  of  Colonel  Hughes— 
The  Texas  Expedition— Capture  of  Fort  Morgan— Consolidated  with  the  Thirty-fourth 664 

CHAPTER    XLIII. 

FORTIETH   INFANTRY. 

The  last  of  the  Three  Years  Infantry  Regiments — "  Copperheads"— The  Formation  of  the  Regi 
ment — Departure  for  Cairo — Long  Stay  at  Columbus,  Kentucky — Paducah — Join  the  "  Pro 
visional  Division"  of  the  Sixteenth  Army  Corps— March  to  Little  Rock— The  Camden 
Expedition — Retreat — Battle  of  Jenkins'  Ferry — In  the  Indian  Country — Home 660 

CHAPTER    XLIV. 

SIXTH  CAVALRY. 

Organization — Rendezvous  at  Davenport — Campaigning  against  Indians — The  Battle  of 
White  Stone  Hill — The  Regiment  Remains  in  Service  on  the  Frontier 680 

CHAPTER    XLV. 
SEVENTH  CAVALRY. 

Organized  at  Davenport— Its  Field  of  Operations  West  of  the  Missouri  River— Its  Battles  and 
Services  to  the  Close  of  1865 690 

CHAPTER    XLVI. 

EIGHTH  CAVALRY. 

Organization  at  Davenport— Move  to  Nashville,  Tennessee— Operations  during  the  Winter  of 
1863-4— Campaign  of  Atlanta— Of  Nashville— The  Croxton  Raid— Death  of  Colonel  Dorr...  694 


16  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    XLVII. 

ARTILLERY. 

PAGE 

Four  Batteries  of  Light  Artillery  Organized  in  the  State— Account  of  their  Organization- 
Brief  Mention  of  their  History— Roster  of  their  Officers 704 

CHAPTER    XLVIII. 

THE  IOWA  REGIMENT  OF  COLORED  TROOPS. 
Organization  of  the  Regiment  at  Keokuk— Brief  Mention  of  its  Services 706 


CHAPTER    XLIX. 

NINTH  CAVALRY. 

The  Last  Three- Years'  Regiment  Recruited  in  Iowa— ResumS  of  the  State's  Contributions  to 
the  Armies  of  the  Union— Organization  of  the  Ninth  Cavalry  at  Davenport— Its  Field  of 
Operations  in  Arkansas 708 

CHAPTER    L. 

"ONE  HUNDRED  DAYS'   MEN." 

Four  Regiments  and  Four  Companies  Recruited  for  One  Hundred  Days  in  the  Summer  of 
1864— A  Brief  Account  of  the  Organization  and  Services  of  these  Troops 714 

CHAPTER    LI. 

THIRTY-NINTH   INFANTRY. 

Organization  at  Des  Moines— Mustered  at  Davenport— Battle  of  Parker's  Cross  Roads— On  Gar 
rison  Duty — The  Campaign  in  Georgia  under  Sherman — The  Defence  of  Allatoona — 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Redfield  Slain — "  Sherman's  March  to  the  Sea" — Adjutant  Byers'  Lyric — 
March  through  the  Carolinas — The  Grand  Review  at  Washington  City — Discharged 717 

CHAPTER    LII. 
EIGHTH   INFANTRY. 

Organized  at  Davenport  in  the  Summer  of  1861 — Campaigning  under  Fremont — Winter  Quar 
ters—The  Regiment  Captured  at  Shiloh— Reorganization— Short  Campaign  in  Missouri— 
"Vicksburg — Services  in  Tennessee — The  Meridian  Expedition' — Provost  Guard  of  Mem 
phis — Defence  of  the  City  against  Forrest's  Attack — The  Campaign  of  JtfoMle — The 
Assault  of  Spanish  Fort — The  Collapse  of  the  Rebellion — Subsequent  History 731 

CHAPTER    LIII. 

REBEL  PRISONS— CHARITY. 
Brief  Notice  of  Iowa  Troops  who  Suffered  Rebel  Imprisonment — Benevolence — Orphans'  Home..  737 


IOWA  AND  THE  REBELLION 


CHAPTEK    I. 

FIRST   IOWA  VOLUNTEER    INFANTRY. 

INTRODUCTION— THE  ATTACK  OF  TRAITORS  ON  FORT  SUMTER— THE  NATION  AROUSED 
—THE  RESPONSE  OF  IOWA  TO  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CALL  FOR  SEVENTY-FIVE  THOU 
SAND  MEN  — THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  FIRST  REGIMENT  —  RENDEZVOUS  AT 
KEOKUK— ENCAMP  THERE— ORDERED  TO  REPORT  TO  GENERAL  LYON— MARCH  TO 
BOONEVILLE  — TO  SOUTH-WESTERN  MISSOURI— AFFAIR  OF  DUG  SPRINGS— McCUL- 
LOUGH'S  SPRINGS  — GENERAL  NATHANIEL  LYON  —  BATTLE  OF  WILSON'S 
CREEK—  RETREAT  TO  ROLLA— MUSTERED  OUT. 

IT  is  my  purpose  to  write  a  history  of  the  part  taken  by  the  troops  of  the 
State  of  Iowa  in  the  war  to  suppress  the  wicked  rebellion  against  the 
Union,  which  was  commenced  by  traitors,  in  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter,  in 
April,  1861,  and  which  rebellion,  growing  to  gigantic  proportions,  called 
forth  to  suppress  it  no  insignificant  power  from  the  least  of  the  loyal  States, 
and  large  armies  from  the  most  of  them.  It  is  true,  that  in  comparison 
of  the  part  borne  by  the  national  troops  in  the  war,  the  part  borne  by  the 
troops  of  any  single  State  may  justly  enough  be  considered  as  unimportant. 
The  fact  is,  the  war  itself  was  of  such  magnitude,  whether  considered  in 
respect  of  the  geographical  area  over  which  it  was  waged,  or  the  number 
of  men  sent  to  the  field,  or  its  cost,  that  the  notions  of  our  people  have  be 
come,  so  to  say,  immense,  upon  all  subjects  which  have  any  the  least  bear 
ing  upon  warfare,  and  I  am  not  sure  that  my  theme  will  be  considered  great 
enough  for  sober  historical  composition.  But  if  we  travel  back  of  the 
present  war  in  our  own  history,  we  shall  find  comparisons  less  magnificent, 
perhaps,  in  one  sense ;  but  not  in  reality.  The  State  of  Iowa  sent  into  the 
field,  for  instance,  during  the  war  for  the  Union,  fully  four  times  as  many 
men  as  General  Scott  had  under  his  command  during  the  Mexican  war; 
3  17 


18  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

fully  ten  times  as  many  as  General  Jackson  commanded  when  he  won  the 
victory  of  New  Orleans ;  quite  as  many  as  General  Washington  ever  had 
under  command  at  one  time,  and  very  many  more  than  he  ever  had  under 
his  immediate  command;  about  as  many  as  composed  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  when  it  gained  the  battle  of  Gettysburg.  These  Union  troops  from 
Iowa  occupied  conspicuous  positions,  carried  many  flags,  dropped  from  their 
muster-rolls  in  death  and  wounds  many  comrades,  in  all  the  important 
campaigns  and  battles  of  the  west ;  in  those  of  Sherman  in  the  south-east ; 
of  Canby  in  the  South ;  and  in  those  of  General  Sheridan  in  the  Shenan- 
doah  Valley.  If  the  story  of  their  gallant  deeds  be  but  modestly  and  truth 
fully  told,  it  cannot  be  without  interest  or  without  importance. 

Moreover,  the  sentiment  of  State  pride  is  one  which,  if  I  do  not  greatly 
err,  ought  to  be  cherished  within  proper  bounds.  The  fundamental  law  of 
the  nation  gives  no  warrant  for  a  strong  government,  in  the  old  meaning  of 
the  words,  at  Washington.  The  teachings  of  our  early  statesmen  have 
firmly  fixed  in  the  minds  of  the  people  the  idea  of  State  individuality,  fre 
quently  called,  by  the  abuse  both  of  language  and  of  truth,  State  sovereignty. 
The  doctrine,  with  its  exact  limitations,  is  correct  in  theory,  and  is,  besides, 
of  great  practical  importance.  Misunderstood,  mal-practiced,  it  may  be 
come,  as  it  has  become  in  the  South,  secession,  treason.  Rightly  under 
stood,  rightly  practiced,  it  makes  of  our  State  and  National  governments  a 
band  of  brothers  and  a  beneficent  parent.  The  war  did  much  to  erase  from 
the  public  mind  the  heresy  of  State  sovereignty,  and  to  write  in  its  place 
the  truth,  State  individuality.  It  is  impossible  to  forget  what  each  State 
did  in  the  war,  impossible  to  forget  that  each  State  did  it  all,  not  for  itself, 
but  for  American  nationality.  It  will  be  understood,  then,  that  I  have  un 
dertaken  this  work  with  a  strong  sentiment  of  pride  in  the  State  of  Iowa, 
and  with  a  stronger  sentiment  of  pride  that  Iowa  is  an  honored  State  of  the 
American  Union.  I  shall  show  that  Iowa  has  done  its  duty  right  manfully 
and  heroically,  without  the  remotest  thought  that  every  other  loyal  State 
has  not  done  its  duty  right  manfully  and  heroically.  And,  indeed,  it  would 
be  impossible  for  me  to  give  a  clear  and  full  description  of  the  part  taken 
by  Iowa  troops  in  the  campaigns,  either  at  the  west  or  in  the  east,  without 
honorable  mention  of  their  comrades  who  marched  by  their  side,  and  whose 
blood  mingled  with  theirs  on  so  many  battle-fields. 

The  bombardment  of  Fort  Sumter,  April  12,  1861,  and  its  capitulation 
the  next  day  to  the  rebels,  under  the  command  of  Beauregard,  aroused  the 
country  to  the  highest  pitch  of  indignation.  The  cry  of  "To  arms!"  was 
heard  everywhere,  from  men  of  all  political  parties.  The  feeling  was  well- 
nigh  universal  that  the  nation  should  avenge  the  insult  by  promptly  waging 
war  upon  the  insurgents.  The  enthusiasm  was  great  all  over  the  land,  and, 
perhaps,  greater  in  the  northwest  than  elsewhere.  In  that  section  there 


FIRST     IOWA     VOLUNTEER     INFANTRY.  19 

are  but  few  persons  of  entirely  sedentary  pursuits.  Very  many  more  men. 
spend  their  days  in  out-door  employments  than  in-door  vocations.  Game  is 
so  plenty  that  those  of  studious  lives,-  and  of  the  learned  professions,  are 
tempted  many  days  in  the  year  to  go  abroad  into  the  bracing  breezes  of  the 
vigorous  climate.  Western  muscles  are  tough  and  elastic,  and  western 
nerves  right  finely  tuned  by  reason  of  much  manly  exercise.  There  is  no, 
profession  more  confining  than  that  of  the  editor  of  a  daily  newspaper. 
The  most  successful  editor  of  Iowa  is  scarcely  more  distinguished  for  his 
independent  spirit  and  nervous  paragraphs,  than  he  is  for  his  skill  in  catch 
ing  fish ;  whilst  most  of  our  lawyers  and  doctors  are  famous  with  fowling- 
pieces,  A  country  where  there  is  little  dyspepsia  must  needs  be  deeply 
enthusiastic  on  proper  occasion.  Certain  it  is,  that  the  intelligence  of 
the  fall  of  Fort  Surnter  aroused  the  martial  feeling  to  a  fine  glow  all  over 
Iowa, 

On  the  15th  of  April,  the  President  of  the  United  States  issued  a  Proc 
lamation  calling  for  seventy-five  thousand  volunteers  from  the  States  not  in 
rebellion,  under  which  one  regiment  was  assigned  as  the  quota  of  Iowa. 
On  the  17th,  Governor  Samuel  J.  Kirkwood  issued  a  proclamation,  enjoin 
ing  the  militia  of  the  State  immediately  to  form  volunteer  companies  in  the 
different  counties,  with  a  view  of  entering  into  active  service  under  the 
President's  call ;  and  announcing  that  the  regiment  required  would  consist 
of  ten  companies,  of  at  least  seventy-eight  men  each.  This  proclamation 
had  scarcely  been  printed  before  the  executive  was  besieged  by  applicants 
for  admission  into  the  regiment,  which  could  not  contain  one-fourth  the 
men  who  were  ready  and  anxious  to  enter  it.  The  people  were  not  a  little 
indignant  that  the  Secretary  of  War  had  required  only  one  regiment  from 
the  State ;  that  he  would  receive  but  a  thousand  men  of  the  thousands  they 
wanted  to  give.  Of  the  companies  which  were  accepted,  and  which  formed 
the  First  Iowa  Volunteer  Infantry,  two  were  from  the  county  of  Muscatine, 
two  from  Des  Moines,  two  from  Dubuque,  and  one  each  from  Johnson, 
Linn,  Henry,  and  Scott. 

Now  was,  emphatically,  the  era  of  the  romance  of  the  war.  The  dif 
ferent  organizations  which  formed  the  regiment  were  feted  and  lionized  by 
their  friends  and  neighbors  with  as  much  enthusiasm  as  ever  were  knights 
embarking  on  a  crusade  to  the  Holy  Land.  Flags  were  presented  and 
received  in  speeches  whose  gorgeous  coloring  had  very  little  of  the  melan 
choly  hue  of  blood.  The  ladies  assembled  at  the  town  and  city  halls,  and, 
with  needles,  scissors,  sewing  machines,  and  what  not,  helped  the  tailors  to 
get  "the  boys"  thoroughly  uniformed.  Drums  were  beating,  fifes  playing 
on  every  street  corner.  All  the  pride,  pomp,  and  circumstance  of  glorious 
war  raged  in  full  force,  none  of  war's  sad  realities  having  as  yet  been 
brought  to  the  hearth-stones  of  the  people.  When  the  companies  left  their 


20  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

various  camps  for  the  general  rendezvous  at  the  city  of  Keokuk,  they  were 
escorted  to  the  trains  or  steamers  by  vast  crowds,  who  bade  adieu  to  the 
departing  with  cheers,  waving  of  flags,  and  salvos  of  the  best  artillery  which 
could  be  had. 

As  it  had  been  with  friends  at  home,  so  it  was  with  the  citizens  of 
Keokuk,  who  extended  towards  the  soldiers  kindness,  courtesy,  and  hospi 
tality,  without  stint,  with  a  degree  of  enthusiasm,  in  fact,  worthy  of  chival 
rous  society  and  a  noble  cause. 

On  the  llth  of  May  the  companies  were  formed,  and  marched  to  the 
Court-House,  where  field  officers  were  chosen  on  the  democratic  plan, 
every  man  having  a  vote.  In  this  manner  John  F.  Bates,  of  Dubuque 
county,  was  chosen  Colonel ;  Williapi  H.  Merritt,  of  Linn,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel;  and  Asbury  B.  Porter,  of  Henry,  Major.  The  staff  officers 
were  speedily  appointed,  and  from  this  date  the  regiment  may  be  said  to 
have  been  fully  organized.  The  companies  had  been  sworn  into  the  ser 
vice  by  local  magistrates  upon  their  formation,  nearly  a  month  before,  and 
had  been  for  that  period  performing  the  duties  of  soldiers;  but  it  was 
not  till  this,  to  them,  eventful  Saturday,  that  their  regimental  organiza 
tion  was  completed.  On  the  14th,  Lieutenant  Alexander  Chambers  of  the 
Regular  Army,  met  the  companies  at  the  various  halls  where  they  were 
quartered,  and  formally  mustered  them  into  the  service  of  the  United 
States. 

For  two  weeks  the  regiment  remained  in  quarters  in  the  city.  On  the 
28th,  the  tents  having  arrived,  the  men  went  into  camp  on  the  outskirts 
of  the  town,  where  they  remained  some  two  weeks  longer.  This  period 
was  one  of  pleasure,  complaint,  and  drill.  The  men  drilled  five  hours 
daily,  complained  betimes  that  they  were  "cooped  up  in  Keokuk"  instead 
of  being  in  the  field,  and  enjoyed  life  quite  as  heartily  as  a  thousand  men 
well  can.  On  the  24th  of  May,  the  patriotic  ladies  of  the  city  gave  the 
regiment  a  pic-nic  dinner,  which,  maugre  the  want  of  wines  and  strong 
drink,  was  as  plentiful  and  delicious,  and  as  zestingly  enjoyed,  as  any  of 
the  famous  dinners  which  gratify  the  appetite  and  lighten  the  purses  of 
the  guests  of  Delmonico.  Moreover,  the  occasion  was  enlivened  by  music 
from  both  men  and  women,  and  by  eloquence  from  some  of  the  distin 
guished  men  of  the  State.  Other  pic-nics  there  were  of  a  more  unpre 
tending  sort,  and  other  social  enjojonents  for  the  troops.  It  was  the  lovely 
season  of  the  year  when  the  luxurious  foliage  of  the  forests  was  fresh  and 
beautiful,  when  the  flowers  bloomed  in  their  bright  array,  so  much  finer 
than  the  royal  purple  of  Solomon,  when  the  sun  warmed  and  revivified 
the  earth  without  producing  discomforting  heat.  It  is  not  at  all  strange 
that  basking  in  the  enjoyments  of  a  hospitable  city  and  magnificent  sur 
roundings,  the  men  thought  soldiering  mere  gala-day  play,  and  complained 


FIRST     IOWA     VOLUNTEER     INFANTRY.  21 

only  because  they  were  having  altogether  too  much  fun.  On  the  llth  of 
June,  the  regiment,  together  with  the  Second  and  Third  Regiments,  no\\ 
also  rendezvousing  at  Keokuk,  marched  in  column  to  a  grove  near  the  town, 
where  ceremonies  in  honor  of  the  great  debater  and  statesman  of  Illinois, 
recently  dead,  were  performed. 

The  stay  of  the  troops  at  Keokuk  was  of  great  service  to  them.  They, 
had  now  learned  to  handle  their  arms  with  considerable  proficiency,  to  per 
form  the  evolutions  of  the  battalion,  to  cook  their  own  food,  to  live  in  tents. 
They  had  learned  what  was  necessary  to  go  through  with  an  arduous  cam 
paign.  In  the  short  period  of  their  term  of  service  yet  remaining,  they 
put  their  knowledge  to  a  glorious  test,  and,  as  we  shall  see,  quitted  them 
selves  like  men. 

It  was  very  early  in  the  morning  of  June  13,  that  a  steamer  arrived  at 
Keokuk,  bearing  orders  from  General  Lyon  to  Colonel  Curtis,  Second 
Iowa,  commanding  him  to  report  immediately,  with  his  regiment,  in  Mis 
souri.  Orders  came  at  the  same  time  to  Colonel  Bates.  It  was  evident 
that  stirring  times  had  come  at  last.  By  day-light  Colonel  Curtis  had  his 
command  steaming  down  the  Mississippi,  but  it  was  5  o'clock  in  the  after 
noon  before  Colonel  Bates  moved,  as  he  had  to  wait  for  transportation.  At 
that  hour,  the  regiment  marched  to  the  river,  at  once  embarked,  and  was 
fairly  on  the  way  before  dusk.  A  large  concourse  of  people  assembled  to 
witness  the  departure.  Whilst  the  crowd  on  shore  and  the  soldiers  on  board 
were  shouting  themselves  hoarse,  the  steamer  left  the  wharf,  and  turned 
down  the  majestic  stream.  Just  as  the  shades  of  night  came  on,  the  regi 
mental  band  struck  up  the  air  of '"Dixie  Land,"  and  the  people  of  the 
hospitable  city  sought  their  homes  while  its  notes  continued  to  float  back 
on  the  evening  air.  The  boat  reached  Hannibal,  Missouri,  about  midnight, 
when  the  troops  immediately  disembarked,  and  during  the  rest  of  the  night 
slept  soundly  upon  the  floor  of  a  large  warehouse  near  the  river. 

The  regiment  went  by  rail  to  Macon  City  without  delay.  At  this  place, 
where  the  North  Missouri  Railroad  joins  the  Hannibal  and  St.  Joseph,  it 
remained  till  the  18th,  when,  taking  the  former  road,  it  traveled  again  by 
rail  a  distance  of  twenty-five  miles,  to  a  little  place  called  Renick,  north 
east  of  Booneville,  and  distant,  as  the  crow  flies,  about  fifty  miles.  On 
the  day  before,  General  Lyon,  by  a  fine  stratagem,  had  signally  defeated 
"Governor"  Jackson  and  his  "State  troops"  at  Booneville,  capturing 
many  prisoners,  arms,  supplies,  and  a  large  quantity  of  ammunition. 
As  the  train  which  carried  the  First  Iowa  approached  Renick,  horsemen 
were  seen  flying  in  all  directions  over  the  prairie.  They  were  some  of 
Jackson's  whipped  State  troops.  From  Renick,  the  regiment  made  its 
first  march  on  foot.  The  distance  to  Booneville,  by  the  route  taken,  was 
more  than  fifty  miles.  The  weather  was  excessively  hot.  The  march  was 


22  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

commenced  at  10  o'clock,  June  19,  and  at  that  hour  on  the  morning  of 
the  21st,  the  column  reached  the  left  bank  of  the  Missouri,  opposite  Boone 
ville.  The  regiment  went  immediately  aboard  of  a  steamer,  and  remained 
on  board  till  the  24th.  General  Lyon  was  uncertain  as  to  the  movements 
of  the  enemy.  He  did  not  know,  as  yet,  where  he  should  strike  his  next 
blow,  or  whither  he  should  march.  Hence  he  kept  several  regiments  con 
stantly  quartered  on  steamers,  which  had  steam  always  up,  and  were  ready 
to  move  either  up  or  down  the  river  at  an  instant's  notice,  as  circumstances 
might  require.  It  shortly  became  evident,  however,  that  he  would  find 
the  enemy  away  from  the  river.  On  the  24th,  the  troops  which  had  been 
kept  on  transports  went  ashore  and  encamped  near  Booneville.  Our  regi 
ment  had  a  beautiful  camp  on  the  Cooper  County  Fair  Grounds,  not  far 
from  a  camp  of  regulars,  where  horse-whipping,  gagging,  and  "bucking" 
were  daily  administered  to  some  unlucky  wights,  to  the  great  disgust  and 
real  pain  of  our  men,  a  large  majority  of  whom  were  gentlemen  of  intelli 
gence  and  culture  who  could  not  appreciate  the  merits  of  that  discipline 
whpse  cardinal  doctrine  seemed  to  be  unmixed  cruelty  to  the  private 
soldier. 

The  regiment  remained  here  till  the  3d  of  July.  Much  of  the  time  it  rained, 
and  the  weather  was  very  unpleasant ;  but  when  the  sun  came  out  again 
and  gladdened  the  face  of  nature,  the  men  enjoyed  themselves  most  heartily 
in  their  fine  encampment,  which  was  on  an  elevated  plateau,  whence  a  view 
of  the  river  could  be  had  for  miles  both  up  and  down.  Whilst  here,  the 
State  paymaster  paid  the  regiment  for  some  three  weeks'  service,  so  that 
the  officers  and  men  had  funds  wherewithal  to  patronize  the  hucksters,  the 
farmers,  the  little  girls  who  were  allowed  to  visit  camp  for  the  purpose  of 
selling  fruits,  vegetables,  pies,  and  cakes.  There  was  a  regimental  drill  in 
the  city  one  day,  too,  whereby  the  troops  won  much  eclat,  and  a  request 
from  the  citizens  to  General  Lyon  that  they  might  be  encamped  in  the 
town.  Moreover,  a  queer-looking  craft  came  steaming  down  the  river  one 
morning,  and,  as  she  showed  no  colors  and  paid  no  heed  to  a  blank  cartridge 
shot  from  a  six-pounder,  on  shore,  there  was  quite  a  cry  of  ' '  Kiver  Pirate ! ' ' 
A  six-pounder  across  her  bows  brought  her  to,  and  she  proved  to  be  a  boat 
which  had  been  to  the  far  west.,  and  was  now  returning,  laden  with  spoils, 
trophies,  relics,  and  elks'  horns,  bartered  from  Indians  who  pitch  their  wig 
wams  near  the  sources  of  the  Missouri. 

The  army  of  General  Lyon  at  Booneville  was  three  thousand  two  hundred 
strong,  all  infantry,  except  Captain  Totten's  battery  of  artillery.  It  was  not 
well  supplied,  and  was  almost  entirely  without  transportation.  Jackson,  with 
some  seven  thousand  followers,  many  of  them  mounted,  but  not  well  armed, 
was  rapidly  retreating  toward  the  southwest.  General  Lyon  determined  to 
pursue  and  give  him  battle.  At  seven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  July  3, 


FIRST     IOWA     VOLUNTEER     INFANTRY.  23 

his  little  army  was  in  motion,  and  at  eight  passed  out  of  the  town  in  a 
southerly  direction,  followed  by  a  train  composed  of  such  vehicles  and  teams 
as  could  be  impressed  from  the  surrounding  country,  and  which  formed  as 
motley  a  spectacle  as  the  tatterdemalion  recruits  of  Falstaff. 

At  two  o'clock  the  column  halted  and  encamped  in  a  dense  forest,  whose 
heavy  undergrowth,  and  clambering  vines  added  to  the  deep  shades  of  the 
place  and  the  comfort  of  the  troops  on  that  hot  day.  This  was  "  Camp  Lycta. 
No.  1  from  Booneville, ' '  and  was  distant  from  that  place  some  fifteen  miles. 
Early  on  the  morning  of  the  4th  the  army  moved,  and  celebrated  Indepen 
dence  Day  by  "chasing  Claib.  Jackson."  It  was  excessively  hot,  and  not  a 
few  of  the  men  were  compelled  to  stop  by  the  wayside.  But  before  night 
fall,  the  tents  were  pitched  on  the  banks  of  a  small,  beautiful  stream  in 
Pettis  county,  whither  the  loiterers  soon  came.  A  half  dozen  springs  of 
cold  water  quenched  the  thirst  of  the  men,  and  added  to  the  deliciousness  of 
the  night's  coffee.  The  whole  distance,  from  Booneville  to  Camp  Sigel,  ten 
miles  northwest  of  Springfield,  was  traveled  by  forced  marches,  averaging 
more  than  twenty-five  miles  a  day.  The  heat  was  oppressive  almost  all 
the  time,  while  the  clouds  of  dust  were  nearly  intolerable.  Grand  River 
could  not  be  forded,  and  the  current  was  too  swift  to  permit  the  passage  by 
raft.  A  ricketty  old  ferry  transported  the  entire  army,  here  reenforced  by 
Major  Sturgis,  with  two  regiments  of  Kansas  troops,  a  detachment  of  re 
gulars,  and  a  battery  of  artillery,  numbering  in  all  some  two  thousand  eight 
hundred  men.  The  crossing  of  the  Osage  was  another  tedious  process, 
similar  to  the  crossing  of  Grand  River.  But  the  whole  march  was  rapid 
in  the  extreme.  General  Lyon,  who  at  first  called  the  Iowa  regiment 
"Gipsies,"  on  account,  no  doubt,  of  the  dilapidated  condition  of  their 
clothing,  christened  them  the  "Iowa  Grey  Hounds,"  one  evening  after  a 
long  day's  march,  when,  having  taken  a  little  rest,  they  were  having  skir 
mish  drill.  On  the  llth  of  July,  till  three  o'clock  of  the  following  morn 
ing,  the  main  army  marched  forty-six  miles,  when  it  halted  for  two  hours, 
and  then  pressed  rapidly  forward  six  miles  further.  Here  the  troops 
encamped  for  the  night,  and  the  next  day  marched  fifteen  miles  to  Camp 
Sigel,  where  they  remained  several  days,  then  marched  twelve  miles  south 
ward,  and  pitched  their  tents  at  Camp  McClellan,  near  Pond  Creek,  and 
not  far  from  the  village  of  Little  York. 

From  this  point  six  companies  of  the  regiment,  forming  part  of  a  detach 
ment  consisting  of  them,  a  Kansas  regiment  and  several  companies  of 
regulars,  marched  to  Forsythe,  near  the  Arkansas  line,  and  having  there 
dispersed  a  considerable  band  of  rebels  and  captured  some  fifty  prisoners, 
returned  in  safety  to  camp,  quite  a  number  of  the  men  being  somewhat 
better  clothed  upon  their  return  than  they  were  at  their  departure.  It  was 
here  that  the  second  death  in  the  regiment  since  leaving  Keokuk  occurred ; 


24  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

private  John  J.  Wiley,  of  Company  A,  having  died  of  exhaustion  on 
the  swift  march  toward  Springfield.  On  the  30th  of  July,  Thomas  Maginnis, 
of  the  same  company,  died  of  typhoid  fever.  On  the  same  day  his  body 
was  borne  by  his  comrades  to  the  highest  peak  of  the  Ozark  Mountains, 
and  there  buried  with  military  honors ;  the  salutes  of  which  are  all  the 
sounds  that  ever  disturbed  the  primeval  solitude  of  the  now  sacred  spot. 

On  August  1st  General  Lyon  moved  his  army,  and  on  the  next  day 
defeated  Ben.  McCulloch  at  Dug  Spring.  The  battle  on  the  Union  side 
was  fought  almost  exclusively  by  cavalry  and  artillery,  the  Iowa  First  acting 
as  skirmishers  on  the  right  wing  of  the  army.  At  McCullough's  Spring 
some  forty  or  fifty  rebel  horsemen  rode  right  into  our  lines,  and  were  water 
ing  their  horses  in  a  streamlet  not  far  from  General  Lyon,  who  asked  the 
captain  to  what  command  he  belonged.  ' '  What  command  do  you  belong 
to?"  responded  the  captain.  "Fire!  boys,"  shouted  the  general,  and  the 
rebels  spurred  their  horses  into  the  woods  at  a  break-neck  speed.  A  few 
of  their  horses  were  wounded  and  captured.  It  was  right  here  where  the 
Iowa  boys  marched  into  a  rebel  camp  which  had  been  so  recently  deserted 
that  our  men  made  a  good,  warm  breakfast  of  the  meal  which  had  been 
left  by  the  flying  enemy.  General  Lyon  pursued  no  further.  On  the  4th, 
he  returned  to  Springfield. 

General  NATHANIEL  LYON  had  as  correct  ideas  of  the  nature  of  the 
contest  in  which  the  country  was  engaged,  and  of  the  practical  warfare 
required,  as  any  commanding  officer,  perhaps,  we  have  had  in  the  service. 
Though  educated  as  a  soldier,  and  long  engaged  in  the  profession  of  arms, 
he  was  nevertheless  much  devoted  to  the  study  of  public  affairs.  Pollard, 
with  a  display  of  heroics  characteristical  of  a  Southern  writer,  says  he  was 
"an  unmitigated,  undisguised,  and  fanatical  abolitionist."  In  truth,  he 
believed  in  free  labor,  as  beneficial  to  the  laborer  not  only,  but  to  the  State. 
His  favorite  poem  was  Burns'  "A  man's  a  man  for  a'  that."  He  had  a 
lively  sense  of  justice,  and  a  thorough  hatred  of  oppression.  I  think  he 
hated  the  rebellion,  its  cause,  quite  as  much  as  Mr.  Wendell  Phillips  the 
one  and  General  Butler  the  other ;  and  he  had  a  very  particular  hatred  for 
the  rebels  of  Missouri.  It  is  possible  that  his  earnest  feelings  led  him  to 
estimate  as  of  too  high  importance  their  defeat.  Certain  it  is,  that  at  this 
time  his  mind  was  halting  between  two  opinions.  He  had  earnestly  asked 
for  reinforcements.  They  were  not  sent.  The  rebel  army  was  vastly 
superior  to  his  in  numbers ;  their  mounted  troops  alone  outnumbering  his 
whole  army.  The  battle  of  Booneville  and  the  affair  of  Dug  Springs,  how 
ever,  had  shown  him  that  his  troops  were  Greek,  and  the  rebels  barbarian. 
Thinking  as  he  thought,  knowing  the  situation  as  he  knew  it,  it  was  most 
difficult  for  even  his  determined  nature  to  decide  upon  attack  or  retreat. 
At  length  he  made  up  his  mind  to  attack,  and  so  firmly  that  the  unanimous 


FIRST     IOWA     VOLUNTEER     INFANTRY.  25 

opinion  of  his  officers  in  favor  of  retreat  could  not  move  him  from  his 
decision.  His  plan  was  to  surprise  the  enemy  in  his  camp,  and  give  him 
quick,  sharp  battle. 

Accordingly,  on  the  evening  of  the  9th  of  August,  the  army  silently 
marched  from  their  camps  at  Springfield,  General  Lyon,  with  the  main 
body  going  by  the  Cassville  road,  Colonel  Sigel,  with  the  Missouri  regi 
ments  and  a  battery  of  artillery,  taking  the  Fayetteville  road.  Sigel  was  to 
march  by  the  rebel  right  flank,  and  deliver  attack  in  their  rear,  whilst  Lyon 
was  to  attack  in  front.  The  total  number  of  the  Union  army  was  less  than 
five  thousand  five  hundred.  That  of  the  rebels  was  about  twenty-three 
thousand.  They  were  encamped  on  both  sides  of  Wilson's  Creek,  a  small 
stream,  at  this  time  scarcely  wider  than  the  length  of  a  lead-pencil.  Its 
course  is  generally  south,  but  it  here  makes  a  bend  to  the  left,  and  soon 
again  to  the  right,  forming  a  peninsula  not  unlike  the  shape  of  a  rounded 
letter  Y.  General  Lyon,  in  whose  column  was  the  Iowa  regiment,  marched 
on  the  road  some  four  miles,  and  then  turned  off  into  the  prairie,  following 
a  friendly  guide.  Thus  the  march  was  continued  in  almost  perfect  silence, 
the  men  not  uttering  a  word,  and  even  the  artillery  trains  passing  over  the 
turf  in  stillness,  till  two  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  10th!  Then  the 
column  halted,  and  the  troops,  wrapping  their  blankets  about  them,  lay 
down  to  rest  in  the  tall  grass.  "With  the  first  dawn,"  says  Henry  0' Con 
ner,  "we  were  in  motion,  and  in  about  an  hour,  with  the  first  glimpse  of  the 
morning  sun,  our  ears  were  saluted  with  the  sharp  sound  of  musketry 
among  the  trees. "  The  enemy's  pickets  had  been  quietly  surprised  and 
captured,  and  his  camp  guards  were  now  being  engaged. 

Captain  Totten  moved  his  battery  to  a  commanding  eminence,  and  com 
menced  a  rapid  cannonade.  The  Iowa  regiment  was  immediately  in  the 
rear  of  this  battery,  to  the  left  of  which  was  Lieutenant  Dubois'  battery. 
Upon  the  right  of  Totten's  battery  were  the  First  Missouri  and  Second 
Kansas  regiments.  The  other  troops  were  advantageously  posted,  Captain 
Plummer's  battalion  of  regulars  occupying  the  left  of  the  line.  The  engage 
ment  soon  became  general. 

Nearest  the  position  taken  by  General  Lyon  were  the  Missouri  troops  un 
der  Generals  Slack,  McBride,  Clark,  Parsons,  and  Rains,  and  these  imme 
diately  advanced  in  large  numbers  against  our  line  where  General  Lyon  was 
commanding  in  person.  They  were  quickly  repulsed,  and  driven  back  clear 
out  of  sight,  escaping  in  great  confusion  and  with  speed  through  the  woods. 
Captain  Plummer's  battalion,  numbering  only  two  hundred  and  fifty  men, 
were  attacked  in  a  corn-field  by  a  Louisiana  and  Arkansas  regiment,  where 
occurred  a  desperate  conflict  of  musketry.  The  gallant  little  band  of  Unionists 
sustained  this  attack  of,  an  overwhelming  force,  every  man  keeping  back 
eight  enemies,  for  more  than  an  hour,  when  Captain  Plummer  was  severely 
4 


26  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

wounded,  and  his  troops  sullenly  fell  back  to  the  main  line,  fighting  a*  they 
went.  Sigel's  rear  attack  had  at  first  been  entirely  successful,  but  an  over 
powering  force  was  soon  sent  against  him,  and  he  was  badly  whipped.  Five 
of  his  six  guns  were  captured,  and  almost  his  entire  command  dispersed  and 
driven  pell-mell  from  the  field.  Meanwhile  the  main  battle  where  Lyon 
himself  commanded  was  raging  furiously.  Both  sides  were  fighting  des 
perately  for  the  field.  The  artillery  of  both  armies  kept  up  a  constant  can 
nonade,  ours  doing  fine  execution,  but  the  shot  of  the  enemy  nearly  all  the 
while  passing  over  the  heads  of  the  Unionists  and  doing  no  harm.  The 
rattle  of  musketry  was  as  rapid,  as  unintermittent,  as  at  the  battle  of  Fair 
Oaks  in  Virginia  nearly  a  year  afterwards,  so  graphically  described  in  the 
celebrated  narrative  of  Mr.  Samuel  Wilkeson.  Fresh  troops,  some  from 
Louisiana,  some  from  Arkansas,  some  from  Texas,  and  others  still  from 
Missouri,  were  again  brought  against  our  line,  which  in  places  wavered,  fell 
back  a  few  yards,  but  regathering  strength  sprang  to  its  place  and  steadily 
drove  back  the  enemy.  Again  and  again  they  moved  to  the  attack,  and 
again  and  again  were  repulsed  with  fearful  slaughter.  The  woods  were 
strewn  with  their  dead  and  wounded,  whilst  our  own  disabled  were  going 
and  being  Tborne  ceaselessly  to  the  rear.  General  Lyon  was  himself  twice 
wounded  before  the  fight  had  been  going  on  two  hours,  and  his  horse  had 
been  shot  dead.  It  was  for  six  hours  as  pitiless  a  storm  of  bullets  as  ever 
fell  upon  a  battle-field,  whilst  the  roar  of  artillery  made  a  continuous  and 
deafening  boom,  and  seemed  to  shake  the  very  houses  so  far  off  as  Spring 
field. 

It  was  while  the  contest  was  thus  fiercely  raging,  that  the  Iowa  First  won 
the  dying  admiration  of  their  beloved  general,  and  imperishable  renown. 
The  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  who  witnessed  the  engage 
ment,  says :  "When  the  First  Iowa  came  up  to  the  front  it  was  in  splendid 
order  and  with  a  firm  tread.  The  Missouri  First  had  been  almost  over 
powered,  were  almost  exhausted  from  the  severe  fighting  in  which  they 
had  been  engaged  for  over  two  hours,  and  had  they  not  been  relieved  must 
soon  have  fallen  before  the  fourth  body  of  fresh  troops  brought  against 
them.  The  lowas  and  Kansans  now  came  upon  the  stage  of  action,  and 
right  well  did  they  fight.  The  former  fought  like  tigers,  stood  firm  as 
trees,  and  saved  us  from  utter  and  overwhelming  defeat.  General  Lyon 
saw  their  indomitable  perseverance  and  bravery,  and  with  almost  his  last 
breath  praised  their  behaviour  in  glowing  terms.  Major  Porter  was  all 
along  the  line,  cheering  his  men  forward,  even  when  bullets  fell  like  hail, 
and  scores  were  dropping  all  around  him.  Companies  B,  under  Lieutenant 
Graham ;  C,  Captain  Mason,  who  was  killed  soon  after  entering  into  action ; 
F,  Captain  Wise ;  H,  Captain  Gottschalk ;  I,  Captain  Herron,  and  K,  Cap 
tain  Cook,  were  in  the  very  thickest  of  the  fight.  The  three  latter  were 


FIRST  IOWA  VOLUNTEER  INFANTRY. 


27 


UNION 

' 
REBEL 


33A.TTLE    OF    WIESOIV'S    CHEEK. 

EXPLANATIONS. 

I.      Captain  Plummer's  Battalion. 

K.    Rebel  Batteries  Masked. 

L.     Colonel  Sigel's  Artillery. 

M.     Sigel's  Brigade,  Third  and  Fifth  Missouri. 

N.     Part  of  Rebel  Train. 

0.     Concealed  Rebel  Batteries. 

X.    Road  through  Rebel  Camp. 

Y.     McCulloch's  Head-Quarters. 

Z.     Rains'  Head-Quarters. 


A.  Captain  Totten's  Battery. 

B.  Dubois'  Battery. 

C.  Log  House. 

D.  Cornfield. 

E.  FIRST  IOWA  VOLUNTEERS. 

F.  Second  Missouri  Volunteers. 

G.  Second  Kansas  Volunteers. 

H.  First  Kansas,  First  Missouri,  and 
Captain  Shaler's  Battalion. 


28  IOWA    AND     THE     EEBELLION. 

afterwards  placed  in  ambush  by  Captain  Granger  of  the  regulars.  Lying 
down  close  to  the  brow  of  the  hill,  they  waited  for  another  attempt  of  the 
enemy  to  retake  their  position.  On  they  came,  in  overwhelming  numbers. 
Not  a  breath  was  heard  among  the  lowas  till  their  enemies  came  within 
thirty-five  or  forty  feet,  when  they  poured  the  contents  of  their  Minie  mus 
kets  into  the  enemy  and  routed  them,  though  suffering  terribly  themselves 
at  the  same  time.  Two  Kansas  companies  afterwards  did  the  same  thing 
on  the  eastern  slope,  and  repulsed  a  vigorous  attack  of  the  enemy. 

"Lyon  now  desired  the  men  to  prepare  to  make  a  bayonet  charge  im 
mediately  after  delivering  their  next  fire,  and  the  lowas  at  once  offered  to 
go,  and  asked  for  a  leader.  On  came  the  enemy.  No  time  could  be  lost 
to  select  a  leader.  'I  will  lead  you,'  exclaimed  Lyon,  'come  on,  brave 
men,'  and  with  an  unnatural  glare  in  his  eyes,  he  had  about  placed  himself 
in  the  van  of  the  lowas,  while  General  Sweeney  took  a  similar  position  to 
lead  on  a  portion  of  the  Kansas  troops  when  the  enemy  came  only  near 
enough  to  discharge  their  pieces,  and  retired  before  the  destructive  fire  of 
our  men.  Before  the  galling  fire  from  the  enemy  fell  the  brave  General 
Lyon." 

The  bloody  contest  had  now  raged  more  than  three  hours.  The  smoke 
of  the  battle  hung  over  the  field  in  a  thick  cloud,  and  penetrated  all  parts 
of  the  woods  like  a  fog,  so  that  the  enemy  could  not  be  seen  at  any  dis 
tance.  The  flashes  of  the  artillery  for  some  time  before  the  death  of 
General  Lyon,  seemed  like  lurid  flames  creeping  through  the  smoke  of  a 
smouldering  conflagration.  The  command  now  devolved  upon  Major 
Sturgis.  An  almost  total  silence  reigned  for  nearly  half  an  hour,  when  the 
rebel  officers  having  succeeded  in  rallying  their  troops,  again  brought  them 
into  action,  Captain  Totten's  battery,  supported  by  the  First  Iowa,  except 
two  companies,  and  the  regulars,  being  the  main  point  of  attack.  "The 
enemy  could  frequently  be  seen,"  says  Sturgis,  in  his  report,  "within 
twenty  feet  of  Totten's  guns,  and  the  smoke  of  the  opposing  lines  was  often 
so  confounded  as  to  seem  but  one.  Not  the  slightest  disposition  to  give 
way  was  manifested  at  any  point,  and  while  Captain  Steele's  battalion, 
which  was  some  yards  in  front  of  the  line,  together  with  the  troops  on  the 
right  and  left,  were  in  imminent  danger  of  being  overwhelmed  by  superior 
numbers,  the  contending  lines  being  almost  muzzle  to  muzzle,  Captain 
Granger  rushed  to  the  rear  and  brought  up  the  supports  of  Dubois'  battery, 
consisting  of  two  or  three  companies  of  the  First  Missouri,  three  companies 
of  the  First  Kansas,  and  two  companies  of  the  First  Iowa,  in  quick  time,  and 
fell  upon  the  enemy's  right  flank,  and  poured  into  it  a  murderous  volley, 
killing  or  wounding  nearly  every  man  within  sixty  or  seventy  yards.  From  this 
moment  a  perfect  rout  took  place  throughout  the  rebel  front,  while  ours  on  the 
right  flank  continued  to  pour  a  galling  fire  into  their  disorganized  masses." 


FIRST     IOWA    VOLUNTEER     INFANTRY.  29 

"The  battle  of  Wilson's  Creek,"  says  O'Conner,  "may  be  called  a 
victory  or  a  defeat ;  but  one  thing  is  certain,  our  army,  and  among  them 
our  First  Iowa  Regiment,  had  the  satisfaction  of  eating  our  rations,  shak 
ing  each  other  by  the  hand,  and  singing  the  'Star  Spangled  Banner,'  on 
the  same  ground  upon  which  we  fired  the  first  gun  in  the  morning."  It 
was  a  victory,  one  more  of  which  like  it  would  have  ruined  the  army. 
The  surprise  was  a  complete  success.  The  main  body  was  all  the  time  and 
at  all  points  successful.  The  rebel  commanders  saw  they  were  whipped, 
and  burned  their  trains  preparatory  to  a  general  retreat.  Their  army  was 
so  completely  worsted  that  they  did  not  pursue  us  a  foot,  though  we  had  a 
long  train  of  coveted  supplies  which  had  to  be  transported  over  a  difficult 
country.  But  it  was  a  victory  so  dearly  bought  that  only  the  finest  military 
genius  could  have  given  it  the  practical  results  of  victory.  Lyon  might 
have  done  it,  but  it  was  not  within  the  power  of  Sturgis  or  such  as  he.  I 
suppose  General  Ben.  McCulloch  was  more  astonished  at  the  victory  which 
had  been  thrust  upon  him  than  any  conqueror  who  ever  lived. 

Even  upon  the  admission  that  it  was  a  defeat  to  the  Union  arms,  it  had 
the  moral  effect  of  a  victory,  just  as  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  had  in  the 
revolution.  The  troops  who  fought  under  Lyon  cannot  be  persuaded  that 
they  were  defeated.  Their  gallant  conduct  won  even  from  the  officers  of 
the  rebel  army,  and  from  rebel  historians,  high  admiration  and  praise.  It 
electrified  the  country  from  the  despair  into  which  it  had  fallen  after  the 
disaster  of  Bull  Run,  and  put  a  stop  forever  to  the  exaggerated  boastings 
of  the  rebels.  It  taught  them  that  when  placed  man  to  man  against  western 
troops  they  could  not  stand  an  hour.  In  teaching  this  valuable  lesson,  the 
Iowa  First  brought  to  itself  and  the  State  immortal  honor.  According  to  the 
rule  which  has  been  adopted  by  the  War  Office  the  term  of  service  of  the 
men  had  expired  some  days  before  the  battle.  But  they  went  into  the 
fight  with  alacrity  and  zest,  and  both  officers  and  men,  according  to  uni 
versal  testimony,  behaved  with  the  utmost  efficiency  and  bravery.  ' '  No 
troops,"  says  Lieutenant-Colonel  Merritt,  who,  on  account  of  the  sicknesa 
of  Colonel  Bates,  commanded  the  regiment,  and  who  acted  with  great 
courage  and  skill  throughout  the  battle,  "no  troops,  regular,  or  volunteer, 
ever  sustained  their  country's  flag  with  more  determined  valor  and  fortitude; 
they  have  crowned  themselves  with  imperishable  honor,  and  must  occupy  a 
conspicuous  place  in  the  history  of  their  country." 

The  regiment  lost  in  this  engagement,  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing, 
one  hundred  and  fifty-five  men.  There  were  twenty-one  killed  on  the  spot  or 
mortally  wounded,  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  less  or  more  severely  wounded, 
and  two  reported  missing,  supposed  to  be  killed.  The  killed  and  mor 
tally  wounded  were  reported:  Shelby  Norman,  Company  A;  W.  R. 
Munsey,  Cyrus  Douglass,  James  E.  Edgington,  Company  B;  Captain 


30  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Alexander  L.  Mason,  Alexander  Buchanan,  Charles  C.  Michener,  Company 
C;  Edward  Bonitz,  Company  D;  Jacob  V.  Whipple  (printed  Whippo 
in  Adjutant-General's  report,)  Franklin  Mann,  Company  F;  Hans  J.  Nehm, 
Heinrich  Wright,  Company  G;  F.  Rhomberg,  Louis  Goennel,  Peter  Jaeggi, 
George  Kargel,  Frederick  Otto,  Company  H;  J.  H.  McHenry,  J.  J.  Wall, 
Company  I;  Perry  Hoyt,  Company  K.  These  were  the  honored  men  who 
first  gave  their  lives  in  battle  from  the  State  of  Iowa.  Not  a  few  of  the 
wounded,  too  severely  hurt  to  be  moved  with  the  army,  were  left  at  Spring 
field,  where  they  long  suffered  with  patience  and  fortitude ;  but  the  greater 
proportion  of  the  disabled,  were,  happily,  transported  in  ambulances  and 
wagons  to  Holla,  when  the  army  retreated  thitherward.1 

And  that  was  very  soon.  Springfield  was  left  on  the  morning  after  the 
battle,  the  army  going  to  Holla  by  a  circuitous  march,  in  order  to  cross  the 
Gasconade  River  where  it  could  be  forded.  The  distance  was  one  hundred  and 
thirty  miles.  A  portion  of  the  time  the  Iowa  regiment  formed  the  rear 
guard  of  the  column.  A  considerable  part  of  the  way,  the  country  is  rough, 
rugged,  almost  mountainous.  It  is  like  that  over  which  the  march  to 
Springfield  was  made.  "The  soil  is  rich,"  says  a  correspondent  of  the 
Muscatine  Journal,  "but  full  of  lime-stones,  which  show  themselves  on  the 
surface  of  the  ground  about  as  thick  as  onions  in  Scott  County,  to  the  great 
annoyance  of  plowmen,  and  the  especial  annoyance  of  us  poor  devils  who 


1  The  wounded  were:  Adjutant  George  W.  Waldron;  Company  A — First  Sergeant,  Hugh  J. 
Campbell,  N.  M.  Brown,  Q.  F.  Greenhow,  F.  M.  Ileaton,  Jesse  Lucas,  Alexander  Miller ;  Company 
B — Lieutenant  Harvey  Graham;  Sergeant  Zachariah  Shearer;  Corporal  A.  L.  McPherson,  Cor 
poral  James  Robertson,  Corporal  John  W.  Kinsey,  Samuel  B.  Austin,  A.  H.  Brown,  William  Butler, 
M.  Champion,  Lloyd  H.  Dillon,  William  M.  DeCamp,  George  W.  Dennis,  William  Ferguson,  William 
H.  H.  Goodrell,  R.  M.  Hampton,  Charles  H.  Hilton,  A.  Q.  Lang,  James  Murray,  William  Moffit,  Lemuel 
Madden,  H.  B.  Pmnphrey,  A.  T.  Smith,  William  Tyler,  James  H.  Trimbell,  Charles  E.  Thomson, 
James  Watson,  George  II.  Walter,  (Missing,  I.  II.  Sale,  A.  Walker ;)  Company  C— Lieutenant  Wil 
liam  Pursell,  Sergeant  Charles  G.  Hays,  Corporal  A.  N.  Snyder,  Corporal  Benjamin  S.  Stone,  Robert 
Armstrong,  0.  N.  Bennett,  J.  E.  Bridges,  J.  F.  M.  Cogdal,  Moses  Etherton,  Charles  S.  Fox,  Benjamin 
F.  Fobes,  John  A.  Harriman,  Aaron  V.  Jewell,  Jacob  Karn,  Joseph  Lane,  Gottleib  Maurer,  Richard 
R.  Madden,  Albert  Jarves,  Jerome  Norton,  J.  D.  Oldridge,  William  Pickering,  E.  Patton,  J.  H. 
Ricketts,  A.  A.  Shane,  William  Stewart,  William  G.  Stone,  J.  R.  Underwood ;  Company  D— Ser 
geant  Henry  Rose,  George  Ruff;  Company  E — Corporal  William  J.  Fuller,  Henry  C.  Cousins, 
Thomas  S.  Canfield,  George  Lawrence,  Reuben  M.  Miles ;  Company  F —  Charles  A.  Hanson,  Robert 
W.Hamilton;  Company  G — Ernst  Arp,  D.  I.  Brammer,  F.  Dose,  Peter  Einfeldt,  Joseph  I.  Enderle, 
William  Keil,  Emil  Magnus,  Johann  I.  Murbach,  Jens  Matheisen,  Jacob  Flaff,  F.  I.  Prein,  Johann  I. 
Peterson,  Hans  Rahn,  Hans  Reimers,  August  Rohlf,  Henry  Selken,  Heinrich  Sievers,  Heinrich  Stol- 
tenberg,  C.  Tadarvald ;  Company  H —  Captain  Frederick  Gottschalk,  Sergeant  Frederick  Dettmer, 
Frederick  Gallee,  Abe  Herbest,  Ulrich  Wyss,  George  Buehler,  Frederick  Deggendorf,  Adam  Doerr, 
John  Frey,  Jesse  Lichtenhain,  Edward  Merz,  Deitrich  Meyer,  Frederick  Otto,  Andrew  Schoeni,  Leo 
Schumacher,  John  Steinle,  Jacob  Valerius,  E.  Weirich,  Rudolf  Weinandt,  William  Wille ;  Company 
I—  Corporal  Robert  Williams,  George  II.  Ballou,  John  Bell,  Orson  Bennet,  Charles  N.  Clark,  Henry 
C.  Darrah,  C.  Gregory,  John  Leary,  S.  W.  Mattis,  Christopher  W.  Moreing,  A.  G.  McDonald,  James 
O'Grady,  George  S.  Pierce,  Edgar  Tisdale,  Charles  J.  Wiegel,  Lawrence  Webb;  Company  K — Ser 
geant  Edward  Coulter,  John  M.  Chase,  Samuel  Daniels.  John  H.  Fitzgerald,  Joseph  Italian,  E.  R. 
McKee,  William  D.  Robbins,  James  0.  Stewart,  William  H.  Shafer,  George  F.  Schoouover,  John  B. 
Stiue,  and  Joseph  Lobear,  of  Company  A. 


FIRST     IOWA    VOLUNTEER     INFANTRY.  31 

ha vo  to  sleep  on  them  every  night."  Private  Goodsel  Buckingham  pleas 
antly  says,  "The  stones  are  small,  numerous,  and  sharp.  To  make  our  beds, 
we  lay  our  blankets  on  the  '  stone-pile, '  and  then  lay  ourselves  down  on  our 
blankets,  putting  our  hands  under  us  and  pulling  out  the  stones  where  they 
hurt  worst,  till  all  is  comfortable!  Lying  in  one  position  we  can  sleep 
soundly  till  morning.  It  generally  takes  '  from  fifteen  minutes  to  a  quarter 
of  an  hour '  to  make  one  of  these  Ozark  mountain-beds,  but  they  are  very 
permanent  when  once  made."  On  the  16th,  the  Gasconade  was  passed, 
and  on  the  evening  of  that  day  the  army  pitched  camp  within  seven  miles 
of  Holla.  After  supper  Colonel  Bates,  who  had  traveled  in  an  ambulance 
from  Springfield,  called  his  regiment  into  line,  and,  announcing  that  the 
train  would  leave  Rolla  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  asked  the  men 
whether  they  would  prefer  to  go  on  at  once  or  remain  where  they  were  dur 
ing  the  night.  There  was  a  unanimous  expression  in  favor  of  marching  im 
mediately.  The  regiment  was  entirely  out  of  rations  and  almost  entirely 
without  clothing.  Their  term  of  service  had  some  time  before  expired. 
They  were  anxious  to  get  home.  As  they  took  up  their  line  of  march 
along  the  road,  on  both  sides  of  which  the  army  was  encamped,  they  were 
met  and  cordially  shaken  by  the  hand  by  hundreds  of  their  comrades  from 
Missouri  and  Kansas.  As  the  sounds  of  their  footsteps  died  away  to  those 
in  camp  they  spontaneously  lifted  up  their  voices  in  cheers  for  "the  Iowa 
boys,"  which  awoke  the  slumbering  echoes  of  the  surrounding  hills  till  they 
seemed  themselves  to  shout  of  the  home  to  which  the  brave  men  were 
hastening. 

At  Rolla  they  received  their  clothing,  and  at  an  early  hour  of  the  day 
went  aboard  the  train  for  St.  Louis,  reaching  that  city  the  same  evening. 
They  were  met  at  the  depot  by  thousands  of  citizens,  anxious  to  hear  all 
about  Wilson's  Creek,  by  hundreds  more,  anxious  to  inquire  of  relatives 
and  friends  who  had  been  in  the  battle.  They  remained  in  the  city  a  few 
days  whilst  the  rolls  were  being  perfected,  when  they  were  paid  off,  and 
mustered  out.  When  the  different  companies  reached  their  homes  in  Iowa 
they  were  welcomed  with  the  most  unbounded  kindness  and  enthusiasm. 
Everywhere  they  were  treated  like  heroes. 

The  service  performed  by  the  First  Iowa  Volunteers  was  of  very  great 
value  to  the  country  and  of  incalculable  worth  to  the  State.  From  the  time 
they  left  Keokuk  till  they  reached  Holla,  they  marched  more  than  six  hun 
dred  and  twenty  miles.  At  the  very  turning-point  of  the  battle  of  Wilson's 
Creek  they  saved  the  day,  and  saved  the  army.  With  their  gallant  com 
rades  there,  they  gave  the  country  an  exhibition  of  courage,  of  all  fighting 
qualities,  of  which  the  country  at  that  time  stood  sadly  in  need.  They 
buried  the  shame  of  the  recent  disaster  in  the  east,  and  brought  again  to 
life  the  national  glory.  The  part  our  own  regiment  there  performed  re- 


32  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

fleeted  untarnished  honor  upon  the  State,  gave  it  at  once  a  reputation  and 
standing  of  which  any  country  might  justly  boast.  The  value  of  commenc 
ing  a  thing  right  can  hardly  be  overestimated.  The  First  Iowa  commenced 
the  State's  career  in  the  war  so  finely,  that  it  made  an  example  to  be  imi 
tated  from  the  very  start,  of  which  all  the  other  organizations  which  soon 
followed  took  full  advantage.  Henceforth  our  regiments  were  in  honor 
bound  to  maintain  unsullied  the  proud  reputation  which  the  First  had  given 
to  the  State,  and  we  shall  see  that  in  no  single  instance  did  they  fail  in  that 
regard.  Moreover,  the  regiment  was  a  school  for  other  regiments.  It  re 
turned  to  the  State  about  eight  hundred  strong,  and  it  was  not  long  till  at 
least  six  hundred  were  members  of  other  regiments.  Major-General  Her- 
ron  was  a  captain  in  the  First  Iowa,  and  so  was  Brigadier-Greneral  Mathies. 
There  are  many  field  and  line  officers  who  honored  the  service  in  many  bat 
tles  since  Wilson's  Creek  who  were  there  first  under  fire ;  many  who  occupied 
the  post  of  honor,  the  private  station,  in  our  veteran  regiments,  who  saw 
Lyon  fall  on  Oak  Hill.  "Whether,  therefore,  we  reflect  upon  what  this  gal 
lant  body  of  men  did  for  the  country,  or  for  the  State  of  Iowa ;  what  it  did 
directly  and  what  indirectly ;  what  it  did  while  organized,  or  what  so  many 
of  its  members  have  since  done,  it  is  but  the  simple  duty  of  us  all  to  bear 
it  gratefully  in  our  memories  forevermore. 


CHAPTER    II. 

SECOND    INFANTRY. 

CRGANIZATION  AT  KEOKUK— SAMUEL  R.  CURTIS,  JAMES  M.  TUTTLE,  AND  M.  M. 
CROCKER,  THE  FIRST  FIELD  OFFICERS— MOVE  TO  WESTERN  MISSOURI— IMPORT 
ANT  SERVICES  THERE— AT  BIRD'S  POINT— GUARD  OF  McDOWELL  COLLEGE  PRISON 
—"DEAD  RABBITS"—  THE  BATTLE  OF  FORT  &ONELSON  —  TRE  IOWA 
SECOND  THE  BRAVEST  OF  THE  BRAVE— BATTLE  OF  SHILOH— SIEGE  OF  CORINTH 
-QUIET— MARCH  TO  IUKA— BATTLE  OF  CORINTH— CAMPAIGNING  IN  TENNESSEE 
—WINTER  QUARTERS  AT  PULASKI— RE-ENLISTMENT— THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  AT 
LANTA—THE  THIRD  INFANTRY  CONSOLIDATED  WITH  THE  SECOND— THE  MARCH 
TO  SAVANNAH— THROUGH  THE  CAROLINAS— HOME. 

THE  Second  Regiment  of  Iowa  Volunteer  Infantry,  one  of  the  most  dis 
tinguished  of  our  commands,  was  organized  at  Keokuk  very  soon  after  the 
commencement  of  the  war.  It  was  the  first  regiment  of  three  years'  men 
that  our  State  sent  into  the  field,  and  the  first  of  all  to  leave  Iowa  for  the 
theatre  of  war.  Its  companies  were  enrolled  during  that  first  splendid 
uprising  of  enthusiasm  which  followed  the  atrocious  bombardment  of  Fort 
Surnter,  and  they  had  within  their  ranks  many  men  of  great  talents  and 
of  considerable  reputation  in  the  State.  There  never  was,  perhaps,  in  any 
country  a  military  organization  of  equal  numbers  which  possessed  more 
men  of  merit. 

The  intelligence  of  the  easy  victory  of  the  insurgents  over  the^  mild- 
mannered  Major  Anderson  had  scarcely  become  universally  known  in  our 
State,  when  the  companies  which  afterwards  composed  the  Second  Iowa 
were  in  quarters,  ready  to  march  to  regimental  rendezvous.  The  city  of 
Keokuk  was  fixed  upon  as  the  place  of  organization,  and  thither  the  com 
panies  moved  soon  after  the  first  bloodshed  of  the  war.  Company  A 
was  from  Lee  county.  Richard  H.  Huston  was  captain,  and  T.  I. 
McKenney  and  S.  M.  Archer  lieutenants.  Company  B,  from  Scott 
county,  was  commanded  by  Captain  Robert  M.  Littler ;  John  Gr.  Huntington 
and  John  Flanagan  were  lieutenants.  Company  C  was  also  mainly  from 
Scott ;  J.  De  Witt  Brewster,  captain,  Jonathan  S.  Slaymaker,  William  F. 
5  33 


34  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Holmes,  lieutenants.  Company  D  was  from  Polk  county.  Of  this 
company  Marcellus  M.  Crocker  was  commanding  officer.  His  lieutenants 
were  Norton  L.  Dykeman  and  Noah  Webster  Mills.  Crocker  being  soon 
promoted  major.  Mills  was  appointed  captain.  Jefferson  county  was  the 
home  of  most  of  the  men  of  Company  E ;  Frederick  Metzler,  captain ; 
George  Strong,  Stephen  D.  Gorsuch,  lieutenants.  Captain  Allen  F. 
Brooks,  Lieutenants  A.  "VVilkins  and  John  T.  Stewart,  brought  in  Com 
pany  F,  from  Van  Buren  county.  Davis  county,  of  her  generous  patriot 
ism,  contributed  Company  G;  James  Baker  being  captain;  James  B. 
Weaver  and  Samuel  A.  Moore  lieutenants.  We  shall  see  that  Baker  and 
Weaver  each  rose  to  the  command  of  the  regiment,  and  that  the  former 
gave  his  life  to  the  Union  on  one  of  the  most  glorious  fields  of  the  long 
contest  for  the  Union.  Company  H  hailed  from  Washington  county; 
Henry  R.  Cowles  was  captain ;  Allan  L.  Thompson,  Norton  P.  Chipman, 
were  lieutenants.  Captain  Hugh  P.  Cox  commanded  a  company  from 
Clinton,  of  which  Noel  B.  Howard  (afterwards  colonel)  and  Thomas 
Snowden  were  subalterns.  Company  K  was  from  Wapello  county; 
Charles  C.  Cloutman,  captain ;  Alonzo  Eaton,  F.  W.  Hawley,  lieutenants. 

The  field  officers  of  this  regiment  were  elected  by  vote  of  the  officers  and 
men  of  these  companies.  In  this  manner  Samuel  R.  Curtis  was  chosen 
Colonel,  James  M.  Tuttle,  Lieutenant-Colonel,  and  M.  M.  Crocker,  Major, 
all  of  whom  afterwards  became  general  officers,  distinguished  for  talents 
and  efficiency.  Curtis  became  a  Major-General  of  Volunteers,  and  at  one 
time  commanded  the  Department  of  Missouri.  He  commanded  that  army 
which  won  the  great  battle  of  Pea  Ridge,  and  highly  distinguished  himself 
during  the  war.  Tuttle  became  a  Brigadier-General,  and  on  many  fields, 
commanding  first  a  brigade  and  afterwards  a  division,  exhibited  soldierly 
qualities  which  gained  for  him  great  renown.  Crocker  rose  to  the  rank  of 
Brevet  Major-General,  and  to  the  achievement  of  a  military  fame  which 
shall  endure  so  long  as  the  capture  of  Jackson,  and  the  victory  of  Cham 
pion  Hills  shall  be  remembered  among  men. 

Lieutenant  Norton  P.  Chipman  was  appointed  Adjutant.  He,  too,  rose 
to  prominent  view  in  the  annals  of  the  war.  Serving  with  the  regiment  till 
some  time  after  he  was  promoted  Major,  wounded  at  Donelson,  made  an 
Aide-de-Camp  in  the  regular  army  with  the  rank  of  Colonel,  he  conducted 
the  affairs  of  a  department,  as  General  Curtis'  Chief  of  Staff,  with 
acknowledged  success,  and  afterwards  at  the  national  capital,  in  the  Bureau 
of  Military  Justice,  was  a  conspicuous  person  on  that  forum  where  the 
forensic  abilities  of  noted  advocates  were  tested  to  their  utmost.  He  it  was 
who  was  Judge  Advocate  of  the  Court  which  tried  the  monster  Wirz,  of 
Andersonville  prison  infamy,  and  who  did  all  that  one  man  could  do  to 
relieve  that  court  from  the  odium  which  was  attached  to  it  by  reason  of  the 


SECOND     INFANTRY.  35 

overbearing,  tyrannical  conduct  of  the  President,  Major-General  Lew.  Wal 
lace,  the  Jefferies  of  our  military  tribunals,  whose  conduct  as  a  judge  was 
no  less  worthy  of  unmixed  condemnation  than  that  of  Wirz  as  a  jailer. 
Colonel  Chipman  was  about  this  time  brevetted  Brigadier-General.     To 
return :  Lieutenant  John  T.  Stewart,  of  Van  Buren,  was  appointed  Quarter 
master  of  the  regiment,  Dr.  Wells  R  Marsh,  Surgeon,  and  William  W.  < 
Nassau,  assistant.     It  was  not  till  some'time  after  the  organization  that 
Rev.  Andrew  Axline  was  commissioned  chaplain. 

The  companies  were  mustered  into  the  service,  the  27th  and  28th  of  May, 
1861,  under  the  proclamation  of  the  President  dated  the  3d  of  the  same 
month.  The  field  officers  being  elected  about  the  same  time,  the  command 
at  once  entered  upon  the  interesting  duty  of  learning  the  profession  of 
arms.  The  companies,  before  regimental  organization,  had  received  in 
struction  in  drill ;  but  the  work  was  now  begun  in  earnest,  and  the  whole 
military  machine  fairly  put  in  motion. 

The  regiment  left  Keokuk  on  the  13th  of  June,  and  disembarking  at 
Hannibal,  moved  thence  by  cars  to  the  western  part  of  Missouri,  head 
quarters  at  St.  Joseph.  It  was  during  the  reign  of  terror  in  Missouri  that 
the  command  made  this  journey  across  the  state.  It  remained  at  St. 
Joseph,  in  guard  of  the  railroad  eastward,  and  in  the  performance  of  the 
line  of  duties  required  by  the  turbulent  state  of  the  populace  till  the  latter 
part  of  July.  The  services  of  the  regiment  in  keeping  down  the  discon 
tented — in  preserving,  in  fact,  this  part  of  Missouri  in  the  Union — were 
of  inestimable  worth  not  only  to  the  state,  but  to  the  national  cause. 

Having  thus  served  their  country  efficiently  at  St.  Joseph,  the  Second 
Iowa  Volunteers  were  ordered  to  Bird's  Point,  well  known  to  all  who  have 
navigated  the  Mississippi.  It  is,  geographically,  to  southeastern  Missouri, 
about  as  St.  Joseph  is  to  the  northwestern  part.  The  regiment,  at  Bird's 
Point,  and  in  the  region  roundabout,  as  well  in  Kentucky  along  the  river, 
as  in  Missouri  as  far  back  as  Pilot  Knob,  performed  duties  not  unlike  those 
in  which  they  had  been  engaged  at  St.  Joseph.  The  command  here  took 
the  second  degree  in  soldiering,  and  what  with  services  at  and  near  Bird's 
Point  and  Pilot  Knob  became  well  prepared  for  the  field  of  battle.  The 
fact  of  principal  interest,  however,  connected  with  this  part  of  the  regi 
ment's  history,  was  its  unhealthfulness.  When  the  command  returned  to 
St.  Louis,  in  the  latter  part  of  October,  there  were  only  about  four  hundred 
men  fit  for  duty.  The  sick  list  was  large  in  every  company. 

Meanwhile,  Colonel  Curtis  had  been  promoted  to  the  rank  of  brigadier- 
general,  and  Colonel  Tuttle  was  in  command  of  the  regiment.  Major 
Crocker  was  promoted  lieutenant-colonel,  but  being  commissioned  soon 
afterwards  colonel  of  the  Thirteenth  regiment,  was  succeeded  early  in 
November  by  Lieutenant- Colonel  Baker,  promoted  from  captain  of 


36  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Company  G.  Adjutant  Chipman  had  meantime  been  promoted  major. 
Lieutenant  T.  I.  McKenney,  who  probably  carries  as  much  rebel  lead  in 
him  as  any  man  in  America,  succeeded  Chipman  as  adjutant.  He  after 
wards  was  made  assistant  adjutant-general  on  the  staff  of  General  Strong, 
and  there,  then  on  General  Curtis'  staff,  afterwards  serving  with  Pope, 
again  with  Curtis— all  the  while  actively  engaged  during  the  war,  and  at 
last  becoming  a  brevet  brigadier-general—he  was  always  vigilant,  active, 
and  brave,  one  of  the  most  meritorious  of  the  staff  officers  which  Iowa 
contributed  to  the  army. 

The  regiment  remained  at  St.  Louis,  recuperating  and  on  guard  duty, 
during  the  winter.  In  the  city  there  was  a  certain  institution  called 
"McDowell  College,"  at  this  time  used  as  a  sort  of  prison  for  rebels  cap 
tured  with  arms  in  their  hands  or  treason  in  their  hearts,  which,  by  con 
struction,  amounted  to  the  same  thing.  The  regiment  was  assigned  the 
duty  of  guarding  this  college,  or  prison.  Now,  whether  correctly  or  not, 
it  was  generally  regarded  as  a  "  secession  concern."  That  fact  is  probably 
enough  to  account  for  its  conversion  into  a  prison  for  rebels  and  malcon 
tents.  But,  though  it  was  so  converted  in  the  main,  it  seems  that  certain 
attributes  of  collegiate  sanctity  still  clung  to  it.  The  "museum"  remained 
intact,  and,  filled  with  specimens,  "dead  rabbits"  and  stuffed  beasts  of  all 
kinds,  wherewithal  to  illustrate  the  science  of  Buffon  and  the  imagination 
of  poor  Goldsmith,  was  ordered  to  be  sacredly  guarded  from  vandalism 
and  pillage.  This  was  one  of  the  duties  of  the  Second  infantry.  Unfor 
tunately  there  was  a  "hole  in  the  wall,"  through  which  some  vandal,  not 
having  the  fear  of  God  before  his  eyes,  crept  into  the  museum,  and 
feloniously  stole,  took,  and  carried  away  some  of  the  dead  rabbits  and 
stuffed  beasts  aforesaid.  All  things  considered,  it  was,  perhaps,  a  venial 
offence.  But  the  learned  Buffons  and  the  gossiping  Goldsmiths  of  St. 
Louis  took  it  in  high  dudgeon,  and  raised  a  terrible  clatter  about  the  ears 
of  the  military  authorities.  General  Halleck,  now  in  command  of  the 
department,  who  had  committed  a  miserable  translation  of  one  French 
work  and  some  stealings  from  others,  sympathized  with  the  students  of 
Buffon  and  of  the  dead  rabbits.  General  Schuyler  Hamilton,  at  this  time 
commanding  the  post,  if  I  mistake  not,  sympathized,  as  he  was  bound  to 
do  by  the  Army  Regulations,  with  the  commanding  general,  and  the 
regiment,  not  knowing  who  had  committed  the  offence,  or,  if  knowing,  not 
having  a  man  in  the  command  mean  enough  to  tell,  was  publicly  disgraced 
by  general  order !  This  happened  just  as  the  regiment  was  about  to  march 
to  the  levee  to  embark  for  Fort  Donelson,  Tennessee.  When  it  did  thus 
march,  on  the  10th  of  February,  1862,  it  marched  in  public  disgrace — 
without  music  and  with  its  colors  furled.  It  was  an  unjust  punishment, 


SECOND     INFANTRY.  37 

but  it  was  soon  wiped  out  by  one  of  the  best,  bravest,  brightest  achieve 
ments  which  are  to  be  found  anywhere  among  all  the  records  of  warfare. 

During  the  year  1861  the  war  had  not  been,  upon  the  whole,  either  vigo 
rously  or  skilfully  conducted.  The  Union  arms  had  suffered  from  the  cam 
paigns  of  the  year.  General  McClellan,  in  Western  Virginia,  had  gained 
some  reputation,  Grant  had  gained  a  victory  and  nearly  lost  it  at  Belmont, 
Butler  had  achieved  a  fine  success  in  Hatteras  Inlet,  Du  Pont  had  splendidly 
won  Port  Royal,  and  there  were  other  achievements  which  served  to  keep 
the  national  heart  from  absolute  despondency.  But,  take  it  by  and  large, 
the  year  had  been  justly  accounted  as  showing  a  disastrous  campaign.  A 
fortnight  of  the  new  year  had  not  elapsed  when  an  event  took  place  which 
revivified  the  national  courage,  and  brought  to  life  again  the  manly  enthu 
siasm  of  the  people.  This  was  the  appointment  of  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  as 
Secretary  of  War,  in  place  of  Simon  Cameron.  The  latter  was,  perhaps, 
the  best  representative  of  Pennsylvania  politics,  here  only  considered  as 
touching  the  school  of  the  schemers, — and  not  the  school  of  which  Thaddeus 
Stevens  (the  noblest  Roman  of  them  all  in  Congress)  is  head — that  could 
have  been  found  in  the  State.  But  that  school  never  did,  and  never  can, 
educate  a  statesman.  One  might  as  well  expect  a  Morris,  or  a  Hamilton, 
to  be  developed  on  the  greasy  counter  in  a  cellar  of  a  "  shent  per  shent" 
broker  in  pawns.  But  Stanton,  a  man  terribly  in  earnest,  with  a  will  more 
determined  than  that  of  Jackson,  a  mind  of  gigantic  power,  energy  unsur 
passed  by  that  of  any  man  who  ever  lived,  and  patriotism  always  a-glow, 
infused  into  the  Department  and  into  the  Army  some  sparks  of  his  uncon 
querable  spirit,  and  organized  victory  for  the  Union  arms.  He  has  since, 
perhaps,  done  some  things  which  he  ought  not  to  have  done,  and  left 
undone  things  which  he  ought  to  have  done ;  but  that  history  of  the  war 
which  shall  not  place  him  among  the  most  valuable  instruments  of  our 
great  victory  will  leave  a  plain  truth  untold.  The  splendid  campaigns  in 
the  West,  in  1862,  which  more  than  reversed  the  campaigns  of  1861,  con 
quered  a  large  portion  of  the  territory  of  the  rebellion,  and  everywhere 
defeated  its  armies,  were  in  no  slight  degree  inspired  by  the  new  Secretary. 
The  first  of  these  great  victories,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  inspiring  of  the 
whole  war  was, — 

THE  BATTLE  OF  FORT  DONET^SON. 

General  Grant  left  Fort  Henry  on  the  12th  of  February,  1862,  with  a 
force  of  about  fifteen  thousand  men,  for  the  purpose  of  attacking  Fort 
Donelson,  a  strong  work  on  the  Cumberland,  defended  by  a  garrison  some 
eighteen  thousand  strong,  the  whole  under  the  command  of  the  rebel 
general  and  villain,  John  B.  Floyd,  of  Virginia,  who  had  associated  with 
him,  or  under  him,  Generals  Pillow,  Buckner,  and  Bushrod  R.  Johnson. 


38  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

General  Grant's  forces  were  in  two  divisions  commanded  respectively  by 
General  John  A.  McClernand  and  General  C.  F.  Smith.  The  advance  ap 
proached  the  rebel  works  the  same  day,  and  with  considerable  skirmishing 
took  position  on  a  line  parallel  with  the  enemy's  outer  works,  McClernand 
on  the  right,  Smith  on  the  left.  On  the  day  following,  the  investment  was 
extended  on  both  flanks  of  the  enemy,  but  awaiting  the  gun-boats  under 
Flag-Officer  Foote,  and  additional  troops  Bent  around  py  water  as  well  as 
reenforcements  from  Cairo  and  above,  General  Grant  made  no  attack  in 
force  on  the  13th,  though  there  was  fighting  all  along  the  lines,  and  espe 
cially  on  our  left. 

The  fleet  arrived  in  the  evening,  and,  the  reenforcements  disembarking, 
augmented  the  Union  army  to  a  force  of  about  twenty-five  thousand  of  all 
arms.  General  Lew.  Wallace  had  also  arrived  with  a  third  division  and 
taken  position  on  the  centre  of  our  lines.  About  noon  of  the  14th,  our 
line  of  investment  extended  well  round  the  rebel  works  from  near  the  town 
of  Dover,  south  of  Donelson,  to  a  cultivated  farm  below  the  works  on  the 
river,  off  which  lay  the  gun-boat  fleet. 

The  rebels  meanwhile  had  been  strengthening  their  position,  and  prepar 
ing  for  defense  by  unceasing  activity.  The  Fort  itself  was  a  formidable 
work.  Built  on  a  hill,  about  one  hundred  feet  above  the  waters  of  the 
Cumberland,  it  enclosed  nearly  one  hundred  acres  of  land.  It  was  not, 
however,  strongly  mounted.  Four  siege  guns,  two  twenty-four-pounders, 
one  sixty-four-pounder,  and  one  twelve-pounder  howitzer  completed  the 
armament.  At  the  base  of  the  hill,  near  the  river,  were  two  heavy  water- 
batteries.  One  mounted  no  less  than  nine  guns,  of  which  eight  were  rifled 
thirty-two-pounders,  and  the  other  was  a  ten-inch  columbiad.  The  other 
water  battery  had  only  three  guns,  but  they  were  of  prodigious  power. 
One  was  a  rifled  sixty-four-pounder  columbiad,  which  was  flanked  on  either 
side  by  a  howitzer  of  the  same  calibre.  Between  Fort  Donelson  and  Dover, 
but  a  little  advanced  from  the  direct  line,  was  a  heavy  breast-work,  capable 
of  a  stout  defence.  The  country  round  about  the  Fort  is  a  succession  of 
hills — a  most  rugged  surface,  cut  up  by  streamlets,  ravines,  and  deep  gulleys. 
At  the  average  distance  of  about  one  mile  from  the  fort  was  a  line  of  rifle- 
pits,  extending,  with  but  slight  intervals,  all  the  way  round  the  principal 
work,  from  near  the  river  above  to  the  river  below.  There  were  also  sec 
ondary  lines  of  rifle-pits,  not  parallel  with  the  main  line,  and  admirably 
adapted  to  enfilade  any  assailants  who  should  carry  the  outer  works  and  ap 
proach  the  fort.  Between  the  fort  and  the  rifle-pits  there  were  formidable 
abatis,  making  an  assault  everywhere  difficult.  These  strong  defensive 
works  were  manned  by  a  heavy  garrison  of  weh1  disciplined  troops,  strongly 
supported  by  field  artillery — Pillow  being  on  the  rebel  left,  Colonel  Heiman, 
with  a  brigade,  joining  him  on  the  right,  then  Johnson,  and  Buckner  on  the 


SECOND     INFANTRY. 


39 


40  IOWA     AND     THE     EEBELLION. 

right.  Koyd's  own  troops  were  also  on  the  left.  All  were  engaged 
strengthening  their  position  whilst  our  troops  and  gun-boats  were  making 
ready  for  the  fight,  as  has  been  stated. 

On  the  13th,  there  was  very  heavy  skirmishing  all  day  long.  Our  troops 
met  with  considerable  resistance,  and  in  gaining  their  positions  in  the  line 
of  investment  sustained  considerable  loss.  The  night  following  was  one  of 
great  suffering  and  hardship  to  the  whole  army.  The  troops  lay  within 
point-blank  musket  and  rifle  range  of  the  enemy's  works;  and  at  dark  a 
storm  of  rain  set  in  which  soon  turned  into  sleet,  then  into  snow,  and  ac 
companied  by  fierce  blasts  of  wind,  beat  upon  the  soldiery,  without  fires, 
and  most  of  them  on  the  front  even  without  blankets,  so  that  with  chatter 
ing  teeth  they  spent  a  night  of  unspeakable  dreariness. 

On  the  14th,  the  first  determined  attack  was  made,  and  by  the  navy 
under  Flag-Officer  Foote.  That  gallant  sailor  moved  to  the  attack  of  the 
fort  at  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  with  four  iron-clad  and  two  wooden  gun 
boats.  Reaching  a  point  one  mile  and  a  half  below  the  work,  the  heavy 
guns  of  the  fleet  opened  on  the  enemy's  batteries,  and  advancing  up  the 
stream  kept  up  a  heavy  and  constant  fire,  the  deep  boom  of  which,  shaking 
the  very  trees  of  the  forest,  served  to  animate  our  troops  still  shivering  in 
the  bitter  cold,  with  renewed  spirit  and  hope.  Five  of  Flag-Officer  Foote's 
vessels  delivered  direct  fire  against  the  rebel  works,  the  shot  and  shell  from 
fifteen  heavy  rifled  guns  tearing  up  the  parapets,  and  plunging  deep  into 
the  earth  around  the  enemy's  batteries,  whilst  the  sixth  boat,  moving  up  in 
rear,  kept  the  air  alive  with  shells,  which  fell  with  wonderful  accuracy 
amongst  the  rebel  gunners.  But  all  this  terrible  cannonading  did  not  suc 
ceed  in  drawing  the  enemy's  fire  till  the  vessels  came  within  short  range 
of  the  batteries.  They  then  opened  with  fearful  vigor.  Their  heavy  guns 
poured  huge  masses  of  iron  upon  the  devoted  fleet,  tearing  off  the  iron 
casing  of  one  vessel,  making  her  timbers  crack,  and  splintering  them  as  by 
a  stroke  of  lightning.  The  metal  of  the  vessels  rang  with  a  strange, 
sonorous  sound,  when  struck  by  the  heavy  missiles,  till  it  seemed  like  the 
ringing  of  many  huge  iron  bells.  Two  of  the  vessels  were  soon  seriously 
disabled,  two  badly  damaged,  and  the  fleet  dropped  down  the  stream  out 
of  range  after  a  contest  of  about  ninety  minutes,  having  lost  fifty-four  men 
killed  and  wounded. 

Meantime  the  army  proceeded  with  the  investment,  which  on  the  even 
ing  of  the  14th  was  complete  on  the  west  bank  of  the  river,  except  in  front 
of  the  enemy's  extreme  left.  The  fighting  which  had  thus  far  taken  place, 
and  which  on  many  parts  of  the  lines  had  been  at  different  times  severe, 
swelling  into  the  proportions  of  battle,  had  resulted  advantageously  to  the 
Union  arms.  The  rebel  generals,  notwithstanding  the  defeat  of  the  navy, 
were  fearful  of  disaster.  They  therefore  held  a  council  of  war  in  which 


SECOND     INFANTRY.  41 

a  plan  of  attack  was  agreed  upon  for  the  morrow.  The  plan  was,  in  brief, 
that  Pillow  should  attack  the  Union  right  vigorously,  whilst  Heiman  on 
the  centre,  and  Buckner  on  the  rebel  right,  should  demonstrate  in  their 
front  rather  than  seriously  attack.  Pillow's  success,  according  to  this  plan, 
"  would  roll  the  enemy's  force  in  retreat  over  upoii  General  Buckner,  when, 
by  his  attack  in  the  flank  and  rear,  we  could  cut  up  the  enemy  and  put  him, 
completely  to  rout," — a  very  pretty  plan,  as  thus  stated  by  Pillow  himself, 
but  splendidly  marred  in  the  execution  by  certain  counter  dispositions  made 
by  General  Grant. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  15th,  Pillow  sallied  from  the  works  and 
delivered  an  impetuous  attack,  his  troops  in  heavy  masses,  on  the  Union 
right,  held  by  McClernand.  In  a  few  moments  there  was  a  fearful  strife 
on  this  part  of  the  field.  It  continued  with  unabated  fury  for  four  hours. 
The  ground  was  strewn  with  the  dead  and  wounded.  The  Unionists  were 
forced  to  fall  back,  with  the  loss  of  several  pieces  of  artillery.  But  there 
was  no  disorder,  nor  confusion,  nor  were  the  troops  put  in  retreat.  They 
were  simply  pressed  back  by  superior  numbers,  but  they  fought  every  inch 
of  the  way.  Colonel  "W.  H.  L.  Wallace,  Colonel  Richard  Oglesby  here 
commanded  brigades  of  Illinoisans,  which  fought  on  this  field  with  a  courage 
and  endurance  never  surpassed.  Colonel  John  A.  Logan,  and  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  T.  E.  G.  Ransom,  here  fought  with  a  promise  of  future  greatness 
which  was  afterwards  crowned  with  splendid  renown. 

General  Wallace,  seeing  his  comrades  of  the  first  division  sorely  pressed, 
sent  a  brigade,  commanded  by  Colonel  Charles  Craft,  to  their  assistance. 
Craft  rushed  into  the  fight  with  splendid  dash  and  checked  the  rebel 
advance.  Wallace  formed  the  rest  of  his  division  across  the  enemy's  path 
way,  poured  into  them  a  terrible  fire  of  artillery,  and  then  rushed  upon 
them  with  his  infantry,  from  Indiana,  Missouri,  and  Nebraska.  Here 
Colonel  John  M.  Thayer,  Colonel  Morgan  L.  Smith,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel 
McCord,  were  conspicuous.  McClernand' s  troops  were,  meanwhile,  sup 
plied  with  ammunition,  and  the  tide  of  battle  was  turned  in  favor  of  the 
Unionists.  The  enemy  was  driven  over  the  stricken  field  behind  his  works, 
our  guns  were  recaptured,  the  position  of  the  morning  was  reb'ccupied. 

But  whilst  much  of  this  was  occurring  on  the  right  of  our  lines,  Smith  on 
the  left  was  warmly  engaged.  General  Grant,  who  in  the  morning  had 
been  engaged  in  consultation  with  Flag-Ofncer  Foote  on  the  Cumberland, 
upon  his  return  to  the  field  ordered  General  Smith  to  assault  the  works  on 
the  left.  Smith  selected  the  brigade  commanded  by  Colonel  J.  G.  Lauman, 
Seventh  Iowa,  as  the  storming  party.  It  was  composed  of  the  Second 
Iowa  (which  only  five  days  before  had  left  St.  Louis  in  unmerited  disgrace) 
the  Seventh  and  Fourteenth  Iowa,  the  first  regiment  of  western  sharp 
shooters,  the  Twenty-fifth,  and  the  Fifty-second  Indiana,  the  latter  tempo- 


42  IOWA     AND     THE     KEBELLION. 

rarily  attached  to  the  brigade.  Colonel  Tuttle  led  the  advance.  Marching 
by  the  left  flank,  the  left  wing  was  in  advance,  covered  by  the  sharp-shooters 
deployed  as  skirmishers.  The  right  wing  followed  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  yards  in  rear,  and  was  itself  followed  by  the  Fifty-second  Indiana,  the 
Twenty-fifth  Indiana,  the  Seventh  and  Fourteenth  Iowa,  in  the  order 
named. 

The  rebel  works  were  five  hundred  yards  in  advance,  and  the  line  of 
inarch  was  up  a  considerable  hill,  obstructed  by  abatis.  The  advance  was 
sounded  at  two  o'clock,  afternoon.  Officers  drew  their  swords,  the  men 
grasped  their  muskets  firmly,  and  moved  on  the  rebel  works.  No  man 
spoke.  Not  a  gun  was  fired  from  our  ranks.  Silent  as  the  grave  and 
inexorable  as  death,  the  Second  Iowa  pushed  its  way  up  the  hill  through  a 
storm  of  grape,  and  shell,  and  ball.  Many  dropped  dead.  Many  were 
wounded.  But  not  a  groan,  nor  a  cry  was  heard.  The  regiment  moved  as 
noiselessly  as  so  many  lions  stealing  upon  their  prey.  Reaching  the  works, 
the  men  bounded  over  with  wonderful  agility,  and  for  the  first  time  the 
Colonel  gave  command.  "Now  give  them  hell!"  shouted  Tuttle,  in  the 
fine  excitement  of  the  moment  paying  little  heed  to  the  orthodoxy  of  his 
order,  ' '  and  if  mortals, ' '  says  a  correspondent,  ' '  ever  inflicted  the  torments 
of  damnation  upon  the  denizens  of  earth  it  was  then  and  there,  in  obedi 
ence  to  that  order."  The  enemy  resisted  with  great  stubbornness,  but  the 
whole  regiment  forming  in  line  inside  the  rebel  works,  drove  the  enemy  to 
an  interior  line  of  rifle-pits,  and  then  fell  back  to  the  outer  works,  which 
were  held  during  the  night,  which  had  now  come  on,  the  troops  sleep 
ing  on  their  arms,  ready  to  renew  the  attack  on  the  morrow. 

But  Fort  Donelson  was  already  won — won  by  this  splendid  charge, 
wherein  Iowa  troops  gave  the  first  grand  example  in  the  war  of  how  to 
defeat  the  enemy  protected  by  works,  in  a  square,  stand-up  fight.  The 
rebels  saw  that  they  were  defeated,  and  in  their  extremity  held  a  council 
of  war.  Floyd,  much  more  successful  in  the  line  of  felony  than  in  the 
military  art,  was  anxious  to  save  his  precious  body  from  capture.  Pillow 
was  in  precisely  the  same  predicament.  All  knew  that  the  works  could 
not  be  held  an  hour  after  sunrise  on  the  next  day.  Wherefore  Floyd,  in 
order  "to  steal  himself  away,"  and  thereby  preserve  unsullied  the  con 
sistent  infamy  of  his  character,  turned  over  the  command  to  Pillow,  who 
turned  it  over  incontinent  to  Buckner.  Floyd  and  Pillow  escaped  up  the 
river  with  a  few  followers.  As  day  dawned  on  the  morning  of  Sunday,  the 
16th,  Colonel  Lauman  observed  white  flags  on  the  rebel  inner  works. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Parrott,  of  the  Seventh  Iowa,  advanced  and  brought 
back  offers  of  capitulation.  It  is  well  known  that  Grant  demanded  and 
received  an  unconditional  surrender. 

By  this  great  victory  General  Grant  took    about    thirteen  thousand 


SECOND     INFANTRY.  43 

prisoners,  several  thousand  horses,  forty-eight  pieces  of  field  artillery, 
seventeen  heavy  siege  guns,  twenty  thousand  stand  of  arms,  and  immense 
quantities  of  stores.  The  rebels  themselves  admitted  a  loss  of  two  hundred 
and  thirty-one  slain  and  one  thousand  and  seven  wounded,  but  it  is  certain 
their  losses  were  greater  than  this.  General  Pillow  afterwards  admitted  a 
loss  of  two  thousand  killed  and  wounded.  The  Union  loss  was  about  four 
hundred  and  fifty  killed,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  thirty -five 
wounded,  and  some  two  hundred  prisoners,  taken  in  the  earlier  part  of  the 
investment  and  sent  away  from  the  fort  before  the  surrender. 

In  the  capture  of  Fort  Donelson  the  Seventh  Iowa,  Lieutenant- Colonel 
J.  C.  Parrott,  the  Twelfth,  Colonel  J.  J.  Woods,  the  Fourteenth,  Colonel 
"W.  T.  Shaw,  were  engaged;  the  Seventh  and  Fourteenth  in  Colonel 
Lauman's  brigade,  which  carried  the  works,  and  the  Twelfth  in  Colonel  J. 
Cook's  brigade,  of  Smith's  division.  These  regiments  were  engaged 
throughout  the  campaign,  and  besides  the  battle  of  the  15th,  took  part  in 
the  operations  of  the  13th  on  the  left,  where  there  was  a  considerable 
engagement.  They  all  were  distinguished  for  the  patience  with  which 
they  endured  the  sufferings  of  the  campaign  and  the  gallantry  of  their 
conduct  in  battle.  Lieutenant  William  Moore  and  Lieutenant  J.  M. 
Sample,  of  the  Seventh,  Lieutenant-Colonel  J.  P.  Coulter,  Lieutenant  D. 
B.  Henderson,  of  the  Twelfth,  and  Lieutenant  William  Gordon,  of  the 
Fourteenth,  were  wounded.  Colonel  Lauman,  in  his  ofiicial  report,  bestows 
high  praise  upon  Colonel  Shaw,  of  the  Fourteenth,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Parrott  and  Major  Rice,  of  the  Seventh.  But  all,  officers  and  men,  did 
their  duty  with  sublime  courage  and  most  skilful  efficiency. 

As  for  the  Second  Iowa,  it  here  won  a  reputation  which  can  never  fade 
from  the  minds  of  mankind  so  long  as  the  victory  of  Fort  Donelson  shall 
be  remembered.  In  the  fine  army  of  Western  troops,  whose  wonderful 
gallantry  wrested  the  stronghold  from  the  insurgents,  and  caused  even 
rebel  writers  and  rebel  officers  to  admit  that  the  volunteers  of  the  North 
western  States  and  the  Territory  of  Nebraska  were  more  than  a  match  for 
the  best  troops  of  the  South ;  in  all  this  fine  array  the  Iowa  Second  won 
the  palm  of  the  most  conspicuous  and  daring  conduct.  All  the  troops, 
with  a  sense  of  justice  which  is  ever  characteristic  of  brave  men,  gladly 
admitted  it,  and  the  lines  of  the  army  rang  with  loud  praises  of  Colonel 
Tuttle  and  his  regiment,  as  well  as  of  General  Smith  and  Colonel  Lauman, 
the  general  officers  who  had  charge  of  the  assault.  More,  the  admirable 
achievement  of  the  regiment  brought  forth  enthusiasm  from  the  imper 
turbable  Halleck,  a  thing  well  nigh  as  wonderful  as  the  miracle  of  Moses 
which  brought  forth  living  waters  from  the  barren  rock  of  the  wilderness, 
He  telegraphed  as  follows : 


44  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

t 

"  ST.  Louis,  February  18, 1862. 

"  ADJUTANT-GEXERAL  N.  B.  BAKER: — The  Second  Iowa  Infantry  proved  themselves  the  bravest  of 
the  brave ;  they  had  the  honor  of  leading  the  column  which  entered  Fort  Donelson. 

"  II.  W.  UALLECK,  Major- General." 

After  the  rebel  General  had  consented  to  the  surrender,  the  Second  Iowa 
was  awarded  the  post  of  honor,  and  was  the  first  to  enter  Fort  Donelson — 
marching  in  at  the  head  of  the  grand  column,  which  made  a  most  imposing 
display.  Banners  floated  finely  in  the  slight  breeze  of  the  bright  Sunday 
morning,  drums  beat,  bands  played.  It  was  a  joyous  sight.  The  Second 
marched  up  to  the  citadel,  when  Corporal  Voltaire  P.  Twombley,  the  only 
one  of  the  color-guard  who  had  escaped  uninjured,  planted  the  stars  and 
stripes  upon  the  captured  fort,  amid  the  wild  huzzas  of  the  victorious  army, 
and  salvos  of  artillery  firing  joyful  salutes.  The  great  victory  was  com 
plete,  and  the  Union  troops  sought  rest  and  quiet  from  their  recent  labors, 
in  comfortable  quarters  in  and  around  Fort  Donelson. 

The  conspicuous  part  borne  by  the  Second  Iowa  in  the  decisive  battle  of 
Fort  Donelson,  made  it  necessary  to  say  much  of  it  in  the  general  account 
of  the  contest.  It  is  now  proper  to  speak  in  more  detail.  The  regiment 
did  not  reach  the  field  till  the  14th.  Colonel  Tuttle  reported  to  General 
Smith,  and  was  forthwith  assigned  to  Colonel  Lauman's  brigade.  The 
regiment  took  position  on  the  extreme  left  of  our  lines,  where,  except  two 
companies  engaged  in  the  skirmish  line  during  the  remainder  of  the  14th, 
it  remained  till  ordered  to  storm  the  works.  We  have  seen  how  splendidly 
it  did  that  service.  Colonel  Tuttle,  in  his  official  report,  states  that  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Baker,  Major  Chipman,  and  Adjutant  Joel  Tuttle  "were 
gallant  to  perfection."  Major  Chipman  was  severely  wounded.  Captains 
Slaymaker  and  Cloutman  were  slain  before  reaching  the  intrenchments,  and 
near  them  fell  Lieutenant  W.  C.  Harper.  "Captains  Cox,  Mills,  Moore, 
and  Wilkins,"  says  Tuttle,  "  were  at  the  heads  of  their  companies,  marked 
examples  of  gallantry  and  efficiency.  Lieutenants  Scofield,  Ensign,  Davis, 
Holmes,  Huntington,  Weaver,  Mastick,  Snowden,  and  Godfrey,  in  fact 
nearly  all  my  officers,  commissioned  and  non-commissioned,  deported  them 
selves  nobly  throughout  the  engagement.  Sergeant-Major  Brawner  deserves 
honorable  mention  for  his  gallant  conduct."  I  suppose  it  is  true  that  all 
the  officers  with  the  single  exception,  perhaps,  of  Captain  Robert  Littler, 
and  that  exception  was  the  result  of  "army  slander,"  more  than  of  fact, 
behaved  most  handsomely.  The  history  of  the  color-guard  is  interesting. 
Color-Sergeant  Doolittle  fell  early  in  the  engagement,  pierced  by  four  balls 
and  dangerously  wounded;  the  colors  were  then  taken  up  by  Corporal 
Page,  who  soon  fell  dead ;  Corporal  Churchill  then  took  them,  but  was 
severely  wounded  just  as  the  regiment  reached  the  rebel  works,  when  the 
flag  was  seized  by  Corporal  Twombley,  who  was  almost  instantly  knocked 


SECOND     INFANTRY.  45 

down  by  a  spent  ball,  but  rising  from  the  shock,  bore  the  colors  to  the  end 
of  the  fight — the  only  man  of  the  guard  on  his  feet  at  the  close  of  the 
contest. 

It  may  well  be  supposed  that  the  fame  of  the  Iowa  Second,  borne  on  the 
swift  wings  of  the  telegraph  and  the  press,  soon  penetrated  every  part  of 
Iowa.  The  General  Assembly  was  in  session,  and  when  a  committee  sent 
to  the  field  of  battle  to  care  for  our  wounded,  returned  to  the  capital,  bear 
ing  with  them  the  flag  that  had  been  borne  on  the  glorious  field,  there  was 
an  outpouring  of  people  and  of  eloquence  at  Des  Moines.  The  flag  was 
presented  to  the  House,  for  custody  on  the  Speaker's  desk  till  the  close  of 
the  session,  then  to  be  turned  over  to  the  State  Historical  Society.  The 
Hon.  Rush  Clark,  Speaker,  received  the  flag,  and  made  an  address  of  which 
I  quote  but  little :  ' '  The  valorous  deeds  of  the  Iowa  Second  are  already  a 
part  of  our  national  history,  and  make  up  one  of  its  most  brilliant  pages. 
It  would  be  vain  to  rehearse  them  now.  The  unfaltering  onset  of  those  gal 
lant  men  is  written  in  the  sleepless  memory  of  a  million  freemen.  Nothing 
can  be  abated,  none  of  their  achievements  forgotten." 

But  this  bright  page  in  history  was  written  with  blood.  Of  the  six  hun 
dred  and  thirty  officers  and  men  who  formed  the  storming  party,  being  all 
of  the  regiment  fit  for  duty  at  the  time,  forty-one  were  slain,  and  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty-seven  wounded.1 

1  Namely:  Colonel  J.  M.  Tuttle,  wounded  slightly;  Major  N.  P.  Chipman,  severely;  Sergeant- 
Major  William  Brawner,  slightly. 

Company  A  —Kitted— Richard  Higham.  Wounded— Lieutenant  Tisdale,  Corporal  EH  Ramsey,  Cor 
poral  Henry  H.  Seiberlich,  Corporal  Thomas  A.  Stevenson  :  Privates,  Seth  Fair,  James  M.  Patton,  D. 
H.  Underbill,  Douglas  Allendorf,  George  D.  Saylor,  Robert  Hall,  James  Quicksall,  James  Kerr,  Samuel 
Evans,  J.  J.  Goodwin,  W.  W.  K.  Harper,  John  Tangher,  John  Kipple.  Company  B  — Killed — Corporal 
(color-guard)  S.  G.  Page :  Private,  William  Guthrie.  Wounded— Lieutenant  John  G.  Huntington,  Cor 
poral  R.  M.  Lyth,  Corporal  A.  A.  Barnes :  Privates,  J.  P.  Scott,  A.  W.  Scott,  G.  W.  Scott,  G.  Rosenburgh, 

A.  Drawker,  George  Parkinson,  A.  H.  Clark,  J.  H.  Tracy,  A.  Summetz,  S.  Todd,  0.  E.  Dike,  S.  H. 
Spencer,  J.  Bertchi,  J.  Wilson,  George  Menning,  John  McCrellis,  W.  A.  Nichols,  George  H.  Howe, 
H.  H.  Port,  E.  M.  Manning,  John  Linden,  J.  Murphy,  Thomas  Morrow,  James  Buckwalter,  William 
Moller.     Company  C— Killed— Captain  J.  S.  Slaymaker:  Privates,  G.  W.  Howell,  C.  H.  Lenhart, 
Joseph  Myers,  Edward  Peterson.     Wounded— Lieutenant  W.  F.  Holmes,  Lieutenant  Alfred  Bing, 
Sergeant  G.  F.  Hall,  Sergeant  H.  C.  McNeil,  Sergeant  (color-guard)  H.  E.  Doolittle,  Corporal  W.  M. 
Campbell,  Corporal  W.  P.  Wade,  Corporal  J.  C.  Urie:  Privates,  J.  G.  Greenwalt,  G.  A.  Smith,  Edward 
Corcoran,  E.  W.  Caspar,  W.  H.  Royston,  W.  H.  Nagill,  Joseph  Hunter,  Charles  Flewig,  William  Mc- 
Lain,  A.  J.  Ross,  J.  W.  Morrison,  G.  A.  Bell,  W.  C.  Hecker,  A.  F.  Gore,  Fred.  Herbert,  William  Drum- 
mond.     Company  D  —Killed— Sergeant  Nathan  W.  Doty :  Private,  G.  Weeks.     Wounded— Lieutenant 
Edgar  F.  Ensign,  Lieutenant  George  L.  Godfrey,  Corporal  William  Ragan :  Privates,  William  II. 
Brenton,  Casper  S.  Brady,  Theodore  G.  Cree,  John  M.  Combs,  Peter  Dreher,  Richards  Debelle,  Joseph 
S.  Hayden,  (mortally)  Henry  Lawrence,  John  Nagle,  Andrew  Slatten,  Robert  Patrick,  Thomas  Ward, 
John  Z.  Williams,  David  G.  Yant,  William  L.  Cady,  P.  G.  Noel,  Joseph  Cooper,  John  Gardiner. 
Company  E— Wounded—  Sergeant  Wriner,  Corporal  Robinson,  (color-guard)  Corporal  G.W.Moore- 
house  :  Privates,  Reuben  Coop,  G.  W.  Hill,  Samuel  Dougherty,  Robert  Starn,  Robert  Ready.     Company 
F— Killed— Lieutenant  W.  C.  Harper,  Sergeant  George  W.  Morse:    Privates,  Wilson   S.  Crooks, 
Franklin  G.  Metz,  George  B.  Shriver,  Wesley  W.  Vinson.  Wounded — Corporal  Samuel  Huffman,  Corpo 
ral  James  Shrowyer :  Privates,  Finley  M.  Armstrong,  Alonzo  Bradford,  Charles  S.  Coyer,  J.  H.  Duffield, 
H.  D.  Duffield.  James  Carr,  Edwin  Goddard,  H.  C.  Hawk  (mortally)  John  S.  Marriott,  John  Morrow,  Geo. 

B.  Smith,  Andrew  Shriver,  (mortally)  Franklin  B.  Wilson,  (mortally)  William  W.  Walker.    Company 


46  IOWA     AND     THE     KEBELLION. 

The  capture  of  Fort  Donelson,  it  is  well-known,  uncovered  Nashville, 
which  was  evacuated  by  the  rebels  on  the  day  of  Buckner's  surrender,  the 
panic-stricken  people  exhibiting  the  most  laughable  spectacle  of  fright  and 
confusion  ever  witnessed  in  any  country.  In  their  fright,  they  threw  furni 
ture,  trunks,  dishes  out  of  windows  as  though  the  whole  city  were  to  be 
destroyed  by  fire.  Then  they  fled,  no  man  pursuing.  Buell  at  length  took 
possession  of  the  city,  Grant's  army  remaining  for  some  time  in  quiet  at 
Donelson.  There  our  regiment  remained  nearly  a  month,  and  then  march 
ing  to  the  Tennessee,  embarked  for  Pittsburg  Landing,  arriving  on  the 
19th  of  March,  and  disembarking  the  next  day. 

The  command  went  into  encampment  about  one  mile  from  the  landing, 
where  it  remained  in  quiet  till  Sunday  morning,  April  6,  when  it  was  sud 
denly  summoned  to  the  front,  to  take  part  in  the  battle  which  continued 
throughout  that  day  and  the  next.  Colonel  Tuttle  being  in  command  of 
the  brigade  composed  of  his  own  regiment,  the  Seventh,  Twelfth,  and 
Fourteenth  Iowa,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Baker  was  in  command  of  the  regi 
ment.  The  brigade  formed  on  the  left  of  "W.  H.  L.  Wallace's  division, 
and  repelled  several  assaults  of  the  enemy.  The  regiment  behaved  hand 
somely,  and  suffered  heavily.  Captain  Littler  was  severely  wounded,  losing 
an  arm.  Captains  Mills,  Wilkins,  and  Moore  were  also  wounded,  and 
Lieutenant  William  Brawner,  whose  good  conduct,  as  Sergeant-Major,  we 
have  noted  in  describing  the  capture  of  Fort  Donelson,  met  honorable  death 
from  wounds  received  on  the  field  of  Shiloh.  On  Monday,  the  regiment 
served  under  Nelson,  and  on  that  day  made  nearly  as  gallant  a  charge  as 
that  at  Donelson  itself,  routing  a  large  force  of  rebels,  but  meeting  with 
slight  loss.  Captain  Cox  was  among  the  few  wounded  in  this  gallant  affair. 
The  entire  loss  of  the  regiment  at  Shiloh  was  between  seventy  and 
eighty.2 

G  — KiUcd — Sergeant  John  Dunn :  Privates,  J.  M.  Duskworth,  Andrew  Patterson,  Joseph  Z.  Neidy, 
Joseph  N.  Rhodes,  William  H.  Drake.  Wounded — Lieutenant  J.  B.  Weaver,  Sergeant  P.  Q.  Stoner, 
Corporals  John  N.  Jones,  Gabriel  Johnson,  H.  D.  St.  John,  John  A.  De  Muther :  Privates,  John  W. 
Pirth,  Samuel  Fontz,  George  Wert,  John  Patterson,  James  H.  Stevens,  Hiram  S.  Sloan,  Elijah  Kinr 
nick,  John  W.  Hurless,  H.  H.  Jones,  Thomas  Colliver,  William  Buchanan,  Clinton  McMickle, 
Ephraim  Tarrington,  John  D.  Scott,  Elisha  Wallace,  Leander  Jeffreys.  Company  IT — Killed — Corpo 
ral  Samuel  A.  Meally.  Wounded — Corporal  Hewny,  E.  Weaver,  (color-guard)  :  Privates,  Andrew  M. 
Easton,  Sebastian  Shoffeur  (mortally)  George  B.  Farley,  Wesley  Compton,  W.  A.  Teaford.  Company 
I— Kitted— Sergeant  W.  L.  Jurney :  Private,  Edward  Banks.  Wounded—  Corporals  Henry  Churchill, 
(color-guard)  William  Ganger :  Privates,  Thomas  Paine,  James  H.  Banmer,  Donald  McKean,  Richard 
Parsons,  Fernand  Rupert,  Jerome  Volley,  Hiram  S.  Simery,  W.  F.  Harrison,  Gottlieb  Shendel,  George 
Cook.  Company  K — Killed — Captain  C.  C.  Cloutman,  Corporal  James  Berkey:  Privates,  James 
Blake,  Wm.  T.  Kirkpatrick,  John  Hampton,  Wm.  II.  H.  Whitney,  Joseph  H.  Philips,  (Brass  Band.) 

Wounded — Sergeant  Benjamin  S. ,  Sergeant  G.  M.  Cook,  Corporal  S.  S.  Shower :    Privates,  E.  G. 

Vaughn,  David  Cook,  James  West,  A.  S.  Thompson,  Thomas  Gallagher,  W.  H.  Goodall,  David  Ser- 
gent,  T.  D.  Holmes. 

s  I  think  an  official  regimental  report  of  the  part  taken  by  the  regiment  in  this  great  battle  has 
not  been  preserved.  The  following  incomplete  list  of  casualties  is  taken  from  the  Adjutant  Gene 
ral's  Report : — 


SECOND     INFANTRY.  47 

The  regiment  remained  in  camp  near  Pittsburg  Landing  till  the  next 
campaign  was  begun,  namely,  the  campaign  of  Corinth  under  Halleck.  Its 
part  in  these  operations,  in  the  main  of  an  indolent  character,  was  unaccom 
panied  by  noteworthy  incident.  It  joined  in  the  pursuit  of  Beauregard's 
army,  after  the  evacuation  of  Corinth,  and  therein  made  several  days'  hard 
marching.  Returning,  it  went  into  camp  near  Corinth.  Its  next  movement, 
of  which  we  have  official  account  was  the  march  to  luka,  but  it  did  not 
take  part  in  the  battle  of  September  19.  Meanwhile,  Colonel  Tuttle  had 
been  promoted  Brigadier-General.  Colonel  James  Baker  was  in  command 
of  the  regiment,  with  N.  W.  Mills,  promoted  from  Captain  of  Com 
pany  D,  Lieutenant-Colonel,  and  Major  James  B.  Weaver,  promoted  from 
first  lieutenant  of  company  G.  Adjutant  Tuttle  had  died  of  disease,  and 
had  been  succeeded  by  Lieutenant  George  L.  Godfrey. 

In  the  battle  of  Corinth,  the  3d  and  4th  of  October,  there  was  no  regi 
ment  which  fought  more  bravely  or  effectively,  or  suffered  more  severely, 
than  the  Second.  Colonel  Baker  fell  mortally  wounded  on  the  3d,  and  was 
borne  from  the  field,  thanking  God  that  his  regiment  was  victoriously 
charging.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mills  was  mortally  wounded  on  the  4th,  but 
lived  till  the  12th.  A  kinder  heart  than  his  never  beat,  nor  a  more  gene 
rous  soul  ever  animated  man.  He  was,  in  the  days  long  gone  by,  my  school 
mate  and  my  friend.  I  can  speak  of  him  advisedly.  He  was  a  practical 
printer,  a  ripe  scholar,  an  independent  thinker,  a  fine  writer,  an  excellent 
soldier,  a  man  of  a  thousand  admirable  qualities  and  not  one  bad  one.  His 
modesty  had  prevented  him  from  gaining  the  standing  to  which  his  merits 
entitled  him ;  but  it  is  the  absolute  truth  that  in  his  death  Iowa  lost  one  of 
her  best,  one  of  her  most  loveable,  one  of  her  most  promising  citizens,  and 
the  volunteer  service  an  officer  who,  had  he  been  spared,  would  have  added 
to  its  dignity,  its  fame,  and  its  usefulness.  But  Baker  and  Mills  were  not 
the  only  sacrifices  the  regiment  made  on  this  bloody  field.  The  loss  in 
officers  was  mournful  in  the  extreme.  Lieutenants  John  G.  Huntington, 
Thomas  Snowden,  Alfred  Bing  were  slain  during  the  first  day's  battle,  and 
Lieutenant  Y.  P.  Twombley  was  severely  wounded;  whilst  on  the  4th, 
Lieutenant  George  W.  Neal  was  killed,  and  Captain  N.  B.  Howard,  Lieu 
tenants,  C.  C.  Parker,  George  W.  Blake,  Frank  M.  Suiter  were  wounded. 
The  regiment  maintained  the  proud  reputation  it  had  won  in  its  first  battle, 
and  as  at  Donelson,  lost  nearly  one-third  of  the  men  engaged.3  Adjutant 

Company  A  —Killed,  Privates  William  Clarke,  George  W.  Friend,  John  Keppel.  Company  B  — 
Wounded,  Captain  Robert  M.  Littler,  Private  Mark  L.Thomson,  Company  E— Kitted,  Privates  John  C. 
Ilooverstick,  Elijah  Newby,  Wounded— Corporal  Daniel  W.  Brown,  Privates  Theodore  Eoggs,  John 
C.  Duncan,  James  Ross,  Marion  York.  Company  F — Wounded,  Lieutenant  William  Brawner. 
Company  G  —  Wounded,  Corporal  Herman  D.  St.  John,  Private  Charles  E.  Dunn.  Company  I — 
Killed,  Corporal  Archibald  S.  Cooley,  Wounded— Privates  Henry  Laird,  John  Leulen,  (mortally.) 
Company  K— Killed,  Private  John  Ohling. 

•  The  regiment  had  in  the  fight  three  hundred  and  forty-eix,  officers  and  men,  of  whom  one  hnn- 


48  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Godfrey,  Captains  Cowles,  McCullougli,  Mastic,  Howard,  Ensign,  and 
Davis;  Lieutenants  Parker,  Duffield,  Marsh,  Wilson,  Tisdale,  Suiter, 
Hamill,  Hall,  Blake,  Duckworth,  Ballinger,  Twombley  and  McCoid  were 
highly  praised  by  Major  Weaver,  for  meritorious  conduct.  Sergeant  Lewis 
of  Company  B,  and  Sergeant  Ferry  of  company  F,  were  also  mentioned. 
"Color-Sergeant  Harry  Doolittle  was  again  wounded,  and  Color-Corporals 
Henry  A.  Seiberlich,  G.  C.  Philips,  G.  B.  Norris,  I.  C.  Urie,  and  John  H. 
Stewart,  were  all  wounded  whilst  supporting  the  old  flag." 

The  terrible  battle,  and  the  laborious  pursuit  over,  the  Second  had  about 
two  months  of  quiet  in  an  encampment  near  Corinth.  The  9th  of  Decem 
ber,  the  regiment  made  a  forced  march  to  near  Tuscumbia,  Alabama, 
making  an  exciting  chase  after  rebel  raiders,  with  whom  there  was  some 
skirmishing.  The  18th,  it  moved  again,  about  midnight,  and  marched  in 
a  northerly  direction  without  stopping,  till  there  were  but  few  men  left  in 
the  ranks,  and  returned  to  Corinth  on  the  23d,  after  one  of  the  hardest 
marches  the  regiment  ever  made.  Several  other  marches  after  raiders 
were  made,  the  whole  division  under  General  Dodge  making  one  expedi 
tion,  beyond  Florence,  Alabama,  which  occupied  about  twenty  days.  In  the 
summer  of  1863,  regimental  encampment  was  moved  from  Corinth  to 
Lagrange,  Tennessee,  and  the  last  of  October  the  command  moved  to 
Pulaski  and  went  into  winter  quarters. 

During  this  whole  year  after  the  battle  of  Corinth  the  regiment  took  part 
in  no  general  engagement.  It  formed  part  of  those  forces  under  General 
G.  M.  Dodge,  whose  services  were  most  valuable  by  their  indirect  assis- 

dred  and  eight  were  killed,  wounded  and  missing.  I  take  the  following  from  the  Adjutant  Gene 
ral's  Report : — 

Colonel  James  Baker,  Lieutenant-Colonel  N.  W.  Mills,  mortally  wounded.  Killed — Company  A  — 
Privates,  John  Clough,  William  R.  Harper,  Franklin  Pranty,  John  W.  Renz,  Wounded — Corporal 
Granville  C.  Philips,  Corporal  Wallace  E.  Marsh,  Corporal  Henry  A.  Seiberlich,  Wounded— Privates, 
Henry  Ryan,  David  H.  Underhill,  Charles  Davidson,  (missing)  Private  Douglas  G.  Allendorph. 
Company  B — Killed — Private  David  Seymour,  Wounded — Lieutenant  Frank  M.  Suiter:  Privates, 
George  Norris,  William  L.  Smith,  Levi  White,  Albert  W.  Scott,  Alfred  Allen,  Reuben  M.  Roberts. 
Company  C— Ki lied— Private  John  W.  Downs,  Wounded— Lieutenant  Alfred  Bing,  (mortally)  Ser 
geant  Henry  C.  McNeil,  Sergeant  Jacob  Speed,  Sergeant  Henry  B.  Doolittle  :  Musician  Albert  Eber- 
hart :  Privates  Henry  M.  Austin,  James  C.  Mansell,  Edward  Schoonmaker,  George  Henry  Tyler, 
James  R.  Donaldson.  Company  D  —Kitted— Corporal  Jacob  M.  Moleo :  Private  Charles  E.  Walker, 
Wounded — Private  Philander  Smith,  Prisoner — Private  James  A.  Chrystal,  Company  E — Killed — 
Corporal  Abel  Stcphenson,  Wounded— Sergeant  Wiley  S.  Sims :  Private  Timothy  W.  Austin,  James 
Ross,  William  Somers,  (mortally)  Elwood  Williams,  Samuel  Dougherty.  Company  F — Wounded — 
Lieutenant  Charles  C.  Parker,  Lieutenant  Voltaire  P.  Twombly:  Privates  Samuel  G.  Feathers, 
Thomas  P.  Henry,  Samuel  Ileam,  Jerry  M.  Parker,  George  Smith,  Michael  O'Reilly.  Company  G  — 
JKJfed— Private  John  W.  Dunn,  Wounded  Private  Robert  B.  Carson.  Company  H— Killed— Lieu 
tenant  George  W.  Neal :  Private  Marvin  French,  Wounded — Corporal  William  McCurdy :  Privates, 
Austin  Crawford,  Jacob  S  Funk,  James  Murkin,  Joshua  Murray,  James  M.  Porter,  Martin  V.  Smith, 
William  A.  Tcdford.  Company  I — Kitted — Lieutenant  Thomas  Snowden,  Wounded — Corporal  Frank 
Daily:  Privates  George  F.  Cook,  Henry  Laird,  Henry  F.  Miller,  Elijah  Petrie,  William  F.  Robins, 
Gottleib  Schenkel.  Company  K — Kitted — Corporal  Wesley  H.  Henderson,  Wounded — Lieutenant 
George  W.  Blake,  Lieutenant  Thomas  K.  llaush,  Prisoner— Private  Levi  Durbin. 


SECOND     INFANTRY.  49 

tance  to  General  Grant  in  his  campaign  of  Vicksburg,  in  keeping  open 
communications  between  Middle  and  West  Tennessee,  in  preventing  raids, 
and  in  many  other  ways  which  need  not  be  here  specified.  The  regiment 
was  under  command  of  Colonel  J.  B.  Weaver,  who  had  been  promoted 
upon  the  death  of  Colonel  Mills.  At  the  same  time,  Captain  Henry  R. 
Cowles  of  Company  H  had  been  promoted  Lieutenant-Colonel,  and  Cap- 
tain  N.  B.  Howard,  of  Company  I,  Major. 

At  Pulaski  the  Second  became  a  veteran  regiment  about  the  close  of  the 
year.  From  Pulaski,  also,  the  regiment  began  its  march  to  take  part  in  its 
last  great  campaign  of  battles,  that  of  Atlanta.  It  was  in  a  brigade  com 
manded  by  General  Elliott  W.  Rice,  and  which  was  attached  to  the  six- 
teenMi  corps,  General  Dodge  commanding.  It  left  Pulaski  the  29th  of 
April,  1864,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  9th  of  May,  began  skirmishing  with 
the  enemy  just  after  passing  the  famous  Snake  Creek  Gap,  in  Georgia. 
From  that  time  till  Atlanta  fell,  the  regiment  was  constantly  within  the 
sound  of  skirmish  or  battle.  On  the  15th  General  Rice,  finely  manceuvering, 
effected  the  passage  of  the  Oostanaula  at  Lay's  Ferry,  and  turned  the  rebel 
position  at  Resaca.  A  spirited  engagement  took  place,  in  which  the 
Seventh  Iowa,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Parrott,  was  conspicuous,  fighting 
splendidly  and  suffering  heavily.  The  loss  of  the  Second  was  slight.  After 
this  there  was  much  night  marching  by  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  which 
performed  most  of  the  remarkable  flanking  movements  of  the  campaign. 
The  regiment  was  engaged  at  Dallas  on  the  27th,  and  the  next  day  had  a 
brisk  fight,  but  the  Sixty-sixth  Indiana,  of  the  brigade,  bore  the  brunt  of 
battle  on  this  part  of  the  line.  On  the  night  of  the  29th  the  regiment  was 
again  engaged.  July  4th,  it  had  a  lively  skirmish.  On  the  22d,  in  the 
desperate  battle  of  Atlanta,  it  made  a  fine  fight.  It  took  part  in  the  siege 
of  Atlanta,  and  on  the  4th  of  August  had  a  severe  combat  with  the  enemy, 
and  gained  an  important  position  after  a  gallant  fight.  From  this  time 
until  the  last  flanking  movement,  near  the  end  of  the  month,  it  was  in  the 
trenches,  where  the  rebel  bullets  were  all  the  while  whistling  lively,  by 
night  as  well  as  by  day.  On  the  30th  of  August,  as  the  army  moved  across 
from  the  Montgomery  Railroad  to  the  Macon  road,  marching  on  Jonesboro, 
the  Second  and  Seventh  Iowa,  under  command  of  Major  Hamill,  of  the 
Second,  were  sent  forward  with  the  cavalry.  About  2  o'clock,  afternoon, 
the  rebels  were  found  in  a  fortified  position  across  the  road.  Whereupon 
the  whole  cavalry  division  halted  for  four  hundred  infantry  to  come  up  and 
clear  the  way.  The  Second  Iowa,  numbering  less  than  two  hundred  muskets, 
supported  by  the  Seventh,  did  the  business  in  fine  style.  The  Second  here 
lost  one  killed  and  eight  wounded,  among  the  latter  Major  Hamill.  The 
command  had  more  skirmishing  and  fighting  during  this  movement,  taking 
part  in  the  battle  of  Jonesboro.  Atlanta  having  fallen,  it  moved  toward 
7 


50  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

that  city,  and  at  the  close  of  the  campaign  went  into  encampment.  During 
the  whole  campaign  of  Atlanta,  the  regiment  lost  fifty-five  men,  in  killed 
and  wounded.  Among  the  killed,  was  Lieutenant  Thomas  K.  Kaush,  and 
among  the  wounded  were  Lieutenant-Colonel  commanding  N.  B.  Howard, 
Major  M.  G.  Hamill,  Captain  George  Heaton,  and  our  old  acquaintance 
who,  then  a  color-corporal,  planted  the  colors  on  Fort  Donelson,  now  Adju 
tant  Yoltaire  P.  Twombley.4 

Such  is  but  an  imperfect  outline  of  the  operations  of  the  regiment  during 
this  great  campaign.  The  regiment  captured  during  these  operations  a 
number  of  prisoners,  one  stand  of  colors,  and  about  two  hundred  stand  of 
small  arms.  It  was,  meanwhile,  materially  changed  in  its  organization. 
On  the  22d  of  May  the  non-veterans  were  mustered  out  of  service,  their 
term  of  enlistment  having  expired.  After  this  there  were,  for  the  time 
being,  but  six  companies  in  the  regiment,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Howard 
commanding.  The  regiment  having  taken  a  considerable  rest,  and  per 
formed  such  duties  as  were  required  of  it,  making  a  considerable  march 
northward  during  the  interim,  was  materially  strengthened  before  starting 
on  the  march  to  Savannah  by  the  addition  of  what  was  left,  after  the  wear 
and  tear  of  more  than  three  years  active  campaigning,  of  the  Third 
infantry,  which  was  consolidated  with  the  Second,  composing  three  com 
panies  therein.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Howard  was  now  promoted  colonel. 

The  Second  Iowa  began  the  Georgia  campaign  from  Rome  on  the  llth 
of  November.  General  Dodge  having  been  wounded  during  the  siege  of 
Atlanta,  the  left  wing  of  the  Sixteenth  corps  had  been  dissolved  at  the 
close  of  that  campaign.  The  division  to  which  our  regiment  now  belonged 
was  made  the  fourth  of  the  Fifteenth  corps,  and  was  commanded  by 
General  John  M.  Corse,  who  had  earned,  but  not  received,  the  stars  of  a 
major-general  for  his  splendid  defence  of  Allatoona  Pass.  Marching  by 
Kingston  and  Marietta,  the  regiment  halted  near  Atlanta  only  long  enough 
to  be  supplied  with  new  clothing.  It  straightway  joined  in  the  march  for 
the  sea,  bidding  farewell  to  Atlanta  on  the  evening  of  the  1 6th.  In  this 
expedition  of  destruction  the  regiment  performed  much  work,  but  had  little 


4  The  following  is  the  official  list  of  casualties  for  the  campaign : — 

Killed — Lieutenant  Thomas  K.  Raush  :  Sergeant  Cyrus  Bartow :  Privates  David  F.  Young,  W.  C. 
Peasley,  Samuel  Dougherty,  Leander  Jeffrey,  Victor  Voitures,  George  D.  Burdick.  Wounded — Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  N.  B.  Howard,  Major  M.  G.  Hamill,  Captain  George  Heaton,  Adjutant  V.  P.  Twom- 
bley :  Sergeants  P.  D.  Gillette,  James  Shadle,  A.  Steinmits,  Clinton  J.  McMickle,  George  W.  Craven, 
(mortally,)  Charles  Fleury  :  Corporals  Richard  Gear,  (mortally,)  Young  J.  Powell,  Otto  F.  B.  Inden, 
George  W.  Johnson,  D.  W.  Myers :  Privates  Jacob  W.  Souders,  J.  B.  Young,  Charles  Ripley,  (mor 
tally,)  Moses  B.  Walker,  John  Rolls,  J.  F.  De  Witt,  John  Horton,  H.  Nichols,  T.  B.  Rosecraus, 
Edward  C.  Streacker,  John  Price,  Joseph  M.  Vance,  Josiah  Peacock,  M.  P.  French,  H.  Ackerman,  R. 
R.  Gorman,  George  Norris,  Albert  Dummer,  Alexander  Graham,  William  D.  MTison,  (mortally,)  D.  F. 
Eckerman,  W.  C.  Oborn,  Wade  Kirkpatrick,  J.  Murphy,  G.  S.  Eckerman,  Thomas  Gallagher,  A.  M. 
White,  John  McManus,  (mortally,)  F.  Shadduck,  Lafayette  Turner,  G.  W.  Cannada. 


SECOND     INFANTRY.  51 

fighting,  except  on  the  7th  of  December,  when  General  Rice  crossed  the 
Ogechee  River  in  face  of  the  enemy  and  had  a  brisk  engagement,  in  which 
the  rebels  were  quickly  and  handsomely  whipped  with  considerable  loss. 
The  Second  lost  two  men  slain  and  as  many  wounded  in  this  brilliant  affair. 
A  fortnight  afterwards  the  grand  army  entered  Savannah  in  triumph. 

The  28th  of  January,  1865,  the  regiment  left  Savannah,  and  began  the* 
northward  march.  It  crossed  rivers  and  swamps,  and  constructed  corduroy 
roads  like  the  rest  of  the  army.  Near  Columbia  it  met  the  enemy  in 
skirmish,  and  again  at  Lynch' s  Creek,  but  drove  him  off  quickly  and 
easily.  The  skirmish  at  the  latter  place  was  remarkable  from  the  fact  that 
many  of  the  men  fought  in  their  "birth-day  suits,"  having  stripped  to 
cross  the  stream.  With  this  affair  closed  the  fighting  history  of  the  gallant 
Second,  for  at  the  battle  of  Bentonville,  the  last  of  General  Sherman's 
engagements,  it  was  in  the  line  of  reserves,  and  was  not  needed  in  the 
action. 

It  marched  with  the  army  to  Goldsboro,  to  Raleigh,  thence  by  Peters 
burg  and  Richmond  to  Washington  city ;  there  took  part  in  the  grand 
review,  and  shortly  afterwards  moved  by  rail  and  steamboat  to  Louisville, 
where,  in  accordance  with  the  general  order  mustering  out  the  Army  of 
the  Tennessee,  it  was  honorably  discharged  the  service  about  midsummer. 
It  moved  thence  to  Davenport,  where  it  was  received  by  the  citizens  en 
masse,  and  welcomed  back  to  the  State  by  the  Hon.  Hiram  Price,  Repre 
sentative  in  Congress.  Colonel  Howard  responded  briefly,  and  the  regi 
ment  marched  to  camp  for  the  last  time,  and  was  soon  finally  disbanded. 

The  Second  infantry  was  one  of  the  most  noted  of  Iowa  regiments — 
distinguished  on  account  of  its  distinguished  men.  The  command  which 
gave  Curtis,  Tuttle,  Crocker,  to  the  service  must  remain  forever  memorable 
in  our  annals.  Nearly  all  of  its  field  officers — Baker,  Mills,  Weaver, 
Howard,  Chipman,  Hamill — were  wounded  in  battle,  and  two  sealed  their 
gallantry  with  their  death.  Among  the  line  officers,  yea,  among  the 
"rank  and  file"  of  this  regiment,  as  was  indeed  the  fact  with  most  Iowa 
regiments,  there  were  men  who  would  have  adorned  any  society.  It  was 
distinguished  for  its  gallant  deeds.  It  has  best  comported  with  the  plan 
of  this  work  to  give  prominence  to  the  first  great  battle  in  which  the  com 
mand  took  part.  But  it  fought  no  less  gallantly  elsewhere,  the  officers  and 
men,  on  all  occasions  when  called  upon  to  encounter  the  enemy,  displaying 
coolness,  courage,  and  enthusiastic  gallantry,  fully  equal  to  what  would  be 
expected  of  those  who  were  conscious  of  having  to  sustain  the  reputation 
of  the  heroes  of  Fort  Doiielson — THE  BRAVEST  OF  THE  BRAVE. 


CHAPTER    III. 

THIRD   INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZATION,  AND  RENDEZVOUS  AT  KEOKUK— ORDERED  TO  MISSOURI— ACTIVE 
OPERATIONS— COLONEL  WILLIAMS— MARCH  FROM  MASON  CITY  TO  KIRKSVILLE 
—WARFARE  BY  PROCLAMATION— VARIOUS  MOVEMENTS— BATTLE  OF  SLUE 
MILLS  LANDING—  PROCEED  TO  LEAVEN  WORTH,  KANSAS  —  QUARREL  BE 
TWEEN  GENERAL  STURGIS  AND  "JIM  LANE"— GO  TO  QUINCEY,  ILLINOIS— AGAIN 
IN  MISSOURI— IN  TENNESSEE  —  BATTLE  OF  SHILOS—AT  THE  SIEGE  OF 
CORINTH— MEMPHIS— BATTLE  OF  MATAMORA— MOVEMENTS  IN  REAR  OF  VICKS- 
BURG— THE  VICKSBURG  CAMPAIGN  IN  1863— GENERAL  SHERMAN'S  MARCH  ON 
JACKSON— DESPERATE  CHARGE  OF  COLONEL  PUGH'S  BRIGADE— GENERAL  LAU- 
MAN  RELIEVED— MERIDIAN  EXPEDITION— CAMPAIGN  IN  EAST  TENNESSEE  AND 
GEORGIA— THE  REGIMENT  CONSOLIDATED  WITH  THE  SECOND. 

THE  Third  Iowa  Volunteer  Infantry  contained  men  from  all  portions  of 
the  State.  The  companies  that  formed  the  command  were  among  those 
which  sprang  to  arms  at  the  first  outbreak  of  the  rebellion,  when  the 
popular  enthusiasm  was  at  white  heat,  and  in  their  ranks  were  persons 
from  more  than  half  the  thickly  populated  counties  of  Iowa.  Not  only  so, 
but  it  should  seem  that  our  enthusiastic  drum-beats  drew  into  our  lines 
not  a  few  from  neighboring  States ;  and  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota, 
and  Missouri  were  represented  in  this  regiment.  Further  still :  travelers 
from  abroad  caught  the  glad  infection,  and  fell  into  line  wherever  they 
happened  to  be,  so  that  there  were  a  few  members  of  the  organization 
whose  homes  were  as  distant  as  New  York.  It  is  not  improbable  there 
were  a  few  who  enlisted  in  the  companies  of  the  Third  regiment  who 
would  have  entered  the  army  with  less  demonstration  of  enthusiasm  had 
they  supposed  the  war  was  to  be  of  long  continuance ;  and  perhaps  there 
were  some  who,  having  volunteered  when  the  period  of  service  was  stated 
to  be  short,  were  disappointed  upon  learning  they  would  be  required  to 
serve  three  years  or  during  the  war.  However  this  may  be,  Governor 
Kirkwood  early  adopted  the  idea  that  it  were  better  for  the  State,  and 
better  for  the  general  government,  to  secure  as  long  terms  of  enlistment  as 
52 


THIRD     INFANTRY.  53 

practicable,  and  it  is  certain  that  if  this  idea  had  been  adopted  and  put 
into  practical  operation  in  all  the  other  loyal  States,  as  it  was  in  Iowa,  and, 
I  believe,  in  Illinois,  a  vast  deal  of  difficulty  which  subsequently  arose 
would  have  been  avoided,  and  much  bewildered  cyphering  by  the  provost- 
marshal-general.  The  longest  term  for  which  volunteers  were  received 
was  three  years,  and  it  was  for  this  period  or  during  the  war  that  all  our, 
regiments  after  the  First,  except  those  who  went  forth  for  one  hundred 
days  in  the  summer  of  1864,  were  enlisted.  Thus  the  Third  regiment, 
numbering  about  nine  hundred  and  seventy,  was  sworn  into  the  service  of 
the  United  States  at  Keokuk,  in  part  on  the  8th  and  in  part  on  the  10th 
of  June,  1861.  Nelson  Gr.  Williams,  of  Dubuque  county,  soon  afterwards 
was  commissioned  colonel;  John  Scott,  of  Story,  lieutenant-colonel; 
William  M.  Stone,  of  Marion,  major.  Fitzroy  Sessions  was  appointed 
adjutant,  George  W.  Clark,  of  Warren,  quartermaster,  Dr.  T.  0.  Edwards, 
of  Dubuque,  surgeon,  and  Rev.  P.  H.  Jacob,  of  Marion,  chaplain. 
Colonel  Williams,  reputed  much  of  a  soldier,  received  a  majority  of  the 
votes  of  the  line  officers,  and  was  accordingly  appointed  to  command  the 
regiment  by  the  governor.  He  was  living  quietly  at  his  home,  was  almost 
entirely  unknown  to  the  command,  and  his  coming  was  looked  for  with  no 
little  curiosity.  But  the  regiment  had  left  the  State  before  he  made  his 
appearance. 

"Then  did  Sir  Knight  abandon  dwelling, 
And  out  he  rode  a  colonelling." 

The  other  field  officers  had  each  recruited  a  company,  and  were  promoted 
from  the  rank  of  captain.1 

The  companies  remained  at  Keokuk  till  the  29th  of  June,  drilling,  enjoy 
ing  the  fine  weather,  quarrelling  with  the  contractors  who  supplied  them 
with  poor  food  on  tin  dishes,  and  cultivating  "art"  by  nightly  views  of  the 
famous  drop  curtain,  distinguished  for  its  perspective,  at  the  Atheneum 
theatre.  Accompanied  by  a  large  number  of  citizens  they  marched  to  the 
landing  on  the  morning  just  mentioned,  and  went  aboard  two  steam  ferries, 
on  which  they  were  transported  to  Hannibal,  in  Missouri.  The  State  of 

1  The  line  officers  of  the  regiment  were :  Captains  Richard  G.  Herron,  William  M.  Stone,  (pro 
moted  Major  and  succeeded  by  Daniel  P.  Long),  Sydney  B.  Sladden,  George  R.  Willett,  John  Scott, 
(promoted  Lieutenant-Colonel  and  succeeded  by  Samuel  B.  McCall),  Carman  A.  Newcomb,  Adams 
L.  Ogg,  John  H.  Warren,  Matthew  W.  Trumbull,  John  B.  Smith.  First  Lieutenants,  David  J. 
O'Neill.  Albert  Hobbs,  Douglas  Leffingwell,  E.  J.  Weiser,  George  W.  Crosley,  Leroy  Templeton, 
George  W.  Clark,  (promoted  quartermaster  and  succeeded  by  Philo  G.  C.  Merrill),  James  Tullis, 
John  P.  Knight,  Fit/,roy  Sessions,  (promoted  Adjutant  and  succeeded  by  William  B.  Hamill). 
Second  Lieutenants  Phineas  W.  Crawford,  Oliver  H.  S.  Kennedy,  James  Call,  0.  A.  Anderson,  Wil 
liam  A.  Wise,  Aaron  Brown,  Miller  R.  Tidrick,  David  Scott,  G.  A.  Eberhart,  Charles  II.  Mullarky. 
One  or  two  of  the  officers  here  named  did  not  have  their  rank,  as  stated,  at  the  time  of  the  organi 
sation,  but  soon  after.  So  the  list  is  sufficiently  accurate  for  the  purpose  in  view — to  show  the  or 
ganization  of  the  regiment  during  the  first  era  of  its  service. 


54  IOWA     AND     THE     EEBELLION. 

Missouri  was  at  this  time  in  a  most  unhappy  condition.  The  people  were 
divided  in  sentiment,  a  majority  being  loyal  to  the  Union,  but  the  minority 
by  much  the  more  noisy  and  energetic  party.  The  Union  citizens  were 
constantly  harassed  by  roving  bands  of  rebels — robbers  and  horse-thieves, 
who  have  since  been  called  guerrillas  and  bushwhackers.  Moreover,  a 
noted  secessionist,  Thomas  Harris,  who  had  been  a  member  of  Congress, 
and  was  now  called  a  general,  was  said  to  be  collecting  a  considerable  force 
in  the  portions  of  the  State  near  the  Hannibal  and  St.  Joseph  Railroad. 
The  battle  of  Booneville  had  recently  been  fought.  Lively  work  was 
expected.  Hence  our  regiment,  without  having  yet  a  field  officer,  hastened 
westward  from  Hannibal  on  the  1st  of  July,  without  means  of  transpor 
tation  for  a  march,  without  knapsacks,  haversacks,  canteens,  cartridge- 
boxes  or  ammunition.  The  only  weapons  the  men  had  were  empty  mus 
kets  and  bayonets. 

They  went  by  rail  more  than  half  way  across  the  State.  Two  companies 
stopped  at  Chillicothe,  one  at  the  bridge  over  Grand  River,  and  the  others 
at  Utica  not  far  beyond.  The  Fourth  of  July  was  most  enthusiastically 
celebrated  by  them  all.  Whilst  the  command  was  here,  Colonel  Williams 
arrived,  and  the  commissions  for  the  Lieutenant-Colonel  and  Major.  It 
was  unfortunate  both  for  him  and  the  regiment  that  the  Colonel  became 
exceedingly  unpopular  almost  as  soon  as  he  assumed  command.  I  but 
state  a  fact  in  saying  that,  as  he  was  much  disliked,  his  authority  very  soon 
felt  the  effect  of  this  personal  feeling,  and  the  command  a  consequent  ten 
dency  to  demoralization. 

He  had  not  been  in  command  many  days,  when  Colonel  Smith,  Sixteenth 
Illinois,  arrived,  to  consult  concerning  a  movement  against  Harris'  forces 
in  northeastern  Missouri.  The  upshot  of  the  business  was,  that  on  the  8th 
of  July  three  companies  of  the  Third,  under  Captain  Herron,  proceeded 
toward  Hannibal,  and,  forming  a  junction  at  Monroe  with  a  detachment 
of  Colonel  Smith's  command,  and  one  piece  of  artillery,  handled  with 
astonishing  skill  by  one  Fishbeem,  an  old  British  gunner.  Thence  the 
united  force  marched  after  the  rebels,  had  the  skirmish  of  Hager's  Woods, 
and  retreated.  The  further  consequence  of  the  manoeuvre  was,  as  the  train 
had  been  left  without  a  guard,  it  was  found  to  be  in  flames  when  the  little 
army  again  reached  the  railroad.  The  track  was  also  destroyed  both  east 
and  west  of  the  town.  The  rebels  surrounded  the  place  and  besieged  our 
forces  till  reinforcements  arrived  from  Palmyra,  when  the  rebels,  who  were 
in  large  numbers  and  mounted,  rapidly  moved  off.  Colonel  Williams  soon 
afterwards  came  up  with  the  principal  part  of  his  regiment. 

From  about  the  12th  of  July  till  the  7th  of  August,  regimental  head 
quarters  and  seven  of  the  companies  were  at  Chillicothe,  a  place  on  the 
railway  something  more  than  half  way  across  the  state  from  Hannibal. 


THIRD     INFANTRY.  55 

The  other  companies  were  near  by,  guarding  the  railroad.  Here  the  men 
were  drilled  seven  hours  daily.  The  worst  enemies  of  Colonel  Williams 
admit  that  his  camp  discipline  was  rigid,  and  that  no  acts  of  vandalism 
were  committed  by  his  troops.  On  the  4th  of  August  the  men  drew  their 
accoutrements.  Three  days  afterwards  they  were  marched  by  rail  to 
Brookfield,  the  central  station  of  the  railroad.  Just  about  this  time  the* 
rebel  colonel,  Martin  Green,  was  raising  recruits  and  trouble  in  north 
eastern  Missouri.  On  the  15th  of  the  month  our  regiment,  under  com 
mand  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Scott,  proceeded  to  Macon  City,  then  the  head 
quarters  of  General  Hurlbut,  and  the  next  day  marched  on  Kirksville,  near 
which  place  the  forces  of  Green  were  encamped.  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Scott's  command  consisted  of  the  Third  Iowa,  save  a  small  portion  left  at 
Brookfield  under  the  Colonel,  a  few  companies  of  Home  Guards,  and 
three  pieces  of  artillery  of  small  calibre.  He  was  ordered  to  march  to 
Kirksville  and  hold  the  place.  The  command  had  great  expectations  of  a 
fight,  but  were  disappointed.  In  a  few  days  General  Hurlbut  arrived 
with  the  Sixteenth  Illinois  regiment  and  a  small  cannon,  named  "old 
Abe, ' '  and  the  General  immediately  proceeded  to  an  energetic  warfare  by 
proclamation.  Green  laughed  at  the  proclamations,  and  when  the  five 
days'  grace  were  consumed,  decamped.  It  was  during  this  period  of 
observation  at  Kirksville,  that  Corporal  Dix,  of  Company  C. ,  was  killed 
while  on  a  scout ;  the  first  death  in  our  regiment  at  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 
On  the  30th,  the  column  moved  in  pursuit  of  Green.  On  the  evening  of 
the  next  day  it  reached  the  town  of  Bethel,  inhabited  by  a  colony  of  Ger 
mans,  whose  hospitalities,  coming  after  two  days  of  hungry  marching, 
were  received  with  gratitude  equal  to  the  generosity  which  prompted 
them.  From  Bethel  the  regiment  marched  by  Shelbyville  to  Shelbina, 
and  there  taking  cars  reached  camp  at  Brookfield  on  the  3d  of  September. 

While  the  main  body  of  the  regiment  was  thus  engaged  northward  of 
the  railway,  Colonel  Williams  received  orders  for  a  movement  south  of  the 
road.  With  the  fifty  well  men  of  the  Third  in  camp,  sixty  who  had  been 
on  duty  at  St.  Joseph,  and  those  who  had  convalesced  since  the  departure 
of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Scott,  Colonel  Williams  left  Brookfield,  and  himself 
proceeding  to  Hannibal,  there  obtained  the  remnants  of  six  companies  of 
the  Kansas  Second,  just  returned  from  the  campaign  of  Wilson's  Creek, 
and  a  company  of  Missouri  cavalry.  The  whole  force  numbered  less  than 
seven  hundred.  The  Colonel  left  the  railroad  at  Shelbina,  and  marched  on 
Paris.  Here  he  remained  a  day,  and  then  retreated.  He  was  attacked 
at  Shelbina  on  the  4th  of  September,  and  from  there  continued  his  retreat 
by  rail,  moving  westward.  He  lost  in  this  affair  one  man  wounded,  and  a 
quantity  of  public  property. 

Meantime  the  main  body  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Scott  had  hardly  got 


56  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

snugly  in  camp  at  Brookfield,  when  it  was  ordered  to  move  again.  General 
John  Pope  now  appeared  on  the  scene,  and  it  was  hoped  that  there  would 
be  an  end  to  the  marchings  and  countermarchings  without  practical  results 
which  had  characterized  the  various  movements,  thus  far,  in  northeastern 
Missouri.  General  Hurlbut  and  Colonel  Williams  were  ordered  to  St. 
Louis  in  arrest,  and  in  other  respects  General  Pope  exhibited  a  vigor  char- 
acteristical  of  his  genius.  A  considerable  force  was  rapidly  concentrated  at 
Hunnewell,  of  which  the  Third  Regiment  formed  a  part.  This  place  is 
about  twenty-five  miles  due  west  of  Hannibal,  but  considerably  more  by 
rail.  Green  was  encamped  near  Florida,  about  twenty  miles  south  of 
Hunnewell.  Pope  marched  against  him  by  night,  with  the  purpose  of 
surprising  and  routing  his  forces.  In  this  he  entirely  failed.  His  only 
spoils  were  a  wagon  filled  with  corn,  and  a  broken  shot  gun,  and  which 
flourished  in  the  reports  as  Green's  train  and  our  own  recaptured  pro 
perty  !  The  army  marched  back  to  Hunnewell  in  sullen  disappointment. 

Our  regiment  soon  went  to  Macon  City,  where  Brigadier-General  S.  D. 
Sturgis  arrived,  on  September  12th.  By  this  occurrence  the  men  had  their 
hopes  of  successful  campaigning  again  renewed.  It  is  not  to  be  denied 
they  were  by  this  time  very  much  less  enthusiastic  than  when  they  steamed 
away  from  Keokuk  amid  the  mingled  huzzas  of  themselves  and  the  people. 
They  had  suffered  many  hardships,  performed  heavy  duties,  made  severe 
marches,  been  compelled  to  bear  the  obloquy  of  Shelbina,  and  had  accom 
plished  no  visible  good.  Participation  in  a  battle  was  necessary  to  entirely 
remove  the  weight  of  despondency  from  their  spirits,  and  give  to  the  men 
an  esprit- de-corps  worthy  of  themselves.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Scott  soon 
made  an  opportunity  by  fine  audacity,  which,  under  other  circumstances, 
might  have  been  justly  called  culpable  rashness,  whereby  this  most  desira 
ble  result  was  brought  about.  This  was  at  the  combat  of  Blue  Mills'  Land 
ing,  fought  September  17th,  at  the  very  time  Colonel  Mulligan  was  making 
his  heroic  and  useless  defense  of  Lexington — useless  by  no  fault  of  his. 

From  Macon  City  our  regiment  moved  westward  by  rail  to  Cameron,  a 
station  nearly  north  of  Liberty,  and  about  forty  miles  distant.  At  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  15th,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Scott,  having  im 
pressed  his  transportation,  marched  from  Cameron,  with  five  hundred  of 
the  Third  Iowa,  about  seventy  Home  Guards,  and  a  squad  of  artillery  with 
one  six-pounder  gun.  Colonel  Smith,  Sixteenth  Illinois,  it  was  understood, 
was  to  cooperate  with  this  little  column,  forming  a  junction  at  or  near  Lib 
erty.  Smith  was  at  Platte  River  Bridge,  a  few  miles  east  of  St.  Joseph, 
and  not  much  farther  from  Liberty  than  Cameron.  The  same  rains  which 
made  the  roads  muddy  for  him  made  them  muddy  for  Scott.  The  lattei 
reached  Liberty  early  on  the  morning  of  the  17th,  and  took  position  on  the 
hill  north  of  and  commanding  the  town. 


THIED     INFANTRY.  57 


SATTLE  OF  BLUE  MILLS  LANDING. 

As  yet,  no  word  had  come  from  Colonel  Smith.  From  Haynesville,  half 
way  between  Cameron  and  Liberty,  Lieutenant- Colonel  Scott  had  de 
spatched  a  courier,  with  information  of  his  movements.  From  Centreville 
he  sent  another.  From  this  place  the  firing  of  artillery  was  distinctly  heard  - 
in  the  direction  of  Platte  City.  At  noon  of  the  17th  still  another  courier 
was  despatched  to  Smith  to  hasten  his  command.  Meantime,  Scott's  little 
force,  bivouacked  on  the  hill,  was  impatient  to  fight.  The  rebels,  supposed 
to  be  about  four  thousand  strong,  with  four  pieces  of  artillery,  had  marched 
through  Liberty  on  the  evening  of  the  16th,  and  taken  the  road  to  Blue 
Mills  Ferry,  or  Landing,  on  the  Missouri,  four  miles  south  of  Liberty.  At 
eleven  o'clock  of  the  17th,  firing  was  heard  in  the  direction  of  the  Landing, 
which  was  reported  as  a  conflict  between  the  rebels  and  Union  troops  dis 
puting  their  passage  of  the  river.  The  impatience  of  our  troops  increased 
to  an  eagerness  for  battle  which  it  would  have  been  difficult  to  restrain. 

The  country  between  Liberty  and  Blue  Mills  Landing  is  a  flat,  alluvial 
soil,  covered  with  dense  woods,  impenetrable  by  an  army  in  line  of  battle, 
by  reason  of  the  thick  undergrowth,  vines,  and  thousands  of  trunks  of 
trees  which  had  been  blown  down  in  former  times,  or  falling  under  the 
weight  of  years,  now  lay  scattered  in  all  directions,  barricading  passage. 
The  road  was  narrow,  and  along  the  entire  distance  there  were  but  two  or 
three  cultivated  fields.  There  were  a  few  beds  of  ponds,  now  without 
water.  "With  these  exceptions  it  was  a  wide  stretch  of  primeval  forest. 
About  half  way  between  Liberty  and  the  river,  a  road  crossed  that  on 
which  was  our  line  of  march  at  right  angles.  At  the  intersection  of  the 
roads,  north  of  the  one  and  east  of  the  other,  was  a  considerable  corn-field. 
Opposite,  with  a  belt  of  timber  intervening,  some  twenty  yards  in  width, 
was  a  slough  or  pond,  now  entirely  dry.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Scott  had 
marched  his  column  by  the  flank  thus  far,  having  his  skirmishers  well 
thrown  out,  and  feeling  his  way  cautiously,  step  by  step,  as  it  were,  and 
relying  upon  the  skirmish  line  to  hold  the  enemy  in  check,  when  he  should 
be  developed,  long  enough  for  his  forces  to  deploy.  The  column  had  not 
advanced  far  beyond  the  cross  road,  when  Captain  Long,  in  command  of 
the  skirmishers,  sent  back  word  that  he  could  hear  the  enemy — officers 
giving  commands  and  a  heavy  force  approaching.  In  a  moment  more  the 
skirmishers  on  our  right  opened  fire,  and  in  another  instant  our  column 
seemed  to  be  enveloped  in  a  blaze  of  musketry.  It  had  marched  straight 
into  ambuscade,  and  rebel  bullets  were  fatally  pattering  against  it  from  one 
end  to  the  other.  Nevertheless,  officers  and  men  retained  their  presence 
of  mind,  and  deployed  as  well  as  was  possible.  The  cannon  was  instantly 

placed  in  position,  and  poured  two  rounds  of  canister  into  the  enemy, 

8 


58  IOWA    AND     THE     EEBELLION. 

inflicting  heavy  damage,  when  a  fresh  volley  from  the  rebels  killed, 
wounded,  and  drove  off  so  many  of  the  gunners  that  the  piece  could  not 
be  longer  worked.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Scott  now  gave  the  order  to  fall 
back  slowly.  Out  of  sixteen  officers,  ten  had  already  fallen,  killed  or 
wounded.  We  fell  back  slowly,  bringing  off  the  gun  by  hand.  The  rebels 
attempted  a  flank  movement  on  our  right,  moving  in  the  slough  heretofore 
mentioned.  The  combat  here  became  animated,  and  continued  for  some 
time,  under  the  immediate  command  of  Major  Stone.  The  rebels  were 
driven  back  with  considerable  loss,  but  Captain  Cupp,  of  the  Home 
Guards,  here  fell  by  the  major's  side,  and  a  number  besides  were  killed  or 
wounded.  The  combat  continued  for  an  hour,  our  troops  falling  back 
slowly  and  steadily,  firing  as  they  retreated,  bringing  off  the  cannon  and 
nearly  all  the  wounded.  Keaching  the  open  field  the  battalion  was  formed, 
but  the  rebels  declined  attack.  Just  before  nightfall  the  column  retired  to 
Liberty,  meeting  a  detachment  of  horsemen  from  Colonel  Smith  on  the 
way.  Has  whole  command  entered  the  town  about  an  hour  after  sunset. 

The  troops  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Scott  in  this  engagement  numbered 
less  than  six  hundred.  His  losses  in  killed  and  wounded  were  one  hun 
dred  and  eighteen,  of  which  ninety-four  fell  to  the  Third  Iowa.  The  rebel 
force  was,  perhaps,  not  far  from  four  thousand.  General  Atchison,  in  his 
official  report  of  the  battle,  particularizes  three  regiments,  two  battalions 
and  one  battery,  but  he  nowhere  mentions  either  the  number  of  these 
troops,  or  of  their  casualties.  It  is  probable  their  loss  was  not  less  than 
ours. 

The  conduct  of  officers  and  men,  whether  of  the  Third  Iowa,  or  of  the 
Missouri  Home  Guards,  was  most  creditable  throughout.  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Scott  was  in  the  midst  of  the  fight,  conspicuous  for  coolness  and 
bravery.  His  horse  was  hit  several  times,  and  several  bullets  passed 
through  his  uniform.  Major  Stone  was  wounded,  but  returned  to  the 
field  as  soon  as  his  wound  was  dressed.  "  The  heaviest  loss  was  sustained 
by  Company  I,  which  lost  four  killed  and  twenty  wounded.  Captain 
Trumbull  and  Lieutenant  Crosley,  of  Company  E,  brought  off  the  gun  by 
hand  under  a  heavy  fire.  Captains  Warren,  Willet,  and  O'Neill,  and  Lieu 
tenants  Tullis,  Hobbs,  Anderson,  and  Knight,  were  severely  wounded,  the 
last  named  three  times."  Sergeant  James  H.  Larkin,  of  Company  F, 
who  bore  the  colors,  and  Sergeant  Abernethy,  of  Company  I,  who  led  the 
skirmishers  on  the  right,  were  specially  mentioned  for  meritorious  conduct. 
The  simple  fact  is,  the  whole  command  deserved  special  mention  for  meri 
torious  conduct.  Certainly  it  never  should  have  been  led  where  it  was,  in 
the  manner  it  was ;  but  being  there,  it  fought  its  way  out  most  gallantly — 
fighting  at  bay  against  fearful  odds  and  with  heroic  desperation,  like  the 
lion-hearted  Richard,  in  Sherwood  forest.  The  parallel  might  have  been 


THIRD     INFANTRY.  59 

completed,  had  Colonel  Smith  been  half  as  fleet  as  Robin  Hood.  But, 
conceding  the  battle  to  have  been  a  mistake,  its  effect  upon  the  regiment 
was  unmixed  good.2  •  • 

Colonel  Smith  was  unwilling  to  take  his  weary  troops  against  the  rebels 
on  the  night  of  the  17th.  Early  on  the  following  morning  the  united  force 
marched  to  the  Landing,  but  the  enemy  had  made  the  passage  of  the  river^ 
during  the  night,  and  was  rapidly  moving  on  Lexington  to  reenforce  Price. 

The  military  situation  in  Missouri,  especially  in  the  western  part  of  the 
State,  was  about  this  time  at  very  loose  ends.  Brigadier-General  Sturgis, 
unable  to  throw  his  troops  across  the  Missouri  to  reenforce  Colonel  Mul 
ligan  at  Lexington,  retreated  up  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  flying  in 
precipitate  haste  from  an  imaginary  enemy.  Colonel  Smith  was  marching 
toward  St.  Joseph.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Scott,  with  about  four  hundred 

2  Mr.  Greeley,  in  the  "  American  Conflict,"  (Vol.  I.,  p.  587)  thus  disposes  of  this  combat :  "  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Scott,  of  the  Third  Iowa,  reached  that  point  (Liberty)  at  7  A.M.,  on  the  17th,  and, 
not  meeting  there  the  expected  cooperating  force  from  Cameron,  under  Colonel  Smith,  pushed  on 
to  Blue  Mills  Landing,  on  the  Missouri,  where  he  attacked  the  rebels — now  commanded  by  General 
David  R.  Atchison— and  was  promptly  and  thoroughly  routed.  Colonel  Smith,  who  had  been 
delayed  by  rains  and  bad  roads,  reached  Liberty  by  dark,  and  there  met  Scott's  beaten  and  demor 
alized  regiment." 

Smith's  line  of  march,  from  Platt  River  Bridge,  not  Cameron,  which  was  Scott's  starting  point,  to 
Liberty,  was  seven  miles  longer  than  Scott's.  He  had  six  hours  start.  He  had  no  more  rains,  and 
no  worse  roads.  Scott  halted  at  Liberty  full  seven  hours  waiting  for  Smith,  before  he  "  pushed 
on."  He  was  not  "  routed,"  either  promptly  or  thoroughly,  or  in  any  other  manner  whatever. 
There  was  not  any  the  least  sign  or  symptom,  of  rout.  There  was  the  least  possible  disorder, 
almost,  and  scarcely  a  moment's  absolute  confusion.  So  far  from  the  regiment  being  demoralized, 
it  retreated  in  good  order,  wanted  to  try  it  again  when  the  mounted  men  from  Smith  came  up,  and 
was  anxious  to  do  so  when  the  main  body  arrived,  after  dark. 

It  is  rare,  indeed,  that  Horace  Greeley  so  errs  as  in  the  above  quotation,  and  any  one  at  all 
familiar  with  the  lies  as  to  the  campaigns  in  Missouri,  which  were  at  this  time  lying  around  loose, 
will  be  astonished  at  his  general  accuracy. 

The  losses  of  the  Third  Iowa  at  Blue  Mills,  as  reported  in  the  Adjutant-General's  oflice,  were : 

Wounded,  Major  William  M.  Stone;  Company  A— Wounded,  Lieutenant  David  J.  O'Neill;  Ser 
geant  Daniel  J.  Duane,  William  H.  Munger;  Privates  Elliott  Pritchfield,  James  P.  Mc- 
Cafferty,  John  Schrage ;  Company  B — Wounded,  Lieutenant  Albert  Hobbs;  Sergeant  John  C. 
Woodruff;  Corporal  William  F.  Hart;  Privates  Benjamin  Robbins,  Josiah  M.  Woodruff;  Company 
C— Killed,  Lester  Squires ;  Wounded,  Wagoner  Herman  Drone,  William  H.  Phillips,  John  Snake ; 
Company  D— Killed,  William  B.  Miller ;  Wounded,  Captain  George  R.  Willett ;  Lieutenant  Ole  A. 
Anderson,  William  B.  Heckart;  Company  E— Wounded,  Sergeant  Thomas  Mulvana;  Corporal  Na 
thaniel  Jennings,  Corporal  William  H.  McCowan,  David  H.  Dill,  George  W.  Groves,  James  F.  Guth- 
rie,  Daniel  Hill,  Joseph  H.  Miller,  Bartley  N.  Pardee,  William  R.  White,  William  C.  White;  Cam- 
pany  F— Killed,  Hasseltine  D.  Norton ;  Wounded,  Lieutenant  Aaron  Brown ;  Corporal  Leonidas 
Davis,  John  W.  Hawn,  David  Ishman,  Joseph  N.  Johnson,  Charles  Lyon,  Jacob  Swank,  Thomas 
Saunders,  Charles  Winchell;  Company  G— Wounded,  Francis  M.  Latta,  William  Michael,  John  Mc- 
Cullough,  John  A.  Rutter,  William  Swan;  Company  H— Wounded,  Captain  John  H.  Warren ;  Lieu 
tenant  James  Tullis;  Sergeant  John  McMannus,  Edward  A.  Barbour,  Isaac  Gamble,  Jesse  McClure, 
Michael  Wierna;  Company  I— Kitted,  Hiram  G.  W.  Bedell,  Benjamin  F.  Darland,  Thomas  M.  Mix; 
Wounded,  Lieutenant  John  P.  Knight ;  Sergeant  David  Forney,  Sergeant  Isaac  M.  Henderson ;  Mu 
sician  Charles  E.  Balcomb,  James  Buell,  Leroy  Carter,  Peter  S.  Dorland.  Richard  C.  Dolph,  Wolsey 
Hawks,  Willis  H.  Merifield,  William  L.  Peppers,  Albert  S.  Russell,  George  W.  Stocks,  George  H. 
Smalley,  Ferdinand  Seick,  Samuel  Trowbridge,  Joseph  Vyborny,  Asa  H.  Warner,  Alfred  M.  Wilcox, 
Lorain  T.  Washburne,  Thomas  B.  Walley,  James  E.  White;  Company  K— Killed,  James  H. 
Brownell. 


60  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

men,  marched  and  countermarched  in  the  neighborhood  of  Liberty  for 
two  or  three  days,  and  then  luckily  got  his  troops  aboard  a  steamer, 
and  went  to  Fort  Leavenworth,  where  they  remained  a  day,  and  passed 
down  to  Wyandott,  a  town  in  the  State  of  Kansas,  but  only  three  or  four 
miles  from  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  at  this  time  the  head-quarters  of 
General  Sturgis.  That  officer,  expecting  attack,  sent  for  the  Third  Iowa 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  28th,  and  in  a  short  time  the  march  was  made, 
No  attack  came,  however.  Here  the  regiment  remained  about  three  weeks. 
During  this  stay,  Senator  Lane,  of  Kansas,  who  had  so  often  called  himself 
"  Jim.  Lane,"  that  he  was  known  by  no  other  name,  arrived  with  a  consi 
derable  number  of  troops  who  were  familiarly  called  Jay-hawkers.  He 
and  Sturgis  forthwith  went  to  quarrelling  about  the  question  of  rank,  and 
the  mode  of  carrying  on  the  war.  Seeing  that  Sturgis  was  probably  the 
worst  representative  of  West  Point  that  was  ever  raised  to  the  rank  of 
general,  and  that  Jim.  Lane  was  probably  the  worst  representative  of  mili 
tary  morals,  or  any  other  morals,  that  ever  held  a  commission  of  any  sort, 
and  that  they  were  both  the  serenest  martinets  in  their  different  ways,  the 
quarrel  was  amusing  enough.  In  point  of  deportment,  the  dignity  of  mere 
manner,  Sturgis  had  greatly  the  advantage,  but  in  vituperation  and  down 
right  profanity,  Jim.  Lane  has  the  advantage  of  any  gentleman.  The 
upshot  of  it  was  that  Lane  moved  off  his  troops  in  dudgeon,  and  encamped 
at  some  distance  from  Sturgis.  But  this  is  a  digression. 

On  the  18th  of  October  our  regiment  embarked,  and  went  up  the  river 
to  latan,  there  took  cars  and  by  way  of  St.  Joseph  returned  across  the 
State ;  near  midnight  of  the  19th  marched  through  the  quiet  streets  of 
Quincey,  Illinois,  and  went  into  camp  north  of  the  beautiful  city.  When 
Colonel  Scott  started  on  the  Blue  Mills  campaign,  he  took  with  him  only 
those  who  could  endure  forced  marches.  Here  those  who  were  then  left 
behind  and  others  who  had  joined  the  organization  were  found,  and  it  may 
well  be  supposed  this  midnight  meeting  of  old  comrades  was  full  of  hearty 
welcomes.  The  regiment  remained  at  Quincey  till  the  9th  of  November — 
a  period  of  much  social  enjoyment,  as  happily  improved  by  the  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  as  any,  and  closing  with  a  ball  in  honor  of  the  command  given  by 
the  citizens. 

Thence  the  regiment  proceeded  by  river  to  St.  Louis,  and  remained  in 
quarters  at  Benton  Barracks  till  the  day  after  Christmas,  when  it  moved 
out  on  the  North  Missouri  Railroad,  under  command  of  Major  Stone.  In 
guarding  this  road  for  many  miles,  head-quarters  at  Mexico,  the  command 
spent  the  winter — in  detachments.  It  was  a  period  comparatively  devoid 
of  incident.  Colonel  Williams  arrived  near  the  close  of  February  and 
assumed  command.  He  had  been  relieved  from  arrest  under  the  charges 
which  had  been  preferred  against  him.  He  at  once  commenced  reforms, 


THIRD     INFANTRY.  61 

and  soon  began  to  grow  in  favor  with  the  officers  and  men.  It  is  certain 
that  he  was  never  less  unpopular  with  his  command  than  at  this  time, 
when  he  was  preparing,  with  great  energy,  to  have  it  ready  to  move  to  the 
theatre  of  war  in  Tennessee.  On  the  night  of  the  3d  of  March,  1862,  being 
relieved  of  duty  on  the  railway  by  a  detachment  of  the  Third  Iowa  Cavalry, 
our  regiment  started  for  St.  Louis.  There,  the  command  went  aboard 
steamer,  and  was  soon  on  the  way  to  join  the  forces  of  General  Grant  in 
Tennessee.  The  voyage,  especially  up  the  Tennessee  River,  which  was 
covered  with  transports  crowded  with  troops,  was  one  of  interest,  much  of 
the  time,  of  excitement.  The  regiment  was  assigned  to  the  division  com 
manded  by  Brigadier-General  Stephen  A.  Hurlbut,  under  whom  it  had 
before  served,  and  of  whom  the  majority  thought  but  little,  till  his  good 
conduct  at  Shiloh  brought  about  a  happy  revolution  of  feeling  in  his  favor. 
The  troops  of  this  division  disembarked  on  the  17th  of  March  at  Pittsburg 
Landing,  and  encamped  about  a  mile  therefrom  in  the  direction  of  Shiloh 
Church,  or  about  one-third  of  the  way  thither.  And  here  our  regiment 
remained,  in  the  performance  of  camp  and  drill  duties  till  the  surprise  of 
April  6th. 

RATTLE  OF  SHILOH. 

For  some  time  previous  to  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  the  army  of  the  Tenn 
essee,  under  Major-General  Grant,  had  been  encamped  in  the  vicinity  of 
Pittsburg  Landing,  a  hovel  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Tennessee  River,  nine 
miles  south  of  the  town  of  Savannah,  on  the  east  bank,  where  General 
Grant  had  his  head-quarters,  and  twenty-two  miles  northwest  of  Corinth, 
Mississippi,  where  a  large  rebel  force  was  concentrating  under  Generals 
Johnston  and  Beauregard.  General  Grant's  army  numbered  about  forty 
thousand  men,  in  six  divisions,  commanded  by  Generals  McClernand,  Sher 
man,  Hurlbut,  Smith,  Prentiss  and  Lew.  Wallace.  General  Smith  being 
sick  at  the  time  of  the  battle,  General  W.  H.  L.  Wallace  assumed  com 
mand  of  the  division.  Before  describing  the  movements  of  these  troops, 
or  of  the  reinforcements  which  turned  their  defeat  into  victory,  it  will  be 
well  to  take  a  rapid  view  of  the  field  upon  which  the  battle  was  fought. 

Pittsburg  Landing  is  little  more  than  a  ravine,  down  which  a  road 
passes  to  the  river,  between  high  bluffs  on  either  side.  The  country  to  the 
west  and  south  within  whose  limits  the  engagement  took  place,  is  an  undu 
lating  table  land,  breaking  into  abrupt  ravines  along  the  river  to  the  east, 
as  well  as  along  Lick  Creek,  which  empties  into  the  Tennessee  about  two 
miles  above  the  landing.  Owl  Creek,  rising  near  the  source  of  Lick 
Creek,  first  takes  a  northwest  course,  then  curves  around  the  battle-field, 
and  empties  into  Snake  Creek,  about  two  miles  west-northwest  of  Pitts 
burg.  The  face  of  the  country  is  for  the  most  part  covered  with  woods, 


62  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

through  which  troops  can  move  without  difficulty ;  but  there  are  occasional 
patches  of  dense  undergrowth.  Small  farms  and  fields  of  seventy  or  eighty 
acres  are  scattered  here  and  there  along  the  roads,  of  which,  with  those 
for  general  use  and  those  made  by  the  army,  there  are  many ;  but,  per 
haps,  as  much  as  nine-tenths  of  the  countiy  is  forest.  On  the  Corinth 
road,  about  three  miles  from  the  landing,  stood  a  log  church,  called  after 
one  of  the  prophetic  names  of  the  Saviour,  Shiloh,  and  from  which  the 
battle  takes  its  name.  A  line  run  from  where  the  Hamburg  road  crosses 
Lick  Creek,  south  of  Pittsburg,  to  where  the  Purdy  road  crosses  Owl 
Creek,  west  of  Pittsburg,  would  pass  hard  by  Shiloh  church.  The  dis 
tance  is  something  more  than  three  miles,  the  church  being  half  a  mile  to 
the  right  of  the  centre.  Along  this  line  the  front  of  the  Union  army  was 
irregularly  encamped. 

The  advance  line  was  composed  of  three  divisions.  General  Sherman 
held  the  right,  from  considerably  to  the  left  of  the  church.  One  of  his 
brigades,  under  Colonel  Stuart,  also  guarded  the  ford  at  Lick  Creek  on  the 
left.  Next  to  him,  but  not  so  well  up  in  front,  nor  parallel  with  him,  was 
Major-General  McClernand,  his  right  overlapping  the  left  of  Sherman's 
main  body.  Between  McClernand  and  Stuart's  brigade,  and  in  advance  of 
either,  on  the  extreme  front  was  Prentiss.  In  the  rear  of  the  centre  and 
about  half  way  to  the  landing  were  W.  H.  L.  Wallace  and  Hurlbut ;  the 
latter  on  the  left.  As  for  General  Lew.  Wallace,  he  was  at  Crump's  Land 
ing,  a  few  miles  below  Pittsburg. 

The  troops  of  General  Grant's  army  were  for  the  most  part  raw  recruits, 
or  inexperienced  in  warfare  on  a  large  scale.  Some  of  them  had  fought  at 
Belmont,  more  at  Donelson.  Others  had  been  under  fire  in  Missouri.  Few 
of  them  all,  officers  or  men,  had  any  practical  knowledge  of  a  great  pitched 
battle.  It  was  well  known  to  every  soldier  in  our  army  that  the  rebels  were 
in  force  only  a  day's  march  in  front,  under  their  most  distinguished  and 
skilful  leaders.  Nevertheless,  our  picket-lines  were  of  the  thinnest;  of  re- 
connoissances  there  were  none,  whilst  our  camps  were  utterly  unprotected 
by  works  of  any  sort  whatever.  Our  generals  were  unwary.  One  who  has 
since  so  astonished  the  world  by  his  military  genius  as  General  W.  T.  Sher 
man  did  not  think,  on  the  evening  before  the  battle,  the  enemy  designed 
anything  but  a  strong  demonstration.  At  that  very  moment  the  enemy  was 
in  our  immediate  front,  in  force  much  stronger  than  our  own,  ready  to  hurl 
his  stout  columns  on  and  through  our  unsuspecting  camps.  And  he  would 
have  been  there,  to  surprise  us  on  Saturday  instead  of  Sunday  morning, 
but  for  the  delay  caused  by  a  heavy  rain-storm. 

By  half-past  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  Sunday,  the  rebel  lines  and 
columns  were  in  motion,  Hardee's  corps  on  their  right,  Bragg' s  in  the 
centre,  Polk's  on  the  left.  Breckinridge  held  the  reserve.  Advancing 


THIRD     INFANTRY. 


63 


OF 

REFERENCES. 

Position  of  Major-General  Grant's  forces  on  the  morning  of  April  6th. 
Position  of  Major-Generals  Grant's  and  Buell's  forces,  evening  April  6th. 
Position  of  Major-Generals  Grant  and  Buell  on  morning  of  April  yth. 
Position  of  Major-Generals  Grant  and  Buell  on  evening  of  April  yth. 


NOTE. — The  positions  of  the 
Rebel  forces  were  generally  par 
allel  to  those  herein  indicated. 


64  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

rapidly,  they  swept  our  pickets  out  of  the  way,  or  followed  at  their  heels 
nearly  into  our  camps,  first  striking  Prentiss,  and,  almost  in  the  twinkling 
of  an  eye,  the  left  front  of  Sherman's  main  body.  In  an  incredibly  short 
time  whole  regiments  were  pulverized  into  clouds  of  stragglers  drifting  to 
the  rear.  Nevertheless  the  long  roll  calling  the  troops  into  line  amid  the 
roar  of  artillery  and  the  bursting  of  shells,  positions  were  hastily  taken  both 
by  Prentiss  and  Sherman,  and  held  for  some  little  time  with  a  bravery 
never  surpassed,  before  or  since.  But  the  line  lacked  both  strength  and 
continuity.  There  was  a  great  gap  between  Sherman  and  Prentiss.  Parts 
of  the  line  were  held  with  more  tenacity  than  others,  and  the  battle  raged 
from  east  to  west,  zigzag-wise,  for  some  time,  brigades  here  giving  way, 
there  holding  back  the  enemy's  advance.  McClernand. hastened  up  to  the 
support  of  Sherman,  brigade  at  a  time,  and  still  the  wide  gap  was  left  un 
closed.  The  rebels  were  not  long  in  finding  it,  nor  long  in  pouring  in  flank 
ing  columns,  under  whose  galling  fire  the  left  of  our  right  and  the  right  of 
our  left,  crumbled  away,  or  fell  back  in  confusion.  Commands  were  sepa 
rated  from  each  other,  which  ought  to  have  fought  side  by  side.  General 
Grant  had  not  yet  appeared  on  the  field,  and  there  was  an  utter  want  of 
unity  in  our  fight.  We  had  given  the  rebels  heavy  blows,  here  and  there 
stunning  and  retarding  their  lines,  but  as  a  whole  they  had  advanced  from 
six  o'clock  till  ten,  driving  us  from  position  to  position  back  upon  the  line 
held  by  Hurlbut  and  W.  H.  L.  Wallace.  Between  these  two  divisions 
Prentiss  made  a  stand,  whilst  McClernand  took  position  to  the  right  of  W. 
H.  L.  Wallace,  what  was  left  of  General  Sherman's  division  being  still  on 
McClernand' s  right.  The  battle  continued  with  renewed  fury.  "There 
was  the  most  continuous  firing  of  musketry  and  artillery,"  says  General 
Grant,  "ever  heard  on  this  continent,  kept  up  until  nightfall."  The  can 
nonading  of  the  battle  was  heard  near  Nashville,  which  is  nearly  an  hun 
dred  miles  distant  from  the  scene  of  conflict.  Nevertheless,  General  Lew. 
Wallace,  six  miles  distant,  missed  the  way,  and  did  not  reach  the  field  till 
the  first  day's  contest  was  ended.  Meantime,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
regiments  of  Hurlbut' s  and  Prentiss'  commands,  which  held  to  the  last 
position  taken  with  unrelaxing  grip,  keeping  back  the  rebels  in  their  front 
for  hours,  thereby  saving  the  Unionists  from  utter  rout,  not  surrendering 
themselves  till  enveloped  on  all  sides,  and  Buell,  and  night  had  come,  the 
whole  army  had  fallen  back  to  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Pittsburg. 

The  losses  in  killed  and  wounded  during  the  day's  contest  were  large  on 
both  sides.  We  had  lost  nearly  thirty  pieces  of  artillery,  whilst  the  quan 
tities  of  public  and  private  property  which  the  rebels  found  in  our  camps 
were  immense.  Their  commander-in-chief  had  been  killed.  On  our  side, 
General  W.  H.  L.  Wallace  was  mortally  wounded,  and  General  Prentiss 
captured.  We  had  been  driven  from  every  position,  and  when  Genera] 


THIRD     INFANTRY.  65 

Nelson's  division  of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio  under  General  Buell,  came  up 
in  the  evening,  General  Grant's  army  was  defeated  and  huddled  together, 
so  to  say,  near  the  landing,  under  cover  of  the  reserve  artillery,  and  the 
gun-boats  Tyler  and  Lexington.  The  divisions  of  Prentiss  and  W.  H.  L. 
Wallace  did  not  appear  any  more  as  such,  whilst  Sherman's  was  greatly 
shattered,  and  Hurlbut's  and  McClernand's  had  been  roughly  treated. 
Thousands  of  stragglers  crowded  the  river's  bank,  pleading  to  be  carried 
across  the  stream ;  and  the  spirits  of  the  troops  were  broken.  Yet  it  is  the 
simple  truth  to  add  that  neither  General  Grant  nor  General  Sherman 
admitted  a  defeat.  To  the  unyielding  tenaciousness  of  the  one,  and  the 
enthusiasm  of  the  other,  there  was  still  hope  of  success  on  the  morrow, 
even  without  the  aid  of  Buell.  Happily,  Buell  did  not  fail,  and  the  suc 
ceeding  portion  of  the  battle  was  as  glorious  to  our  arms  as  the  preceding 
had  been  disastrous. 

When  the  battle  of  Sunday  ceased,  the  two  gun-boats  opened  fire  from 
heavy  guns  upon  the  rebels,  and  checked  their  advance  not  only,  but  com 
pelled  them  to  seek  shelter  from  the  terrible  missiles  at  some  distance  from 
our  lines.  It  thus  happened  that  General  Buell  found  room  to  post  his 
troops  on  Sunday  night,  and  General  Grant  an  opportunity  to  reorganize 
his  divisions,  and  to  get  Lew.  Wallace  into  line,  without  being  cramped  for 
space.  In  this  labor  the  night  was  spent  by  the  general  officers.  At  mid 
night  a  thunder  storm  came  up,  and  our  troops,  who  slept  on  their  arms, 
received  a  thorough  soaking. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  Monday  we  were  ready  not  only  to  receive 
attack,  but  to  advance  upon  the  enemy.  The  line  was  in  the  shape  of  a 
crescent,  the  wings  advanced.  Three  divisions  of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio — 
Nelson's,  Crittenden's  and  McCook's,  were  in  position  on  the  left.  Lew. 
Wallace  was  on  the  right,  Sherman,  McClernand  and  Hurlbut  being  in 
order  on  his  left,  to  whose  commands  were  attached  such  of  Prentiss'  and 
W.  H.  L.  Wallace's  troops  as  could  be  got  together.  The  right  found  the 
enemy  sooner  than  the  left.  General  Lew.  Wallace  was  first  engaged,  but 
it  was  not  long  till  the*re  was  heavy  firing  both  of  artillery  and  musketry  all 
along  the  line.  The  Army  of  the  Ohio,  under  cover  of  Terrell's,  Menden- 
hall's  and  Bartlett's  batteries,  advanced  slowly,  working  toward  the  right, 
all  the  time  losing  heavily ;  but  only  once  during  the  day  compelled  to  fall 
back.  The  Army  of  the  Tennessee  also  met  with  stubborn  resistance,  but 
the  fresh  troops  under  Wallace  fought  with  a  spirit  and  dash  which  entirely 
relieved  them  from  any  responsibility  for  the  laggard  movement  of  the 
division  on  the  day  before,  whilst  the  other  divisions  this  day  fought  like 
veterans.  There  was  but  little  straggling  to  the  rear  on  Monday.  Along 
the  whole  line  our  troops  quitted  themselves  like  men,  and  steadily  pressed 
back  the  foe,  till  about  four  o'clock,  when  Beauregard  put  his  whole  army 


66  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

in  retreat.  We  had  by  this  time  recaptured  most  of  our  guns  taken  the 
day  before,  all  our  camps,  and  were  beyond  our  advance  line  of  Sunday 
morning.  Two  brigades  of  General  Wood's  division  of  the  Army  of  the 
Ohio,  went  into  line  near  the  centre  just  before  the  close  of  the  battle,  and 
they,  together  with  portions  of  General  Sherman's  troops,  and  detachments 
from  other  commands,  made  a  short  and  desultory  pursuit  of  the  enemy ; 
but  there  was  no  general  attempt  to  follow  up  the  victory.  Beauregard 
retreated  to  Corinth  without  molestation,  with  a  loss  of  ten  thousand  six 
hundred  and  ninety-nine  in  killed,  wounded  and  missing,  according  to  his 
own  report,  out  of  the  forty  thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty-five  engaged 
in  the  battle,  according  to  the  same  authority.  The  Union  loss  in  the 
Army  of  the  Ohio,  and  the  divisions  of  Sherman,  McClernand  and  Huri- 
but,  was  eight  thousand  and  forty-seven,  and  it  is  probable  the  total  casual 
ties  amounted  to  nearly  twelve  thousand. 

This  great  battle,  which  at  first  elicited  hasty  rejoicings  throughout  the 
insurrectionary  States,  and  especially  at  Richmond,  and  afterwards  the 
enduring  gratitude  of  the  loyal  portions  of  the  country,  was  fought  on  the 
side  of  the  Union  by  Western  troops,  except  the  artillerymen  belonging  to 
the  regular  batteries.  The  volunteers  in  the  army  of  the  Tennessee,  num 
bering  about  sixty  regiments,  were  from  all  the  Western  States  and  the 
Territory  of  Nebraska.  The  army  of  the  Ohio  engaged  was  composed 
mostly  of  troops  from  Ohio  and  Kentucky,  but  there  were  a  few  regiments 
from  Indiana  and  Illinois.  The  State  of  Iowa  had  eleven  regiments  in  the 
battle— the  Second,  Third,  Sixth,  Seventh,  Eighth,  Eleventh,  Twelfth, 
Thirteenth,  Fourteenth,  Fifteenth,  and  Sixteenth  infantry.  General  Lau- 
man  commanded  a  brigade  of  Indiana  and  Kentucky  troops  in  Hurlbut's 
division. 

Colonel  J.  M.  Tuttle,  of  the  Second  Iowa,  was  in  command  of  what  was 
called  at  the  time  the  "  Iowa  Brigade,"  composed  of  the  Second,  Seventh, 
Twelfth,  and  Fourteenth  regiments,  till  the  fall  of  General  W.  H.  L. 
Wallace,  late  in  the  day,  when  he  assumed  command  of  what  was  left  of 
the  division.  The  brigade  occupied  the  left  of  the  division,  and  early  went 
into  action.  Here  four  separate  charges  of  the  enemy,  made  with  great 
spirit  and  under  cover  of  artillery,  were  repulsed.  The  position  was  held 
most  tenaciously  for  six  hours.  Then  the  line  yielded  both  on  the  right 
and  left,  giving  the  enemy  an  opportunity  to  turn  both  flanks  of  the 
brigade.  The  Second  and  Seventh  retired  through  a  murderous  fire, 
under  which  many  were  killed  and  wounded,  among  whom  fell  General 
Wallace.  The  Twelfth  and  Fourteenth,  endeavoring  to  save  a  battery, 
failed  to  retire.  They  continued  the  fight  with  the  Third  and  Eighth 
Iowa,  an  Illinois  and  a  Wisconsin  regiment  for  some  time,  with  a  resolute, 
heroic  determination  to  save  the  army  behind  them  from  destruction. 


THIRD     INFANTRY.  f>7 

And  they  did  it.  They  delayed  the  rebel  advance  till  it  was  too  late  for 
farther  movements.  The  most  of  the  Third  passed  through  a  terrible 
cross  fire,  and  escaped,  but  the  other  troops  who  made  this  last  desperate 
stand  were  completely  cut  off,  and  compelled  to  surrender  themselves 
prisoners  of  war.  On  Monday  the  Second  and  Seventh  followed  General 
Buell  as  a  reserve.  During  the  day  the  Second  charged  bayonets  across  a 
field  on  the  enemy  posted  in  the  woods  beyond,  in  the  most  gallant 
manner.  The  Seventh  on  this  day,  under  orders  from  General  Crittenden, 
charged  and  captured  one  of  the  enemy's  batteries.  Colonel  Tuttle  declares 
in  his  official  report,  that  the  officers  of  his  brigade  deserving  special 
mention  for  good  conduct  at  Shiloh  are  so  numerous  that  he  is  compelled 
fo  confine  himself  to  field  officers  alone.  He  then  states  that  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Baker,  of  the  Second,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Parrott  and  Major  Rice, 
of  the  Seventh,  Colonel  Woods,  of  the  Twelfth,  Colonel  Shaw  and  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Lucas,  of  the  Fourteenth,  particularly  distinguished  them 
selves  for  bravery  and  ability  on  the  field.  The  Sixth  regiment  was  in  the 
brigade  on  the  extreme  right  of  the  whole  line,  near  the  bridge  over  Owl 
Creek  on  the  Purdy  road.  This  brigade,  at  first  under  the  command  of 
Colonel  McDowell,  of  the  Sixth,  made  the  stoutest  and  the  longest  stand 
against  the  rebel  advance  of  any  of  General  Sherman's  troops,  and  the 
Sixth  regiment  itself  fought  till  no  supports  were  left.  It  was  at  last  so 
shattered  that  it  did  not  appear  as  an  organization  during  the  second  day's 
contest,  though  the  men  fought  with  other  commands.  The  regiment 
went  into  the  engagement  with  about  six  hundred  and  fifty  men,  of  whom 
sixty-four  were  killed,  one  hundred  wounded,  and  forty-seven  missing. 
The  Eighth  regiment,  Colonel  J.  L.  Geddes,  belonged  to  Colonel  Sweeney's 
brigade,  of  Smith's  division,  but  was  early  ordered  into  position,  apart 
from  the  brigade,  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  division,  joining  the  right  of 
Prentiss.  Here  it  fought  under  the  eye  of  General  Prentiss  for  ten  con 
secutive  hours,  repelling  attack  after  attack,  and  with  the  battery  which  it 
supported,  placing  battalion  after  battalion  of  the  enemy  Jiors  de  combat. 
Here  it  remained  till  it  had  to  fight  rebels  in  three  directions.  It  lost  in 
killed  and  wounded  nearly  two  hundred.  Colonel  Geddes  claims  the  honor 
for  his  regiment  of  being  the  last  to  leave  the  advanced  line  of  our  army 
on  the  battle-field  of  Shiloh  on  Sunday.  It  had  retired  but  a  short  dis 
tance,  when,  being  surrounded  on  all  sides,  it  surrendered.  The  gallant 
men  deserved  a  better  fate.  They  had  fought  like  heroes,  one  and  all. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Ferguson,  Major  Andrews,  Captains  Cleaveland,  Stubbs, 
Benson,  McCormick,  Bell,  Kelsey,  Geddes,  and  Lieutenant  Muhs,  are 
specially  mentioned  by  the  colonel  in  his  official  report,  made  after  months 
of  imprisonment  in  the  South.  Captain  Hogin  was  killed  in  the  early 
part  of  the  action,  and  Captain  Palmer  severely  wounded.  The  Eleventh 


68  IOWA     AND      THE     REBELLION. 

regiment,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hall,  and  the  Thirteenth,  Colonel  Crocker, 
were  attached  to  the  first  brigade,  Colonel  Hare,  Eleventh  Iowa,  com 
manding,  of  General  McClernand's  division.  The  losses  in  both  regiments 
were  heavy.  They  were  separated  on  the  evening  of  Sunday,  and  did  not 
again  meet  during  the  contest,  but  fought  with  less  or  more  efficiency 
throughout.  Colonel  Hare  was  wounded  on  the  afternoon  of  Sunday, 
when  Colonel  Crocker  took  command  of  the  brigade.  The  losses  in  his 
regiment,  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  were  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
two,  whilst  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hall  speaks  of  those  in  his  regiment  as 
very  severe.  Major  Abercrombie,  of  the  Eleventh,  who  is  mentioned  as 
having  rendered  the  most  gallant  and  efficient  aid,  was  severely  wounded 
in  the  head.  "I  make  special  mention  of  Captain  John  C.  Marven," 
says  the  lieutenant-colonel,  "who  rose  from  a  sick  bed,  not  having  been 
able  to  do  duty  for  ninety  days. ' '  Colonel  Crocker  says  that  all  his  officers, 
and  almost  all  the  men,  exhibited  the  greatest  bravery  and  coolness,  and 
he  calls  especial  attention  to  the  gallant  conduct  of  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Price  and  Major  Shane.  The  Fifteenth,  Colonel  Reid,  and  the  Sixteenth, 
Colonel  Chambers,  arrived  at  Pittsburg  Landing  after  the  battle  had 
commenced.  They  were  entirely  raw.  They  received  their  ammunition 
for  the  first  time  at  the  landing,  and  thus  marched  right  into  battle  without 
having  before  fired  a  gun.  They  went  into  action  in  General  McClernand's 
line,  and  fought  for  two  hours  with  the  utmost  bravery  and  coolness.  The 
order  was  then  given  to  fall  back.  The  men  did  not  know  how  to  fall 
back.  It  was  a  thing  they  had  not  learned.  So  they  retreated  in  some 
confusion.  They  had  lost  heavily.  Of  the  Fifteenth,  twenty-two  had 
been  killed,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  Mounded;  of  the  Sixteenth, 
eighteen  had  been  killed,  and  one  hundred  and  three  wounded.  Colonel 
Reid  and  Colonel  Chambers  were  both  severely  wounded.  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Dewey  and  Major  Belknap,  of  the  Fifteenth,  both  had  their  horses 
shot  under  them,  and  the  latter  was  himself  wounded.  Fifteen  officers  of 
the  Fifteenth  and  eleven  of  the  Sixteenth  were  killed  or  wounded.  Officers 
and  men  of  both  regiments  behaved  most  admirably  till  the  order  to  retreat 
was  given.  They  then  fell  back  pell-mell,  and  became  mingled  with  other 
regiments,  which  had  retreated  in  the  same  disorder  without  the  same 
palliating  circumstances.  Colonel  Reid  rallied  a  portion  of  his  command, 
and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Sanders  a  portion  of  the  Sixteenth,  which  went 
into  the  fight  of  Monday  in  support  of  a  battery,  where  they  suffered  but 
little. 

The  operations  of  the  regiment  with  which  we  now  have  specially  to  do, 
so  far  as  the  contest  of  Sunday  is  concerned,  have  been  noted.  It  cut  its 
way  through  the  enemy's  lines  late  in  the  evening,  and  with  reduced  num 
bers,  under  command  of  Lieutenant  G.  W.  Crosley,  fought  with  Hurlbut  on 


THIRD     INFANTRY.  69 

Monday.  Here  the  Lieutenant  commanding,  and  Lieutenants  Dodd,  Gary, 
Tidrick,  Kostmann,  Eberhart,  Brink,  and  Gregg — all  tlie  officers  able  to  be 
present — and  the  men  with  them  behaved  with  the  greatest  gallantry. 
Colonel  Williams,  commanding  brigade,  was  disabled,  Major  Stone,  in  com 
mand  of  the  regiment  was  captured,  Captain  Albert  Hobbs  was  mortally, 
and  Captains  D.  Leffingwell,  E.  J.  Weiser,  Samuel  B.  McCall,  A.  L.  Ogg, 
James  Tullis,  M.  M.  Trumbull,  and  Lieutenants  P.  W.  Crawford,  Bentort 

A.  Mathews,  P.  G.  C.  Merrill,  Simon  G.  Gary,  John  P.  Knight,  William 

B.  Hauiill,  and  John  Wayne,  were  all  less  or  more  severely  wounded, 
whilst  the  entire  loss  of  the  regiment  gave  ample  attestation  to  its  valor.3 

The  regiment  took  part  in  the  slow  march  on  Corinth,  performing  its 
share  of  the  labors  involved  in  the  operations,  and  after  the  evacuation 
went  into  camp  west  of  the  town.  It  was  for  some  time  engaged  in  the 
repair  of  the  railway,  performing  heavy  duty,  and  it  also  made  a  march  to 

3  LIST  OF  CASUALTIES,  THIRD  IOWA,  AT  SHILOH: — Major  William  M.  Stone,  prisoner.  Company  A — 
Captain  David  J.  O'Neill;  Lieutenant  Phineas  W.Crawford;  Sergeant  Stephen  Cousins;  Corporals 
Hugh  Tracy,  Thomas  Forbush,  David  McCleary,  Charles  Crawford;  Privates  Robert  P.  Griffith, Oliver 
M.  Gilliam,  Asa  Platts,  Alexander  T.  Smith,  Albert  C.  Smith,  Samuel  Taylor,  Horace  Downer,  Pri 
soners,  Charles  Babcock,  John  C.  Pyke;  Company  B— Killed,  Peter  M.  Hart;  Wounded,  Captain 
Albert  Hobbs ;  Lieutenant  Benton  A.  Matthews ;  Corporals  John  F.  Norris,  William  A.  Stuart,  Wil 
liam  F.  Hart;  Privates,  Wallace  G.  Agnew,  Daniel  Brobst,  Barrett  W.  Clark,  Thomas  L.  Collins, 
Thomas  L.  Molesworth,  Jacob  Moore,  William  F.  Rowe,  Emery  T.  Sperry,  Richard  M.  Burch,  John 
II.  Kellinbergher,  Newton  H.  Nichols,  Prisoner,  Corporal  William  H.  Simmer ;  Company  C— Killed, 
Barney  Me  Loon;  Wounded — Captain  Douglas  Leffingwell;  Sergeant  Allen  Sparks;  Corporals  James 
M.  Gimmel,  Alfred  Mitchell ;  Privates  William  H.  Dennison,  George  Goodwin,  Thomas  McLoon, 
Charles  Merril,  John  Stam,  Adam  Thein,  George  Wentz ;  (Missing,)  Daniel  Vandyke.  Company  D — 
Killed,  Edward  Knapp,  Hans  H.  Steenson,  Samuel  D.  Smith;  Wounded — Captain  Emilius  J.  Weiser; 
Corporal  Joseph  Farber,  George  H.  Culver.  James  S.  Daskam,  Hiram  S.  Daskam,  Hans  Gulbranson, 
Thomas  Heath,  Peter  B.  Holverson,  Knut  Knutson,  Matthew  Kellogg,  Gilbert  Knutson,  Henry  H. 
Sheldon,  George  H.  Kelly,  John  Fisher.  Company  E— Killed.  Sergeant  John  H.  Smith ;  Corporal 
John  M.  Skiff,  James  H.  Ewing;  Wounded,  Captain  Samuel  B.  McCall;  Corporals,  Thomas  Dent, 
Allen  Alloway,  Joseph  J.  Spurrier;  Privates  John  J.  Cottle,  William  C.  Chambers,  John  Castine, 
Michael  D.  Deal,  Samuel  T.  Jones,  Edward  D.  John,  John  W.  Montgomery,  John  L.  Woods, 
Samuel  P.  Tenor,  Thomas  D.  Casebolt;  Prisoners,  Joseph  A.  Fitzpatrick,  Isaiah  T.  New- 
house,  Patrick  M.  Joseph.  Company  F— Kitted,  Corporal  Samuel  J.  Fenton,  David  M.  Brown, 
William  Marsh ;  Wounded,  Walstin  Davis,  Franklin  S.  Downs,  Joseph  J.  Earle,  Andrew  J.  Hendrick- 
Bon,  Charles  L.  Clark ;  Prisoner,  Judson  E.  Murphey.  Company  G — Killed,  Finley  Anderson,  Adam 
Plumb,  Samuel  F.Anderson;  Wounded,  Captain  Adams  L.  Ogg;  Musician  William  C.  Hamblin, 
Edward  N.  Barlow,  William  C.  Newton,  George  W.  Silcott,  George  W.  Shippey,  John  Welsh,  William 
Clapp.  Josiah  Brown,  Orlando  M.  Nichols;  Prisoners,  Lieutenant  Philo  G.  C.  Merrill;  Corporal 
Josiah  McLeod,  Daniel  Aind,  Silas  Coryell,  Benjamin  F.  Murray,  William  C.  Newton,  John  W.  Parks, 
Eden  Randal,  David  Styles.  Company  H — Killed,  Corporal  John  R.  Blattner,  Francis  W.  Adams, 
William  B.  Bradley,  Theodore  Rodman,  Trevanion  H.  Teas  ;  Wounded,  Captain  James  Tullis ;  Cor 
porals  Edward  A.  Barlow,  Edward  J.  Ball,  William  A.  Orrell,  George  Godfrey,  Samuel  A.  Tenderson, 
George  Golden,  Solomon  A.  Linnville;  Privates  John  W.  Mehanna,  Joseph  Rayburn,  John  H.  Tal- 
bott,  Benajah  Zane.  George  Baker,  Patrick  Larkin;  Prisoners,  Sergeant  Webster  W.  Majors,  Alfred 
Anders.  Company  1 — Killed, Stephen  DeWitt;  Wounded,  Captain  Matthew  M.  Trumbull;  Lieutenant 
John  P.  Knight ;  Privates  David  Brubaker,  John  Bag,  Howard  Bullock,  Joseph  S.  Clousky,  Frank 
Evans,  Tilly  G.  Gilbert,  John  C.  Stockan,  Sylvester  L.  Short,  James  W.  Winship,  John  W.  Sherman, 
Edward  M.  Wardell.  Company  K— Killed,  George  Money  ;  Wounded,  Lieutenants  William  B.  Hamill, 
John  Wayne;  Sergeants  Gilbert  H.  Pulver,  George  H.Merrill;  Corporal  Van  Renselaer  Rider; 
Privates  Atherton  E.  Brown,  (mortally),  Wallace  Briggs,  Calvin  Jones,  Eugene  H.  Jefferson,  Charles 
C.  Moulton,  Joseph  A.  Ross,  (mortally>  Norman  M.  Wolcott,  George  H.  Watson,  Martin  Adams. 


70  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLIOX. 

and  from  Holly  Springs,  the  starting  point  of  its  march  being  in  the  neigh 
bourhood  of  La,  Grange,  about  half  way  between  Corinth  and  Memphis. 
In  July  it  marched  to  the  latter  place,  ^nd  went  into  camp  south  of  the 
city  on  the  21st.  Here  the  command  rested  until  the  6th  of  September. 

It  then  moved  to  the  vicinity  of  Bolivar,  some  thirty  miles  northwest  of 
Corinth,  and  was  for  some  time  engaged,  in  this  vicinity,  in  marchings  and 
countermarchings  which  need  not  be  particularly  described.  On  October 
5th,  the  rebels  having  been  defeated  at  Corinth,  were  met  on  the  Hatchie 
River  by  the  forces  under  General  Ord,  and  handsomely  defeated  after  an 
obstinate  battle  of  several  hours  duration.  In  this  engagement,  sometimes, 
called  the  battle  of  Matamora,  and  sometimes  the  battle  of  the  Hatchie, 
the  Third  Iowa  added  fresh  laurels  to  its  wreath  of  honor.  At  first  in  the 
reserve,  it  was  called  into  action  at  the  crisis  of  the  battle,  and  rushing 
forward  with  shouts  carried  the  bridge  over  the  river  by  a  desperate  charge, 
losing  in  a  few  moments,  nearly  sixty  officers  and  men  out  of  three  hundred 
engaged.  General  Lauman  was  here  in  command  of  the  brigade.  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Trumbull  commanded  the  regiment.  Lieutenant  W.  P. 
Dodd  was  killed,  and  many  officers  wounded.*  "  The  conduct  of  the  rank 
and  file,"  says  the  commanding  officer,  "in  crossing  the  bridge  under  the 
terrible  fire  of  the  enemy's  batteries,  and  in  rallying  to  the  flag  as  promptly 
as  they  did,  deserves  the  highest  praise,"  and  he  specially  mentions  Cap 
tains  Weiser,  Kostmann,  Lieutenants  Foote,  Hamill,  Anderson,  Gary,  who 
were  wounded,  Scobey,  McMurtrie,  Burdick,  Lakin,  Abernethy,  Moe,  and 
Cushman,  Sergeant-Major  Montague,  and  color-bearer  Anderson  Edwards 
for  gallant  conduct. 

I  have  not  met  with  any  official  reports  of  the  battle  of  the  Hatchie 
except  that  pertaining  to  the  Third  Iowa  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Trumbull. 
General  Ord  took  command  of  the  forces  not  long  before  the  battle,  and  I 
have  heard  it  stated  by  those  on  the  field  that  his  dispositions  were  exceed 
ingly  faulty.  He  was  wounded,  and  the  command  devolved  upon  General 
Hurlbut,  who,  most  efficiently  sustained  by  General  Lauman,  redeemed  the 
day  and  made  the  battle  a  victory.  It  was  a  continuation  of  the  battle  of 
Corinth,  and  before  it  ended  Rosecrans'  artillery  was  thundering  on  the 
enemy's  rear,  but  the  rebels  made  good  their  passage  of  the  Hatchie  at  a 
bridge  higher  up  the  stream,  which  was  south  of  the  battle-field.  General 

*The  following  incomplete  list  of  casualties  is  compiled  from  the  Adjutant-General's  report : 
Company  B — Wounded,  Emanuel  Beam.  Company  C— Wounded,  Captain  Carl  Kostman:  Musician 
William  Orr;  Company  D — Wounded,  Captain  Emilius  J.  Weisor;  Corporal  Charles  C.  Watson; 
George  Culver,  Martin  E.  Oloeon,  (mortally),  Martin  Pepper.  Company  E—Wmindtd,  Isaiah  N. 
Johnson,  Samuel  Marsh,  William  R.  White,  David  C.  Ross.  Company  F—  Wounded,  Thomas  H.  Pen- 
dleton,  Frank  Conrad.  Company  H— Killed,  Lieutenant  William  P.  Dodd,  Henry  C.  Dearinger.  Com 
pany  I— Wounded,  George  Parks,  David  Horner,  Henry  M.  Townsend. 


THIRD     INFANTRY.  71 

Hurlbut  soon  left  the  division  for  a  higher  command,  and  was  succeeded  by 
General  Lauman. 

The  battle  over  our  regiment  soon  returned  to  Bolivar,  and  having  here 
done  considerable  work  on  fortifications,  joined  in  the  march  southward 
early  in  November,  and  after  several  reconnoissances  to  some  distance  from 
the  main  army,  encamped  near  La  Grange  and  Grand  Junction,  moved  on 
the  expedition  in  central  Mississippi,  in  which  it  performed  well  its  part,  and 
was  among  the  last  troops  which  regained  the  frontier  of  Tennessee  on  the 
countermarch.  The  regiment  went  into  camp  near  Moscow,  near  the  middle 
of  January,  1863.  Here  it  spent  two  months  in  quiet,  and  then  moved  to 
Memphis,  where  it  spent  about  the  same  period  in  a  similar  manner.  Mean 
time  Colonel  Williams  had  resigned.  Previously  thereto,  Lieutenant-Co 
lonel  Trumbull  had  resigned,  so  that  when  the  regiment  entered  upon  its 
next  active  campaign,  Colonel  Aaron  Brown  was  the  superior  officer.  Cap 
tain  James  Tullis  had  been  promoted  to  the  Lieutenant- Colonelcy  and  Lieu 
tenant  G.  W.  Crosley  to  the  Majority.  Colonel  Brown,  then  Major,  had 
indeed  commanded  the  regiment  on  the  central  Mississippi  campaign,  Co 
lonel  Williams  being  sick. 

The  17th  of  May,  the  regiment  embarked  on  the  steamer  "Crescent 
City"  for  Vicksburg.  The  next  day,  when  a  few  miles  above  Greenville, 
Mississippi,  the  steamer  was  fired  into  by  a  considerable  band  of  rebels 
concealed  in  the  thick  undergrowth  on  the  bank  of  the  river.  They  had 
three  pieces  of  artillery,  and  numbered  altogether  several  hundred  men. 
At  the  time  of  this  attack  the  "  Crescent  City"  w.as  more  than  a  mile  in 
advance  of  the  main  fleet  bearing  reinforcements  to  Grant.  The  men  of 
the  Third  Iowa  sprang  to  their  arms,  and,  with  the  assistance  of  one  piece 
of  artillery  aboard,  which  was  well  handled,  drove  the  rebels  from  the  shore. 
The  boat  was  riddled  with  shot,  however,  and  fourteen  men  of  the  Third 
were  wounded.  The  19th,  the  command  disembarked  at  Young's  Point, 
and  proceeded  to  march  across  the  Peninsula  in  front  of  Vicksburg ;  but 
turning  about  again  went  aboard  the  steamer  and  moved  up  the  Yazoo  to 
Haines'  Bluff,  where  it  arrived  on  the  morning  of  the  22d.  On  this  day 
Grant  unsuccessfully  assaulted  the  works  of  Vicksburg.  Our  regiment 
heard  the  tumult  of  the  battle — the  thunder  of  the  captains  and  the  shout 
ing  ;  but  took  no  part  in  the  fierce  and  unavailing  strife.  On  the  25th  the 
command  took  its  position  in  the  investing  lines,  and  from  this  time  forth 
until  the  capitulation  was  engaged  in  the  arduous  duties  of  the  siege.  Its 
labors  during  the  entire  period,  like  those  of  the  whole  army,  were  severe 
and,  as  was  the  case  likewise  with  other  troops,  it  was  called  upon  not  only 
to  labor  and  to  wait,  but  to  fight.  It  had  many  combats  with  the  enemy, 
whilst  on  the  1st  of  June,  the  4th,  and  the  24th,  detachments  of  the  regi 
ment  had  lively  engagements  in  which  considerable  loss  was  suffered,  but 


72  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

more  inflicted.  ' '  Too  much, ' '  says  Major  Crosley,  ' '  cannot  be  said  in  praise 
of  the  officers  and  men  of  the  regiment  for  the  fortitude  and  courage  exhi 
bited  during  the  entire  siege. ' ' 

In  the  campaign  against  the  rebel  general,  Joe  Johnston,  which  imme 
diately  followed  the  victory  of  Vicksburg,  the  Third  Iowa  bore  a  more  con 
spicuous  part  of  gallantry  and  of  suffering  than  any  other  command  from 
Iowa.  Of  what  is  called  ' '  the  second  siege  of  Jackson' '  I  shall  speak  with 
some  detail  in  my  account  of  the  Sixth  Infantry.  In  the  detached  assault 
of  July  12th,  on  the  enemy's  works  south  of  the  city,  made  by  that  brigade 
of  Lauman's  division  to  which  our  regiment  was  attached,  the  Third 
behaved  with  heroic  courage,  and  met  with  fearful  loss.5  Captain  John  L. 
Ruckman,  his  brother,  Lieutenant  Joseph  Ruckman,  Lieutenant  Hall, 
Lieutenant  McMurtrie,  and  many  other  gallant  men  of  the  Third  were  here 
slain  or  wounded. 

After  the  repulse  at  Jackson,  our  shattered  regiment  returned  to  Vicks 
burg,  whence  not  long  afterwards  it  moved  with  its  division  to  Natchez, 
where  it  remained  to  rest  and  recuperate  for  several  months.  In  December 
it  returned  to  Vicksburg,  and  moving  to  the  rear  thereof  went  into  encamp 
ment  as  winter-quarters,  near  the  Big  Black.  Here,  over  two  hundred 
men  of  the  regiment  reenlisted  for  three  years  as  veteran  volunteers. 
From  the  3d  of  February,  1864,  to  the  4th  of  March,  the  regiment  was 
engaged  in  General  Sherman's  march  and  countermarch,  known  as  the 
Meridian  raid.  During  this  campaign  the  regiment  lost  one  man  killed, 
one  mortally  wounded,  and  ten  captured  while  foraging  at  a  distance  from 
the  lines,  inarched  over  three  hundred  miles,  and  performed  a  great 
amount  of  hard  labor  in  ' '  tearing  up  the  Confederacy. ' ' 

The  command  was  ordered  to  embark  on  steamers  at  Vicksburg,  shortly 
after  the  return  from  Meridian,  to  join  in  the  Red  River  expedition.  But 
the  order  was  modified,  so  that  the  veteran  portion  of  the  regiment  under 
Major  Crosley,  was  sent  home  on  furlough.  The  non- veterans,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Tullis  commanding,  proceeded  with  the  expedition  up  Red  River, 


5  GENERAL  J.  G.  LAUMAN.  This  officer  was  immediately  relieved  of  command  by  General  Ord, 
though  he  was  himself  responsible  for  the  disaster,  having  ordered  the  advance.  General  Lauman 
Avas  subsequently  long  prostrated  by  illness,  and  did  not  afterwards,  I  believe,  have  an  active  com 
mand.  The  original  Colonel  of  the  Seventh  Iowa,  ho  distinguished  himself  at  Belmont,  where  he 
was  severely  wounded;  at  Fort  Donelson,  where  he  led  the  assaulting  column  which  gained  the 
enemy's  works,  and  electrified  the  whole  country  with  a  fine  thrill  of  enthusiastic  admiration;  at 
Shiloh,  where  he  again  commanded  a  brigade ;  at  the  Hatchie,  where  he  and  Hurlbut  saved  the 
day,  after  this  same  Ord  had  been  wounded,  fortunately  for  the  Union  arms ;  and  afterwards,  com 
manding  a  division,  had  done  valiant  and  efficient  service.  He  was  an  officer  of  great  courage  and 
well-approved  skill.  Impetuous  by  nature,  but  with  his  impetuosity  cooled  by  reflection  and  gov 
erned  by  experience;  kindly  disposed  toward  all  men  and  ever  watchful  of  his  troops,  for  whom  he 
cared  like  a  father  for  his  children ;  he  left  his  command  with  the  good  will,  the  respect,  and  the 
affection  of  most  of  his  troops,  and  especially  those  of  that  brigade  which  was  immolated  at  Jackson, 
who  knew  full  well  that  their  sacrifice  was  caused  by  the  general  commanding  the  corps. 


THIRD     INFANTRY.  73 

taking  their  full  share  in  that  campaign ;  whilst  the  veterans  started  for 
Iowa  on  the  17th  of  March.  The  two  portions  of  the  regiment  were  never 
afterwards  united.  The  non-veterans,  returning  from  the  disastrous  cam 
paign  under  Banks,  were  sent  to  Iowa  for  discharge,  their  term  of  service 
having  about  expired.  Few  in  numbers,  but  full  of  honors,  they  were 
mustered  out  of  the  service. 

The  veterans,  having  received  the  kind  demonstrations  of  friends  at 
home,  returned  at  the  expiration  of  their  furlough  to  Cairo,  Illinois,  where 
the  Seventeenth  Corps  was  being  reorganized,  and  whence  it  moved  with 
that  command  to  reenforce  Sherman,  by  this  time  engaged  in  his  wonderful 
campaign  of  Atlanta.  The  number  of  reenlisted  men  being  too  small  to 
entitle  the  regiment  to  maintain  its  organization,  most  of  the  officers  left 
the  service  at  the  expiration  of  their  original  term  of  enlistment,  which 
was  about  the  time  the  corps  joined  the  grand  army  at  Ackworth,  Georgia. 
The  veterans  and  recruits  of  the  regiment,  with  whom  Colonel  Brown 
remained  for  some  time,  were  afterwards  consolidated  into  a  battalion  of 
three  companies,  in  order  that  an  independent  organization  might  be  main 
tained,  and  the  identity  of  the  "old  Third"  preserved.  But  one  field 
officer  was  allowed.  Lieutenant  Jacob  Abernethy,  of  Company  F,  was 
recommended  as  Lieutenant-Colonel;  all  the  line  officers  but  one  were 
chosen  from  the  ranks,  and  the  organization  of  the  battalion  seemed  to  be 
secured.  But  before  the  commissions  reached  the  officers  of  the  new 
organization  it  was  so  shattered  and  decimated  in  battle  that  it  never 
recovered.  At  the  memorable  battle  of  Atlanta,  July  22d,  the  Third  Iowa 
veteran  battalion  literally  fought  itself  out  of  existence.  Abernethy  was 
slain  ;  Griffith,  now  Captain,  who  had  so  bravely  carried  the  colors  of  the 
regiment  on  former  battle-fields,  fell  under  mortal  wounds;  many  more 
men  as  gallant  and  as  true  here  met  their  death ;  a  large  proportion  of  the 
command  were  killed,  wounded  or  captured.  There  was  a  desperate  com 
bat  for  the  colors.  It  was  thus  afterwards  described  by  a  correspondent  of 
the  Dubuque  Times:  "As  the  battle  grew  raging  hot  and  desperate,  a 
handful  of  our  undaunted  men  gathered  amidst  the  pelting  showers  of  shot 
and  shell,  and  there  around  our  flag  and  banner  they  stood  its  guard  in  the 
most  perilous  moments.  The  color-bearer,  the  bravest  of  the  brave, 
relinquished  his  hold  by  death  alone.  Still  the  mass  stood  there  madly 
fighting  for  its  defence.  Their  numbers  fast  decreasing  by  death  their 
hopes  began  to  fail,  and,  as  they  surrendered  themselves  to  the  enemy, 
they  tore  the  emblems  of  our  nationality  and  regimental  designation  into 
pieces  and  into  shreds,  which,  concealed,  they  proudly  brought  back  to  us, 
untouched  and  unsoiled  by  impious  and  traitorous  hands. ' ' 

And  thus,  on  the  field  made  sacred  by  the  blood  of  McPherson,  and 
thousands  of  others  less  distinguished  but  no  less  patriotic,  the  Third  Iowa 
10 


74  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

passed  out  of  being.  The  remaining  members  of  the  organization  were 
subsequently  consolidated  with  the  Second  Iowa  Infantry,  and  in  that  gal 
lant  command  took  part  in  the  campaigns  under  Sherman  to  the  close  of 
the  war. 

There  is  a  peculiar  interest  attached  to  the  Third  Iowa  Infantry — an  in 
terest  of  manifold  phases.  First,  that  of  a  personal  nature.  Its  first 
major,  William  M.  Stone,  who  commanded  the  regiment  during  the  greatest 
pitched  battle  in  which  it  was  engaged,  afterwards  became  colonel  of  the 
Twenty-second,  and  then  governor  of  the  State ;  its  first  lieutenant-colonel, 
John  Scott,  became  colonel  of  the  Thirty-second ;  its  first  quartermaster, 
George  W.  Clarke,  became  colonel  of  the  Thirty-fourth,  and  before  the 
close  of  the  war  fairly  won  and  wore  the  stars  of  a  general  officer ;  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  M.  M.  Trumbull,  became  colonel  of  our  Ninth  cavalry; 
Commissary-Sergeant  Edward  H.  Mix  became  lieutenant-colonel  of  the 
Thirty-second,  and  met  the  death  of  a  gallant  man  on  the  field  of  Pleasant 
Hill ;  Captain  John  P.  Knight  did  excellent  service  as  lieutenant-colonel  of 
the  Ninth  Cavalry ;  Lieutenant  G.  A.  Eberhart  was  promoted  major  of  the 
Thirty-second,  rose  one  rank  higher  in  that  command,  and  as  its  superior 
officer  led  it  through  the  campaigns  of  Tupelo,  of  Missouri,  of  Nashville, 
and  of  Mobile ;  Sergeant  George  L.  Wright  became  lieutenant-colonel  of 
our  distinguished  Second ;  whilst  Major  Crosley  received  equal  rank  in  the 
First  regiment  of  Hancock's  Veteran  Corps.  The  Third  also  furnished  a 
number  of  line  officers  to  other  regiments.  Secondly,  its  history  through 
out  was  gallant  in  the  extreme.  And  the  manner  in  which  that  history  was 
closed  was  as  sad  as  heroic.  It  was  fortunate  that  the  members  remaining 
were  assigned  to  so  fine  a  regiment  as  the  Second,  but,  after  all,  it  would 
have  been  better  and  juster,  to  have  allowed  the  command  to  maintain  its 
identity  and  its  name.  Then,  when  it  returned  to  Iowa  after  the  defeat  of 
the  rebellion,  its  banner  restored  to  shape  if  not  to  beauty,  would  have 
justly  received  more  proud  huzzas  than  any  trophy  that  ever  graced  the 
triumph  of  a  conqueror.  This  was  due  to  the  Third  Iowa,  even  had  there 
been  but  one  man  left  of  the  old  command  to  carry  back  that  honored  ban 
ner  to  the  State. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

FOURTH     INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZATION  AND  RENDEZVOUS  OF  THE  REGIMENT  AT  COUNCIL  BLUFFS— MARCH 
BEFORE  MUSTER— DRILL  AT  ST.  LOUIS— THE  PEA  RIDGE  CAMPAIGN— THE  BATTLE 
—MARCH  THROUGH  ARKANSAS— LONG  STAY  NEAR  HELENA— THE  &ATTLE 
OF  CHICKASA  W  BAYOU—  SHERMAN  AND  McCLERN AND— ARKANSAS  POST- 
GENERAL  GRANT'S  SUCCESSFUL  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  VICKSBURG  — THE  SECOND 
CAPTURE  OF  JACKSON— IN  CAMP— MARCH  TO  THE  RELIEF  OF  CHATTANOOGA— 
THE  BATTLES  THERE  — BATTLE  OF  RINGGOLD  —  THE  MARCH  TO  "THE  HEART 
OF  THE  CONFEDERACY"— TO  SAVANNAH— THROUGH  THE  CAROLINAS— HOME. 

THAT  portion  of  southern  Iowa,  usually  called  "the  Missouri  slope,"  con 
tributed  most  of  the  troops  to  the  formation  of  this  distinguished  regiment, 
and  all  its  members,  or  very  nearly  all,  came  from  counties  now  within  the 
Fifth  Congressional  District.  It  was  organized  by  Grenville  M.  Dodge,  who 
was  its  first  colonel,  now  well-known  to  the  remotest  parts  of  the  Republic, 
but  who,  at  the  time  here  spoken  of,  was  a  civil  engineer,  only  known  to  a 
few  "railroad  men,"  and  who,  from  want  of  brass,  might  have  been  still 
engaged  in  the  quiet  pursuit  of  his  profession,  but  for  the  fact  that 
Governor  Kirkwood  happened  to  discover  the  energetic  qualities  which 
were  concealed  under  a  modest  demeanor.  He  gave  Dodge  a  colonel's 
commission,  wherefrom  resulted  one  of  Iowa's  best  regiments  and  one  of 
the  country's  best  major-generals.  The  Colonel  lived  at  Council  Bluffs,  and 
here  the  regiment  was  organized  during  the  summer  of  1861.1 

1  Company  A,  from  Fremont,  Mills,  and  Pottavrattamie  counties,  at  its  organization  numbered 
seventy-four  men,  commanded  by  Captain  Wni.  R.  English,  and  Lieutenants  Thos.  H.  Head  and 
Samuel  Shields.  Company  B,  numbering  ninety-three  men,  from  nearly  a  dozen  counties  in  the 
southwestern  part  of  the  State,  was  commanded  by  Captain  Seth  II.  Craig,  Lieutenants  George  H. 
Ford  and  William  H.  Kinsman.  Company  C,  mostly  from  Guthrie  County,  was  organized  with  Thos. 
Seeley  as  captain,  and  S.  D.  Nichols  and  J.  P.  McEwen,  subalterns.  Company  D,  from  Decatur,  num 
bering  one  hundred  and  three,  was  commanded  by  Captain  George  Burton,  and  Lieutenants  Joseph 
S.  Warner  and  John  B.  Springer.  The  county  of  Polk  furnished  most  of  the  ninety-six  officers  and 
men  composing  Company  E — Captain  Henry  II.  Griffith,  and  Lieutenants  W.  S.  Simmons  and  Isaac 
Whicher.  Some  of  this  company  were  from  Warren,  and  a  few  from  other  counties.  Madison, 
ussisted  to  some  extent  by  Warren  County,  raised  the  men  for  Company  F,  eighty-one  in  number, 
commanded  by  Captain  H.  J.  B.  Cummings,  and  Lieutenants  R.  A.  Still  and  John  S.  Goshorn.  Cap 
tain  Edmund  W.  Rice,  and  Lieutenants  Lc  vena  Hopkins  and  Randolph  Sry  brought  in  a  company 

75 


76  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

All  the  companies  had  not  reached  the  rendezvous  at  "Camp  Kirk- 
wood,"  near  our  principal  city  on  the  Missouri  River,  when  a  threatened 
invasion  across  our  southern  border  demanded  immediate  attention.  Two 
hundred  picked  men,  being  twenty-five  from  each  of  the  companies  pre 
sent,  marched  to  the  relief  of  the  threatened  locality.  They  went  as  far 
as  Clarinda,  the  county-seat  of  Page  county,  and,  reenforced  on  the  way 
and  at  that  place,  by  companies  of  Home  Guards,  the  whole  presented  a 
warlike  front  against  which  the  marauders  could  have  accomplished 
nothing.  Struck  with  a  wholesome  dread  of  several  hundred  determined 
men,  well  armed,  all  of  whom  came  from  a  locality  where  the  lightest  pun 
ishment  for  horse-thieves  was  hanging  without  benefit  of  law  or  clergy,  the 
bands  of  Missourians  dispersed,  and  our  soldiers  leisurely  returned  to 
Camp  Kirkwood.  And  it  may  be  as  well  to  remark  here  as  elsewhere,  that 
the  few  bands  of  Missouri  rebels  who  have  since  had  the  temerity  to  enter 
our  southern  tier  of  counties  on  errands  of  plunder  and  murder,  have  in 
variably  been  welcomed  ' '  with  bloody  hands  to  hospitable  graves. ' ' 

The  regiment  left  Council  Bluffs  per  steamer  about  the  close  of  the  first 
week  in  August,  and  proceeding  down  the  Missouri  to  St.  Joseph,  there  took 
cars  for  Hannibal,  whence  the  journey  was  made  on  the  Mississippi  to  Jef 
ferson  Barracks.  Here  and  at  St.  Louis,  near  by,  the  regiment  remained 
drilling  a  short  time,  and  then,  armed  and  equipped,  moved  by  rail  to 
Holla.  At  this  place  the  command  first  settled  down  into  the  monotony  of 
camp  life  and  drill,  and  here  it  waited,  as  thousands  elsewhere  waited,  till 
the  rebellion  had  gained  such  gigantic  proportions,  that  mere  physical 
power,  unaided  by  the  might  of  right,  and  the  blessing  of  God,  would, 
perhaps,  have  been  entirely  unable  to  suppress  it.  The  period  was  im 
proved  by  officers  and  men  fitting  themselves  more  thoroughly  for  the  life 
and  duties  of  soldiers,  and  was,  therefore,  beneficial ;  but  many.of  the  men 
here  died  of  diseases  incident  to  the  camp—"  good  and  true  men,"  says  a 
correspondent,  ' '  who  amid  the  rush  of  praise  for  the  living  I  fear  will  not 

of  eighty  men  from  Ringgold  County.  Adams  and  Union,  with  some  assistance  from  Cass,  furnished 
Company  H ;  Captain  E.  Y.  Bnrgan,  and  Lieutenants  Henry  G.  Ankeny  and  Jas.  J.  Hafier.  Wayne 
County,  helped  a  little  by  Clark,  sent  up  a  large  company— numbering  one  hundred  and  seven— 
with  Captain  Wm.  E.  Taylor,  and  Lieutenants  Samuel  S.  Glasgow  and  Gideon  L.  McCune,  which 
Lieutenants  resigned,  however,  early  in  January,  1862,  and  were  succeeded  by  F.  Crathorne,  and  R. 
S.  Jackson.  Captain  Joseph  Cramer  and  Lieutenants  Geo.  W.  Fridley  and  Jas.  T.  Crittenden  com 
manded  Company  K,  consisting  of  ninety-five  men  from  Page  and  Taylor  counties. 

But  two  companies— B  and  E— were  mustered  into  the  service  at  Council  Bluffs.  These  were 
mustered  in  on  the  8th  of  August.  The  other  companies,  except  I  and  K,  were  mustered  at  Jefferson 
Barracks,  Missouri,  on  the  15th  of  August,  and  the  last  two  at  St.  Louis,  on  the  31st  of  August.  At 
this  time  the  regiment  numbered,  rank  and  file,  nine  hundred  and  forty  men. 

The  organization  of  the  regiment  was  completed  by  the  appointment  of  John  Galligan,  of  Scott 
County,  lieutenant-colonel,  and  the  promotion  of  Captain  William  R.  English,  of  Company  A,  to  the 
majority.  James  A.  Williamson,  of  Polk,  was  appointed  adjutant ;  Phineas  A.  Wheeler,  quarter 
master;  Myrom  W.  Robbing,  surgeon,  Wm.  S.  Grimes,  assistant ;  and  Rev.  Thomas  M.  Goodfellow, 
(suggestive  name,)  chaplain. 


FOURTH     INFANTRY.  77 

receive  the  honor  due  them. ' '  When  the  sultry  days  of  summer  had  given 
way  to  the  cold  winds  that  foretold  a  severe  winter,  the  men  built  barracks 
for  themselves,  but  the  health  and  comfort  of  the  troops  were  not  increased 
by  being  crowded  within  their  too  contracted  walls.  Two  expeditions  made 
during  the  winter  did  much  more  to  recuperate  the  health  and  spirits  of 
the  troops  than  all  the  in-door  comforts  of  their  winter  quarters.  One  of 
these  was  a  march  to  Licking,  in  Texas  county,  some  distance  southwest 
of  Holla,  which  resulted  in  the  dispersion  of  a  considerable  rebel  force  and 
the  capture  of  much  property,  with  which  were  a  number  of  horses,  cattle, 
and  mules.  Another  march  was  made  to  Dry  Glaze,  in  La  Clede  county, 
which,  though  resulting  in  no  material  profit  to  the  government,  served  a 
good  purpose  upon  the  health  of  the  troops. 

General  Curtis  arrived  at  Holla  on  the  27th  of  December,  to  take  com 
mand  of  the  Army  of  the  Southwest,  concentrating  there.  Our  regiment 
turned  out  to  receive  the  General  in  military  style,  and  there  was  a  fine  dis 
play  on  the  occasion.  During  the  ceremonies,  Colonel  Dodge's  pistol,  in 
his  saddle-holster,  was  accidentally  discharged,  and  inflicted  a  severe  wound 
in  his  thigh — the  first  in  the  regiment? — which  kept  him  from  duty  for  some 
time. 

General  Curtis  with  his  gallant  little  Army  of  the  Southwest,  moved  from 
Holla  on  the  23d  of  January,  1862,  with  the  purpose  of  giving  battle  to 
Price,  then  encamped,  with  a  largely  superior  army,  at  Springfield.  During 
this  march  and  campaign,  closing  with  the  brilliant  victory  of  Pea  Ridge, 
Colonel  Dodge  was  in  command  of  the  brigade  to  which  our  regiment  was 
assigned.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Galligan  had  command  of  the  regiment. 
The  roads  were  in  an  almost  impassable  condition,  but  the  army  nevertheless 
made  good  progress.  Halting  at  Lebanon  a  few  days,  it  did  not  reach  the 
vicinity  of  Springfield  till  the  12th  of  February,  on  the  evening  of  which 
day  our  advance  guard  of  cavalry  attacked  the  enemy's  outposts  and  a 
brisk  skirmish  ensued.  Our  regiment  was  called  into  line,  and  quickly 
fornfing,  marched  to  the  front,  and  here  for  the  first  time  came  under  fire. 
The  rebels  were  soon  driven,  however,  and  the  men  went  into  bivouac.  By 
three  o'clock  of  the  following  morning,  General  Curtis  had  his  army  in 
motion,  in  three  columns,  designing  to  attack  at  daylight.  The  Fourth 
Iowa  had  the  advance  on  the  left.  Lieutenant  Stitt  of  Company  F,  in 
charge  of  the  skirmish  line,  entered  Springfield  about  daylight.  It  had 
been  evacuated  during  the  night,  and  the  rebel  rear  guard  left  the  city  as 
he  entered. 

The  whole  army  started  in  pursuit  of  Price  the  next  day,  and  in  three 
days  marched  ninety  miles,  the  advance  all  the  while  skirmishing  with  the 
enemy's  rear.  On  the  17th,  at  Sugar  Creek,  near  the  extreme  southwestern 
part  of  Missouri,  our  cavalry  brought  on  a  heavy  engagement  with  the  enemy, 


78  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

and  Colonel  Dodge's  brigade  was  brought  up  to  support  our  troopers  and 
artillery,  but  the  rebels  retired  before  the  infantry  became  actively  engaged. 
Here  the  army  halted  a  few  days  for  rest  and  supplies,  Price  meantime 
continuing  his  retreat  to  the  Boston  Mountains,  where  he  was  reenforced  by 
McCulloch,  Van  Dorn  and  Mclntosh  with  a  large  body  of  troops,  princi 
pally  from  Texas,  Louisiana  and  Arkansas,  and  a  considerable  number  of 
Indians.  General  Curtis  moved  to  Pea  Ridge  and  there  awaited  attack, 
his  army  somewhat  scattered  for  convenience  of  supplies.  In  the  battle 
of  that  name  which  soon  afterwards  took  place  and  which  was  one  of  the 
most  desperate  contests  of  the  war,  resulting  in  a  most  brilliant  Union 
victory,  the  Fourth  Iowa  was  engaged  almost  all  the  time  for  two  days, 
and  fought  in  such  a 'way  as  to  win  the  high  commendations  of  the  general 
commanding  the  army,  and  the  unmixed  praise  of  the  people  of  our  State. 
The  losses  of  the  regiment  were  very  heavy,  amounting,  in  killed,  wounded, 
and  captured,  to  nearly  half  the  number  who  were  able  to  carry  their  mus 
kets  into  the  fight.2 

2  On  account  of  the  wound  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Galligan,  there  was  no  regular  official  report 
made  of  the  part  taken  by  the  regiment  in  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge,  which  I  shall  describe  at  some 
length  in  my  account  of  the  Ninth  Infantry.  The  following  list  of  casualties  is  taken  from  the 
Report  of  the  Adjutant  General: 

Colonel  G.  M.  Dodge,  wounded  ;  Lieutenant-Colonel  John  Galligan,  wounded ;  Adjutant  James  A. 
Williamson,  wounded. 

Company  A— Killed,  George  A.  McCay ;  Wounded,  Lieutenant  George  A.  Henry ;  Corporals  John 
M.  Bannion,  A.  B.  Kearney ;  David  L.  Jaycox,  William  Lillebridge,  George  M.  Miller,  James  A. 
McElroy,  R,  M.  Sansbury,  Charles  Wilkenson,  (mortally),  Jonathan  Fowler,  Seward  L.  Payne,  Henry 
Blenker,  (wounded  twice,  disabled  for  life).  Company  B — Wounded,  George  W.  Tucker ;  Company 
C~  Wounded,  Thomas  L.  Reed,  George  W.  Bike,  Z.  T.  Buker,  Reason  C.  Darby,  (mortally),  R.  N. 
Farnesworth,  William  H.  Hummer,  E.  C.  Mount,  William  0.  Madison,  Abram  Mouray,  James 
Robinson,  (mortally),  John  S.  Strain,  L.  S.  Slaughter,  (mortally),  0.  F.  Gilbert,  (mortally),  H.  H.  Le- 
non;  Company  D— Killed,  William  N.  Harrison,  Henry  E.  Vaughan,  John  N.  Williams ;  Wounded, 
Captiiii  George  Burton;  Sergeants  John  P.  Finley.  Frederick  Teal,  Charles  A.  Gilham ;  Isaac  W. 
Whetstone,  (mortally),  John  D.  Childers,  Charles  M.  Little,  B.  F.  Wells,  John  C.  Arnold,  Henry  B. 
Burns,  William  T.  Colwell,  (severely  wounded  and  missing),  Merrick  Davis,  Robert  E.  Haywood 
Charles  W.  Handly,  (mortally),  James  M.  Harron,  William  Hawkins,  Willis  Hines,  (mortally), Isaac  N. 
Ketchum,  (mortally), M.  G.  Lawrence,  John  Marcum,  Samuel  Martin,  John  Pickett,  A.  J.  Ruuiley, 
Seth  Rowe,  Lewis  Solomon,  F.  M.  Smith,  John  Swineheart,  Arnold  Tucker,  Reuben  Welden^  Com 
pany  E— Killed,  Hiram  D.  Cornish ;  Wounded,  Sergeant  E.  W.  Barnum ;  Corporal  L.  P.  Rhoads, 
James  Beek,  J.  W.  Bell,  (mortally),  Isaac  Clary,  M.  Foster,  Charles  W.  Greene,  Samuel  H.  James, 
(mortally),Isaac  Reeves,  Abraham  Stumbach,  Henry  A.  Barrett,  (mortally),  Jeremiah  Hinman;  C<vn- 
pany  F— Killed,  Sylvanus  Hiatt,  Abraham  Holmes ;  Wounded,  Abraham  Guilliams,  W.  W.  Crandall, 
Casper  Ambreast,  Anderson  Bird,  A.  M.  Burdick,  William  S.  Debusk,  (mortally),  George  B.  Davis, 
James  II.  Dorrence,  Daniel  G.  Dunsmore,  John  A.  Easton,  A.  P.  Hiatt,  Samuel  B.  Harris  William 
Logan,  0.  F.  Smith,  John  W.  Smith,  (mortally),  James  Sturman,  (mortally), E.  C.  Stewart,  (promoted) 
John  M.  Holliday;  Company  G— Wounded,  Captain  Randolph  Sry;  Lieutenant  Frederick  Teal,  (and 
promoted  for  bravery) ;  Corporals  William  W.  Robinson,  L.  II.  Barton,  G.  Gobble,  Augustus  Leabo, 
James  M.  Millsaps,  (mortally),  Charles  W.  Powers,  Joseph  B.  Russell,  Daniel  B.  Smith,  Henry  W. 
Rose,  Larkin  T.  Sipp,  Herman  Obenhoff,  Frederick  Beck ;  Company  H—  Killed,  James  A.  Campbell, 
James  Lullen,  George  Rose;  Wounded,  Captain  E.  Y.  Burgan;  Lieutenant  Lyman  Parcher;  Cor 
porals  Abraham  Moore,  William  H.  Bartlett,  F.  M.  Campbell,  A.  Fraks,  A.  Freshour,  George  W. 
Hight,  William  R.  Harlow,  C.  D.  Lawrence,  S.  A.  Meeker,  John  S.  Peregrine,  John  W.  Ratliff,  A. 
Walkup,  A.  L.  Clark ;  Company  I— Killed,  J.  Morgan,  Alfred  O'Conner,  Samuel  Williams ;  Lieutenant 
Robert  S.  Jackson;  Wounded,  Sergeant  George  A.Robinson,  (severely  wounded,  promoted  to  Second 


FOURTH      INFANTRY.  79 

The  victory  having  been  won,  the  army  remained  in  camp  within  a  short 
distance  of  the  battle-field  for  nearly  a  month.  Whilst  the  regiment  was 
here  encamped,  Colonel  Dodge  was  promoted  a  brigadier-general.  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Galligan  here  resigned,  and  Adjutant  James  A.  Williamson 
was  promoted  to  his  place,  and  within  a  month  was  promoted  to  the 
colonelcy.  When  Lieutenant-Colonel  Williamson  received  his  promotion, 
Captain  Burton,  of  Company  D,  was  made  Lieutenant-Colonel.  •  These 
promotions  were  made  while  the  regiment  was  on  the  march,  the  commis 
sions  not  being  received  till  some  months  afterwards.  It  moved  from  the 
camp  near  Pea  Ridge,  on  the  5th  of  April,  and  proceeding  in  a  direction 
north  of  west,  kept  in  that  course  for  nearly  an  hundred  miles,  when  it 
turned  to  the  right,  and  entering  Arkansas,  inarched  on  Batesville.  This 
town  is  on  the  left  bank  of  the  White  River,  and  somewhat  east  of  north, 
about  one  hundred  miles  from  Little  Rock,  being  on  the  old  road  from  that 
capital  to  St.  Louis.  It  was  General  Curtis'  intention  to  move  from  Bates 
ville  directly  on  Little  Rock.  With  this  view,  he  halted  some  days  at 
Batesville,  awaiting  supplies.  They  having  arrived,  but  in  no  sufficient 
quantity,  the  army  was  put  in  motion  in  the  direction  of  Little  Rock  on 
the  18th  of  May.  It  was  now  two  hundred  miles  distant  from  the  ter 
minus  of  the  railroad  whence  it  received  regular  supplies.  The  rain 
poured  down  daily ;  the  country,  in  comparison  of  all  other  countries  which 
the  troops  had  seen,  was  a  dreary  wilderness.  Nevertheless,  they  trudged 
on  through  the  mud  and  mire  without  murmuring,  obtaining  scanty  sup 
plies  of  food  along  the  line  of  march,  husbanding  that  which  had  been 
brought  from  the  north  for  future  exigencies,  until  the  roads  became  abso 
lutely  impassible.  The  rains  had  made  all  this  part  of  Arkansas  a  vast 
dismal  swamp.  And  so  the  little  army,  on  short  rations,  and  scantily 
clothed,  slowly  waded  its  way  back  to  Batesville,  the  capture  of  Little 
Rock,  under  these  circumstances,  being  deemed  impracticable.  Having 
through  great  hardships  again  reached  Batesville,  the  army  went  into 
camp,  and  there  with  such  patience  as  could  be  mustered,  awaited  the  im 
provement  of  the  roads.  During  the  halt  here,  the  army  was  scattered 
about  the  country  again,  in  such  localities  as  could  do  best  toward  keeping 
the  detachments  from  downright  starvation. 

During  the  latter  part  of  June,  the  little  army  was  concentrated  at  Jack- 
Lieutenant  next  day) ;  Sergeants  John  Keplinger,  Marshal  Nelson ;  Corporals  B.  L.  Everett,  Henry 
S.  Trumbull,  (mortally),  James  A.  Harper,  wounded  twice;  Privates,  John  T.  Atkinson,  M.  B.  V. 
Brotherton,  Nathan  E.  Coppell,  (mortally),  Thomas  Church,  Joseph  C.  Conine,  Allen  Carter,  (pri 
soners),  Hans  Erekson,  John  J.  Estes,  Henry  Honk,  (mortally),  Philip  Miskimmiiis,  William  Moore, 
Samuel  J.  Messenger,  (prisoner),  Samuel  H.  Moore,  Mordecai  Smith,  (prisoner).  Thomas  Sharp,  Com 
pany  K — Killed,  Edward  A.  Richardson;  Wmmded,  Lieutenant  James  T.  Crittenden,  (mortally), 
Corporal  Thomas  J.Jack:  Isaac  M.  Beinis,  Alvin  M.  Brooks,  William  Chenoweth,  John  Ewing, 
George  R.  Helmer,  Nathan  D.  King,  B.  L.  St.  Clair,  Ira  Sleath,  Ferdinand  Verges,  Joseph  Van  Gundy, 
Allen  Woods,  Walter  S.  Bodwell,  Ambrose  L.  Cobb. 


80  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

sonport,  near  the  junction  of  Black  with  White  River.  A  train  of  sup 
plies  had  recently  reached  this  place  from  the  north,  its  guard  having  had 
incredible  difficulties  in  convoying  it  through  a  wide  extent  of  hostile 
country.  Nor  were  the  supplies  sufficient  in  quantity  to  give  the  troops 
full  rations  for  a  single  week.  They  had  already  suffered  no  little  from  the 
want  of  rations,  and  had  stripped  the  country  roundabout  for  many  miles 
so  entirely  bare  of  food,  that  there  was  not  left,  perhaps,  a  pig,  a  chicken, 
or  a  pound  of  meal,  which  could  have  been  taken  without  the  utmost  in 
jury  to  the  inhabitants.  On  the  4th  of  July  the  starving  army  moved  ' '  in 
search  of  supplies, ' '  marching  along  the  bank  of  White  River,  and  hoping 
to  meet  others  of  our  forces  at  Clarendon,  distant  an  hundred  miles  from 
Jacksonport.  Clarendon  was  duly  reached,  but  the  forces  which  had  been 
stationed  there  were  now  withdrawn.  The  column  then  wheeled  to  the 
left,  and  after  three  more  days  of  suffering  from  the  scorching  sun,  hard 
marching,  hunger,  and  thirst,  came  out  of  the  wilderness,  and  found  food, 
raiment,  and  rest,  at  Helena,  on  the  14th.  Even  Helena  was  gladly  hailed 
by  the  well-nigh  famished  and  entirely  ragged  troops,  with  enthusiastic 
expressions  of  satisfaction.  They  had  now  been  in  the  field  for  five  months 
and  a  half,  nearly  all  the  time  in  that  section  of  America  which  may  well 
enough  be  regarded  as  the  heathendom  of  our  land — a  region  whose  physi 
cal  aspects  are  uninviting  and  uninteresting,  and  whose  inhabitants,  for  the 
most  part,  are  rude,  unlettered,  unacquainted  with  law,  and  regardless  of 
right ;  whose  savage  barbarities  perpetrated  upon  aged  Union  men  and 
defenseless  women  during  the  early  stages  of  the  rebellion,  had  in  them 
only  the  quality  of  unmixed  atrociousness.  The  great  novelist  of  humanity 
has  most  appropriately  placed  the  scene  of  her  darkest  pictures  of  slavery — 
the  avarice,  the  debauchery,  the  savagery  of  Legree,  the  murder  of  Uncle 
Tom — on  the  border  of  this  gloomy  region,  the  hither  frontier  of  which 
was  traversed  by  General  Curtis'  little  army.  His  march  through  the 
wilderness  of  Arkansas  was,  on  all  accounts,  one  of  the  severest  of  the 
war. 

Our  regiment  remained  at  Helena  most  of  the  time  during  the  remainder 
of  the  summer,  through  the  following  autumn,  and  up  to  the  time  when 
General  Sherman  made  his  movement,  resulting  in  an  unsuccessful  attack 
on  Vicksburg,  near  the  close  of  the  year.  Whilst  the  camp  was  near 
Helena,  during  this  period,  the  regiment  made  a  few  expeditions  into  the 
country,  which  were  of  no  great  importance.  Among  these  expeditions 
were  :  One,  which  purposed  moving  up  the  Arkansas  River  to  a  consider 
able  distance,  but  which  failed  of  accomplishing  its  object,  whatever  that 
might  have  been,  on  account  of  the  low  stage  of  water ;  another,  made  near 
the  close  of  November  into  Mississippi,  as  far  as  the  railroad  leading  north 
from  Granada,  which  was  destroyed  for  some  distance,  when  the  troops 


FOURTH     INFANTRY.  81 

returned,  bringing  with  them  large  quantities  of  cotton  and  supplies,  and 
many  horses. 

During  a  considerable  portion  of  the  period  in  which  the  Fourth  Iowa 
had  its  encampment  at  Helena,  General  Curtis  was  in  command  of  the  dis 
trict.  It  was  a  time  when  new  questions  were  perplexing,  in  their  abstract 
.phases,  the  minds  of  our  statesmen,  and  presenting  numberless  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  their  practical  solution  to  the  minds  of  our  commanding 
officers.  Perhaps  there  was  no  officer  surrounded  by  more  difficulties  of 
the  nature  here  referred  to  than  General  Curtis.  His  head-quarters  were 
at  a  place  which  may  fairly  be  described  as  our  southwestern  outpost. 
Beyond  him,  on  the  right  of  the  Mississippi,  lay  a  vast  extent  of  territory 
in  the  undisputed  possession  of  the  insurgents.  On  the  left  of  the  Missis 
sippi  to  the  southeast,  the  rebels  had  everything  their  own  way,  holding 
without  opposition  the  richest  portions  of  the  confederacy,  abounding  in 
wealth  and  military  resources.  Below  him  the  enemy  held  Vicksburg,  the 
key  to  the  navigation  of  the  great  river,  and  laughed  at  our  impotent 
attempts  to  deprive  him  of  his  advantage  by  diverting  the  father  of  waters 
into  an  artificial  channel.  But  to  the  northward  navigation  was  unob 
structed,  and  the  conquests  of  our  arms  during  the  year  had  opened  up  a 
wide  area  of  country  to  .trade,  which  had  theretofore  for  some  time  been 
hermetically  sealed  to  the  enterprise  of  our  merchants  and  speculators, 
By  this  time  there  was  a  most  profitable  demand  for  the  staple  productions 
of  the  South,  and  Helena  swarmed  with  those  who  were  anxious  to  take 
advantage  of  it.  The  Treasury  Department  had  established  no  rules  gov 
erning  trade  in  the  districts  recently  conquered  from  the  insurgents.  The 
whole  subject  was  in  a  state  of  confusion  most  sadly  confounded,  and  deci 
dedly  uncomplimentary  to  the  practical  abilities  of  the  authorities  at  the 
national  capital.  General  Curtis  was  perforce  compelled  to  assume  juris 
diction  over  matters  more  properly  cognizable  by  civil  functionaries,  or  see 
his  camps  changed  into  markets  for  cotton  and  dens  of  thieves.  More 
over,  the  negro  question,  notwithstanding  the  sensible  solution  which  had 
early  been  given  to  it  by  Major-General  Butler,  was  still,  for  all  prac 
tical  purposes,  in  a  most  chaotic  and  indeterminate  state.  Helena  wa& 
surrounded  by  negroes,  who,  lately  the  slaves  of  men  now  waging  war 
against  the  Union,  were  left  in  an  undefined  status  by  their  fugacious 
masters ;  but  who,  themselves  true  to  the  Union,  were  certainly,  on  that 
account,  entitled  to  respectful  consideration,  if  not  to  army  rations.  In  his 
practical  solution  of  both  questions — the  cotton  question  and  the  negro 
question,  that  is,  to  put  them  briefly,  General  Curtis  was  guided  by 
thoughtful  wisdom,  and  the  dictates  of  philanthropy  and  patriotism ;  but 
it  was  impossible  for  him  to  decide  them  wisely,  philanthropically  and 
patriotically,  without  incurring  the  displeasure  of  many  who  were  both 
11 


82  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

able  and  willing  to  inflict  damage  upon  his  reputation.  His  solution  of  the 
questions  was  very  simple.  He  banished  the  crowds  of  speculators  from 
his  camps,  leaving  the  business  of  cotton  buying  to  a  few  gentlemen  of 
character  and  standing,  who  had  been  recommended  to  him  by  the  authori 
ties  at  Washington ;  and,  instead  of  supporting  the  negroes  at  the  public 
expense,  he  gave  them  control  over  the  cotton  of  their  rebellious  masters, 
which  had  been  planted  and  cultivated  by  their  own  labors.  This  policy, 
so  wise  and  just  in  itself,  and  which  resulted  so  beneficially  to  the  govern 
ment,  nevertheless  received  the  emphatic  opposition  of  large  numbers  who 
had  crowded  into  Helena  for  the  purpose  of  making  hasty  fortunes,  and  of 
all  those  army  officers,  both  regular  and  volunteer,  whose  accomplishments 
in  the  matter  of  Christian  civilization  taught  them  to  think  considerably 
less  of  a  human  being  of  a  dark  color  than  of  an  army  mule,  or  horse  of 
any  color.  His  administration  at  Helena  during  this  period  was  afterwards 
the  subject  of  investigation  by  a  military  commission,  over  which  Major- 
General  McDowell  presided ;  but  its  investigations,  though  of  an  ex-parte 
nature,  entirely  failed  to  connect  General  Curtis  with  any  speculation,  so 
that  the  President,  Abraham  Lincoln,  was  constrained  to  declare,  with  an 
emphasis  unusual  to  his  cautious  nature,  that  there  was  not  a  word  of 
evidence  against  him.  This  just  conclusion  came,  indeed,  too  late  to  main 
tain  the  General  in  command  of  the  Department  of  Missouri,  to  which  he 
had  been  meanwhile  assigned;  but  in  time  to  preserve  his  reputation 
unsullied  from  the  attacks  of  dissipated  generals  and  trimming  politicians 
who  had  assailed  him.  But,  inasmuch  as  he  had  in  the  fall  of  1861 
assisted  the  same  class  of  men  to  ruin  General  Fremont,  he  must  have 
reflected,  as  he  yielded  his  command  to  Schofield,  that  there  is  sometimes 
a  degree  of  poetic  justice  to  be  observed  in  the  affairs  of  men. 

Meantime,  however,  and  before  the  worst  vicissitudes  of  fortune  befell 
the  General,  for  an  administration  whose  wise  and  philanthropic  measures 
should  have  secured  for  him  the  gratitude  of  the  country  and  the  thanks 
of  the  government,  the  little  army  which  had  so  heroically  followed  him 
through  victory  and  suffering  in  Arkansas,  passed  under  the  control  of 
others.  When  he  left  Helena,  our  regiment  bade  him  an  affectionate  fare 
well,  destined  to  be  the  last  during  the  war,  the  men  all  joining  in  the  cere 
mony  with  unaffected  feeling.  They  remained  at  Helena  till  the  departure 
thence  of  the  army  under  General  Sherman  for  Yicksburg  on  the  cam 
paign  which  terminated  so  disastrously  to  the  Union  army  in  the 

BATTLE  OF  CHICK  AS  AW  BAYOU. 

On  the  20th  of  December,  1862,  Major-General  Sherman  embarked  with 
considerable  haste  and  disorder  a  large  army  on  board  transports  at  Mem 
phis,  and  proceeding  down  the  river,  was  reenforced  at  Helena  by  General 


FOURTH     INFANTRY.  S3 

Steele.  The  whole  army,  on  an  hundred  transports  continued  the  voyage 
to  Milliken's  Bend,  twenty-five  miles  above  Vicksburg.  At  this  point  the 
entire  fleet  arrived  on  the  evening  of  the  24th,  and  there  the  army  remained, 
without  debarking,  during  the  following  day,  except  a  detachment  under 
General  M.  L.  Smith,  sent  out  to  destroy  a  portion  of  the  Vicksburg  and 
Texas  railroad  about  ten  miles  west  of  the  stronghold.  On  Christmas  evening 
the  troops  were  made  glad  by  the  announcement  of  orders  that  early  on  the 
morrow  the  army  would  move  with  the  object  of  attacking  Vicksburg  by 
Chickasaw  and  Haines'  Bluffs.  The  intelligence  was  the  more  gladly  re 
ceived  because  with  it  came  the  understanding  that  General  Grant  was 
marching  on  the  rear  of  Vicksburg,  and  that  the  cooperating  armies  would 
move  in  combined  attack.  We  shall  hereafter  see  why  General  Grant  was 
prevented  from  carrying  out  his  part  of  the  plan. 

Utterly  ignorant  of  the  unfortunate  events  which  had  compelled  the  re 
treat  of  Grant  before  he  had  reached  anywhere  near  Vicksburg,  General 
Sherman  and  his  army  sailed  down  the  Mississippi  and  up  the  Yazoo  early 
on  the  morning  after  Christinas,  officers  and  men  enthusiastically  confident 
of  dining  next  day  in  the  city.  The  disaster  which  followed  seemed  all  the 
more  disastrous  on  account  of  the  exuberant  spirits  under  which  the  attack 
was  commenced. 

Before  proceeding  to  speak  of  the  movements  resulting  in  the  defeat  of 
Sherman,  it  may  be  well  to  speak  of  the  nature  of  the  localities  in  which 
he  was  operating.  Vicksburg,  it  is  well  known,  is  on  the  bank  of  the  Mis 
sissippi,  about  two  miles  below  a  sharp  bend.  The  course  of  the  river,  in 
fact,  here  forms  a  peninsula,  in  front  of  Vicksburg  some  five  or  six  miles 
long  and  about  one  mile  wide.  Opposite  the  point  of  this  peninsula  Chick 
asaw  Bayou  flows  into  the  river.  Its  whole  length  is  only  about  seven  miles. 
It  flows  from  the  Yazoo,  taking  first  a  course  not  far  from  south,  and  having 
reached  the  vicinity  of  the  line  of  bluffs  about  two  miles  from  its  source, 
follows  their  general  direction  toward  Vicksburg.  It  is,  however,  some 
hundred  yards  from  the  base  of  the  hills,  which  are  about  three  hundred 
feet  high,  and  extend  in  a  general  range  as  far  as  Haines'  Bluff.  «The 
Yazoo  flows  parallel  to  the  bluffs  for  some  five  or  six  miles,  and  about  four 
miles  distant.  The  space  intervening  is,  for  the  most  part,  low  and  swampy, 
abounding  in  lagoons,  quicksands,  and  bayous. 

The  fleet  reached  this  uninviting  locality  about  noon  of  the  26th,  but  on 
account  of  the  difficulties  of  landing,  the  debarkation  of  the  army  was  not 
effected  till  near  night.  Our  lines  extended  along  the  river-bank  about  six 
miles,  General  A.  J.  Smith  on  the  right,  next  to  him  General  M.  L.  Smith, 
then  Steele' s  division,  next  General  Morgan,  whose  division,  on  the  evening 
of  the  26th,  held  the  extreme  left  of  the  line.  On  the  morning  of  the  27th, 
General  Steele  embarked  Thayer's  and  Hovey's  brigades,  and  went  some  two 


84  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

miles  up  the  Yazoo,  debarking  some  distance  north  of  Chickasaw  Bayou. 
On  the  28th,  he  advanced  toward  the  bluffs,  and  had  some  severe  fighting. 
The  only  route  by  which  he  could  approach  the  bluffs,  was  along  a  narrow 
causeway,  raked  from  one  end  to  the  other  by  the  artillery  of  the  enemy. 
The  First  Iowa  battery,  Captain  Griffiths,  and  Landgraber's  battery  opened 
on  the  rebels,  and  after  a  severe  cannonading  caused  the  abandonment  of 
two  of  the  enemy's  batteries.  Still  the  causeway  was  commanded  by  other 
artillery,  supported  by  sharp-shooters,  and  the  attempt  to  gain  the  bluffs  by 
this  route  was  abandoned.  Steele  reembarked  on  the  night  of  the  28th, 
and  on  the  next  morning  took  position  south  of  Chickasaw  Bayou,  but  still 
holding  the  left  of  the  line.  Meantime,  the  other  portions  of  the  army 
had  moved  up  to  the  bayou,  fighting  as  they  marched,  and  on  the  morning 
of  the  29th  were  ready  to  cross  and  assault  the  enemy's  works. 

The  position  of  the  Union  forces  at  this  time  was  as  follows :  General 
Morgan  on  the  south  side  of  the  bayou ;  on  his  immediate  right,  was  Gen 
eral  Blair's  brigade;  General  M.  L.  Smith's  division  (now  commanded  by 
General  David  Stuart,  General  Smith  having  been  severely  wounded  on 
the  evening  of  the  28th)  was  on  the  right  centre ;  General  A.  J.  Smith 
was  moving  up  to  the  extreme  right,  and  General  Steele  was  coming  up  on 
the  left.  Several  bridges  had  been  constructed  across  the  bayou  before 
noon. 

During  the  night  before,  our  troops,  lying  cold  and  comfortless  in  their 
dark  bivouacs,  heard  trains  of  cars  moving  into  Vicksburg  from  the  east. 
They  were  bringing  heavy  reinforcements  to  the  rebels.  Their  position, 
exceedingly  strong  by  nature,  was  further  fortified  by  art.  On  the  plateau 
between  the  bayou  and  the  base  of  the  bluffs,  were  lines  of  rifle-pits,  pro 
tected  in  front  by  abatis,  whilst  the  bluffs  themselves  were  crowded  with 
batteries  and  heavy  artillery,  whose  concentrated  fire  might  sweep  the 
plateau  from  one  end  to  the  other,  as  with  the  besom  of  destruction. 
Early  on  the  morning  of  the  29th,  the  rebel  batteries  commenced  a  heavy 
cannonade,  principally  directed  against  the  centre  held  by  Morgan.  With 
occasional  cessations  it  was  kept  up  all  the  forenoon,  during  which  time 
there  were  several  engagements  of  infantry,  as  opposing  regiments  came 
within  reach  of  each  other.  General  Sherman  had  issued  no  order 
announcing  an  hour  for  the  assault,  but  by  order  of  General  Morgan,  Blair 
threw  his  brigade  across  the  bayou  above  where  it  bends  to  the  right,  and 
forming  in  line  marched  through  sloughs,  bayous,  quicksands,  and  abatis, 
upon  the  first  line  of  rifle-pits.  Colonel  De  Courcy's  brigade,  of  Morgan's 
division,  inarched  against  the  works  at  the  same  time.  Both  passed  gal 
lantly  through  a  murderous  fire,  and  carried  the  first  line  with  a  dash,  and 
soon  after  the  second.  But  the  whole  force  was  still  under  destructive  fire. 
Thayer  had  been  ordered  to  support  Blair.  He  crossed  a  bridge  lower 


FOUETH     INFANTRY. 


85 


OF    CHICISI^S^W 


86  IOWA    AND     THE     KEBELLION. 

down  the  bayou,  moving  by  the  flank,  but  with  only  one  regiment — the 
Fourth  Iowa.  The  next  regiment,  the  Thirtieth  Iowa,  was  directed  to 
take  a  different  course  by  General  Steele,  and  those  coming  after  followed 
this.  Thayer  sent  back  for  support,  but  without  waiting  for  it  to  come  up, 
charged  the  works  in  his  front,  about  two  hundred  yards  to  the  right  of 
Blair,  and  about  the  same  time,  with  the  Fourth  Iowa  Volunteers  alone. 
They  carried  the  first  line  of  works,  drove  the  rebels  from  their  second  line, 
and  there  remained  under  a  terrible  fire  waiting  for  support,  scores  of  the 
best  men  in  the  command  falling  at  every  discharge  from  the  enemy's 
batteries  and  sharp-shooters.  But  the  support  did  not  come,  the  couriers 
sent  for  it  being  killed  or  wounded  on  the  way.  General  Thayer  rode  along 
his  little  line,  and  absolutely  shedding  tears  at  sight  of  so  many  brave  men 
falling  around,  addressed  the  troops  in  a  few  as  grateful  words  as  ever  fell 
from  the  lips  of  a  stout-hearted  commander.  Receiving  no  intelligence 
from  his  absent  regiments,  he  gave  the  order  to  fall  back,  which  these 
heroic  men  obeyed,  retreating  slowly  and  sternly  under  the  same  fire  through 
which  they  had  passed  on  their  perilous  advance.  A  portion  of  Blair's 
brigade  had  advanced  to  the  base  of  the  bluffs,  where  they  had  a  hand-to- 
hand  contest  with  the  enemy  there  posted,  but  the  main  part  of  General 
Morgan's  division  was  not  moved  across  the  bayou  in  time  to  take  part  in 
the  assault,  whilst  but  one  regiment  of  the  division  under  Stuart  was 
able  to  cross  the  bayou  at  all.  So  the  assault  was  only  made  on  the  left, 
and  by  about  three  thousand  men,  of  whom  about  eight  hundred  were 
killed  or  wounded.  There  were  several  sharp  encounters  along  the 
whole  line,  but  the  unsuccessful  assault  on  the  left  was  the  battle  of  the 
day. 

In  the  engagements  near  Chickasaw  Bayou,  there  were  several  Iowa 
regiments  and  batteries  which  behaved  with  that  high  degree  of  credit 
which  the  troops  of  the  State  everywhere  maintained  throughout  the  war, 
but  no  regiment  from  any  State  ever  behaved  with  a  more  devoted  gallantry 
than  "  the  old  Fourth,"  in  the  assault  of  the  29th  of  December.  "  Every 
officer  and  man,"  says  Colonel  Williamson,  with  terse  expressiveness,  "  did 
his  whole  duty,  and  regretted  that  he  could  do  no  more.  The  regiment 
went  into  the  action  with  four  hundred  and  eighty  men  and  officers,  of 
whom  one  hundred  and  twelve  were  killed  and  wounded.  Among  the 
killed  was  Lieutenant  E.  C.  Miller,  of  Company  G,  who  had  command  of 
the  skirmishers  on  the  28th.  No  braver  officer  has  fallen  in  his  country's 


8  Colonel  Williamson  was  hit  several  times  during  the  battle,  and  had  his  uniform  well  perforated 
with  balls,  but  he  continued  in  command  throughout.  Lieutenant  Leander  Pitzer  was  mortally 
wounded,  and  Lieutenant  J.  M.  Miller  killed.  Captain  R.  A.  Still  was  severely  wounded.  I  think 
a  list  of  casualties  suffered  by  the  regiment  in  this  terrible  fight  has  never  been  published. 

General  Grant,  nearly  a  year  after  the  battle,  when  ho  had  fully  reflected  upon  all  the  facts  con- 


FOURTH     INFANTRY.  87 

The  army  remained  near  the  scene  of  its  defeat  a  few  days,  caring  for  the 
wounded,  and  burying  the  dead.  Preparations  were  also  made  for  an 
attack  on  Haines'  Bluff,  but  it  was  wisely  abandoned.  On  the  2d  of 
January,  1863,  the  troops  were  all  on  board  "the  miserable  transports" 
again,  and  soon  on  the  way  down  the  river.  At  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo, 
the  fleet  was  met  by  the  steamer  Tigress,  having  on  board  Major-General 
John  A.  McClernand,  to  whom  General  Sherman  reported.  In  a  day  or 
two,  the  latter  issued  a  general  order,  in  which  he  said:  "A  new  com 
mander  is  now  here  to  lead  you.  He  is  chosen  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  who  is  charged  by  the  constitution  to  maintain  and  defend  it,  and 
he  has  the  undoubted  right  to  select  his  own  agents.  I  know  that  all  good 
officers  and  soldiers  will  give  him  the  same  hearty  support  and  cheerful 
obedience  they  have  hitherto  given  me.  There  are  honors  enough  in  reserve 
for  all,  and  work  enough,  too.  Let  each  do  his  appropriate  part,  and  our 
nation  must  in  the  end  emerge  from  this  dire  conflict  purified  and  ennobled 
by  the  fires  which  now  test  its  strength  and  purity. ' '  It  was,  perhaps, 
impossible  for  William  T.  Sherman  to  submit  to  the  military  authority  and 
guidance  of  John  A.  McClernand  without  a  feeling  of  bitterness.  Every 
man  of  genius  is  apt  to  have  a  knowledge  of  the  fact,  and  it  is  not  unlikely 
that  a  man  of  General  Sherman's  military  genius  can  tell  a  martinet  at 
sight,  from  a  soldier  of  real  capacity.  I  am  not  so  unjust  to  proper  disci 
pline  as  to  say  that  General  McClernand  amounted  to  a  martinet,  vbut  it  is 
certain  that  General  Sherman  must  have  had  very  incorrect  ideas  both  of 
his  own  and  of  McClernand' s  military  talents  not  to  have  felt  chagrined  at 
his  own  inferior  command.  His  order  announcing  the  change  was  severely 
commented  on  by  the  press.  The  ill  success  of  the  attack  on  Vicksburg  under 
his  command,  and  the  success  of  the  campaign  against  Arkansas  Post, 
under  McClernand,  which  so  soon  followed,  were  damaging  to  the  reputa 
tion  of  the  former.  Even  the  troops  in  the  command,  not  knowing  that 
Sherman  planned  the  campaign  which  was  so  successful,  thought  for  the 
time  being  that  he  was  a  little  crazy,  and  that  McClernand  was  a  great 
captain.  They  changed  their  minds  in  both  respects  before  the  war  came 
to  a  close. 

In  this  campaign  against  Arkansas  Post,  which  resulted  so  gloriously  to 
our  arms,  the  Fourth  Iowa,  under  command  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Burton, 
Colonel  Williamson  being  wounded  and  sick,  took  an  active  part,  and  was 
in  the  front  line  preparing  to  move  upon  the  enemy's  works  when  the 
garrison  of  Fort  Hindman  surrendered.  After  this  fight,  the  regiment 
again  embarked  on  transports  and  spent  there  two  more  weeks  of  the 

nected  therewith,  commanded  by  general  order  that  the  Fourth  Towa  Infantry,  place  "  First  at 
Chickasaw  Bayou"  on  its  colors— a  distinguished  honor  given,  I  believe,  to  but  a  single  other  regi 
ment,  (the  Thirteenth  Regulars,)  during  the  whole  war. 


88  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

cramped  existence  necessary  in  "life  on  the  river  wave."  On  January 
23d,  the  men  debarked  and  went  into  camp  in  the  dismal  swamps  opposite 
Vicksburg.  There,  behind  the  great  levee  of  the  Mississippi,  under  the 
dark  shades  of  the  cypress,  and  the  threatening  frowns  of  the  opposite 
batteries,  they  spent  the  darkest  days  of  their  service — more  intensely 
gloomy  even  than  the  period  of  their  hunger  and  deprivation  in  Arkansas. 
It  continued  two  months,  the  men  spending  their  time  in  making  observa 
tions  of  the  works  and  guns  at  Vicksburg,  trying  to  keep  themselves  dry, 
and  throwing  dirt  out  of  the  famous  canal  across  the  peninsula  opposite  the 
stronghold. 

About  the  1st  of  April  Steele's  division  embarked  on  steamers,  and  pass 
ing  up  the  river  about  one  hundred  miles  debarked  at  Greenville,  Missis 
sippi,  and  thence  marched  thirty-five  or  forty  miles  eastward,  meeting  and 
driving  the  enemy  on  several  occasions,  and  making  threatening  demonstra 
tions  toward  the  rear  of  Vicksburg.  The  expedition  was  important  in  the 
way  of  diverting  the  attention  of  the  enemy  from  Grant's  main  movement, 
and  in  collecting  large  quantities  of  supplies  throughout  the  fertile  and 
wealthy  region  traversed.  Its  object  having  been  accomplished,  the  com 
mand  returned  to  Milliken's  Bend,  and  took  up  the  march  for  Grand 
Gulf,  and  there  rejoining  the  army,  marched  on  Jackson.  Our  regiment 
was  on  the  extreme  right.  It  struck  the  railroad  some  distance  south  of 
Jackson,  inarched  by  that  route  toward  the  city,  and  was  one  of  the  first 
regiments  to  enter  the  town.  Having  done  much  work  of  destruction,  the 
division  marched  for  Vicksburg ;  crossed  the  Big  Black  River  on  the  night 
of  the  17th  of  May,  made  a  forced  march  on  Haine's  Bluff,  flanked  the 
enemy  out  of  their  position  there,  drove  them  from  Walnut  Hills,  and 
established  communications  with  our  fleet  on  the  Yazoo  River.  The  next 
day  the  rebels  were  driven  into  the  works  of  Vicksburg,  and  the  investment 
of  the  stronghold  was  completed.  Steele's  division  was  on  the  extreme 
right,  the  flank  resting  on  the  river.  The  Fourth  Iowa,  on  the  right  of  the 
second  brigade  from  the  river,  in  taking  position  on  a  hill  or  point  five 
hundred  yards  from  the  enemy's  main  works,  had  a  brisk  skirmish,  and  firing 
from  both  sides  continued  all  day.  The  regiment  lost  quite  heavily.  It 
took  part  in  the  assault  of  the  22d,  but  coming  to  a  broad  ditch,  filled  with 
abatis,  where  it  was  exposed  to  an  enfilading  fire,  it  fell  back,  after  con 
siderable  loss.  And  on  the  steep  sides  of  the  familiar  hill  it  remained  for 
forty-seven  days— forty-seven  weary,  wearing  days,  under  the  hot  sun  and 
hotter  rebel  fire ;  the  whole  command  much  of  the  time,  and  part  of  it  all 
the  time,  on  the  front  line  and  in  the  ditches,  under  the  fire  of  the  sharp 
shooters,  and  in  range  of  the  flying  shells,  standing  picket,  sharp-shooting, 
working  in  the  trenches.  During  the  siege  the  regiment  lost  in  killed  and 
wounded  about  eighty  men. 


FOURTH     INFANTRY.  89 

Our  regiment  was  among  those  which  immediately  after  the  capitulation 
of  Pemberton,  moved  out  to  join  General  Sherman  in  the  second  movement 
against  Jackson,  which  resulted  in  the  recapture  of  that  capital  in  less  than 
a  fortnight  from  the  surrender  of  Vicksburg,  and  in  compelling  Johnston  to 
evacuate  the  State.  In  the  pursuit  of  Johnston's  army  the  regiment  went 
as  far  as  Brandon,  where  there  was  a  brisk  combat  with  the  rebel  rear 
guard.  Destroying  the  railway  there,  the  command  returned  to  Jackson,  * 
did  its  part  in  the  wholesale  destruction  of  railways  and  public  property 
which  followed,  and  then  marched  to  the  vicinity  of  Yicksburg,  where  the 
men  pitched  their  tents,  and  remained  in  camp  till  they  started  on  that 
memorable  campaign  which  resulted  in  raising  the  siege  both  of  Chat 
tanooga  and  Knoxville,  in  East  Tennessee,  and  the  spirits  of  Unionists  all 
over  the  land.  The  encampment  of  the  brigade  of  which  the  regiment 
formed  a  part,  and  which  brigade  was  now  under  command  of  Colonel 
Williamson,  was  not  very  far  from  the  railroad  bridge  over  Big  Black- 
River. 

About  the  middle  of  September  it  broke  camp  and  marched  to  Vicks 
burg,  where  it  embarked  on  steamers  for  Memphis,  arriving  there  on  the 
27th.  The  division,  General  OsterJhaus  commanding,  was  sent  thence 
by  rail  to  Corinth.  Thence  in  a  few  days  it  marched  to  luka,  and,  having 
repaired  the  railway  thither,  moved  to  Cherokee  station,  Alabama.  In  the 
series  of  engagements  which  here  took  place,  our  regiment  took  an  active 
part,  being  frequently  called  out  of  bed  into  line,  to  assist  in  driving  away 
the  rebel  mounted  forces  which  were  constantly  harassing  our  troops  at 
Cherokee.  Whilst  Osterhaus'  division  was  engaging  the  attention  of  the 
enemy,  and  persuading  him  that  General  Sherman  would  move  to  the 
relief  of  Chattanooga  by  the  south  bank  of  the  Tennessee  River  to  Decatur, 
that  astute  commander  was  quietly  crossing  the  river  at  Eastport,  and  march 
ing  on,  north  of  the  stream,  toward  Chattanooga.  On  October  24th,  the 
troops  under  Osterhaus  broke  camp,  and  having  driven  the  enemy  to  Tus- 
cuinbia,  there  gave  him  a  farewell  volley,  and  countermarching  to  Eastport, 
soon  afterwards  joined  the  main  column,  and  arrived  at  Chattanooga  the 
23d  of  November. 

In  the  battle  of  Lookout  Mountain,  our  regiment,  on  the  morning  of  the 
24th,  took  position  on  the  extreme  left  of  Hooker's  command.  When 
Hooker  became  engaged  the  division  moved  across  an  open  field  to  Lookout 
Creek,  and  being  unable  to  cross  remained  there  for  some  time  exposed  to 
a  destructive  fire.  The  enemy  being  at  length  driven  from  the  opposite 
bank,  a  crossing  was  effected,  and  these  troops  marched  up  the  mountain 
and  joined  Hooker,  who  was  still  engaged.  The  Fourth  Iowa  was  now 
ordered  to  relieve  a  regiment  on  the  front  line,  but  it  being  dark,  and  the 

position  to  be  taken  far  up  among  the  boulders,  it  was  some  time  before 
12 


90  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

the  regiment  came  into  line.  Once  there,  it  remained  in  position  during 
the  night,  exchanging  compliments  with  the  enemy  till  the  night  and  the 
battle  closed.  About  one  o'clock  at  night  the  clouds  cleared  away,  the 
moon  shone  bright  and  full,  and  the  heavy  shadows  of  the  great  trees 
and  boulders  gave  to  the  scene  an  air  of  romantic  sublimity,  which, 
mingled  with  the  crack  of  the  sharp-shooters'  rifles  and  the  balls  glancing 
from  the  rocks,  made  the  finale  of  this  ' '  battle  among  the  clouds' '  as 
noteworthy  as  the  day's  contest.  When  the  morning  fairly  dawned,  Look 
out  Mountain  and  Chattanooga  Valley  were  found  to  be  evacuated  by  the 
rebels,  who  had  withdrawn  to  Mission  Ridge.  Our  regiment,  together 
with  the  Ninth  and  Thirty-first  Iowa,  marched  early  in  the  morning  on 
Rossville  Gap,  and  taking  position  in  rear  thereof,  at  once  secured  a  most 
important  strategic  point  and  turned  the  rebel  left  without  a  fight.  The 
enemy  had  not  expected  our  troops  could  gain  a  passage  of  the  Chat 
tanooga  before  evening,  and  had  left  a  small  force  at  the  gap,  which 
our  troops  easily  drove  away  before  reinforcements  could  come  up.  A 
strong  column  of  the  enemy,  however,  was  soon  seen  marching  in  the  direc 
tion  of  the  gap,  and  in  its  vicinity  a  heavy  battle  was  soon  raging,  in  which 
our  regiment  bore  an  active  part,  and  which  resulted  in  the  complete 
discomfiture  and  rout  of  the  enemy.  The  regiment  joined  in  the  pursuit 
on  the  26th,  and  at  the  battle  of  Ringgold,  or  Taylor's  Ridge,  on  the  follow 
ing  day,  fought  with  noteworthy  valor  and  persistence  against  heavy  odds, 
holding  an  important  position,  and  saving,  through  the  admirable  skill  of 
Major  Nichols,  two  railway  bridges  which  had  been  set  on  fire  by  the  retreat 
ing  enemy. 

After  a  few  days'  rest,  our  regiment  went  with  the  division  to  Bridgeport, 
Alabama,  where  it  remained  in  camp  about  a  fortnight,  and  then  moved  to 
Woodville,  a  station  on  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  Railroad,  where  the 
command  went  into  winter  quarters  built  by  the  men  themselves.  On  the 
1st  of  January,  1864,  the  regiment  reenlisted,  but  the  men  were  not  mus 
tered  into  the  service  as  veterans  till  the  25th  of  February.  On  the  next 
day,  they  started  home  on  veteran  furlough ;  and  going  by  Nashville,  Cairo 
and  Chicago,  arrived  at  the  capital  city  of  Iowa  on  the  9th  of  March.  The 
General  Assembly  of  the  State  was  then  in  session  at  Des  Moines,  and 
adjourned  to  give  the  Veteran  Fourth  a  reception  worthy  of  its  brilliant 
and  untarnished  record.  Not  only  the  legislature,  but  the  city  authorities, 
did  themselves  honor  by  giving  to  the  returning  braves  a  cordial  and  mag 
nificent  reception.  Nor  did  the  honors  stop  here.  The  ladies  of  the 
capital  prepared  with  their  own  hands  a  supper  than  which  no  better  was 
ever  spread  upon  groaning  boards,  or  more  heartily  enjoyed.  Music  arose 
with  its  voluptuous  swell.  Bright  the  lamps  shone  o'er  fair  women  and 
brave  men.  The  joy  was  unconfined.  No  one  who  ha«  ever  had  the  for- 


FOURTH     INFANTRY.  91 

tune  to  participate  in  the  hospitalities  of  the  ladies  of  our  capital  city,  of 
its  citizens  generally,  can  fail  to  appreciate  the  enjoyment  of  this  occasion ; 
for  what  the  men  and  women  of  Det;  Moines  do  not  know  about  making 
large  assemblies  perfectly  at  home  is  not  worth  knowing.  Their  reception 
at  the  capital  will  ever  be  bright  in  the  memories  of  the  veterans  of  the 
Fourth.  The  day  afterwards  the  men  sought  their  homes  in  the  different 
parts  of  the  district,  being  everywhere  greeted  with  the  kindest  demon 
strations. 

By  the  1st  of  May,  the  regiment  had  rejoined  the  army,  marching  to 
take  part  in  General  Sherman's  Georgia  campaign.  Throughout  that 
campaign,  crowded  so  full  of  skirmishes  and  battles,  in  almost  all  of  which 
they  took  active  part,  the  Fourth  Iowa  Volunteers  maintained  their  honor 
able  reputation,  added  largely  to  it,  and  made  many  sacrifices  to  wounds 
and  death.  In  every  skirmish  and  in  every  battle,  the  regiment  behaved 
with  its  wonted  gallantry,  and  was  especially  conspicuous  on  the  memorable 
22d  of  July,  when  Williamson's  brigade,  composed  of  the  Fourth,  Ninth, 
Twenty-Fifth,  and  Thirtieth  Iowa  regiments,  made  a  gallant  charge, 
re-taking  from  the  enemy  De  Grass'  famous  battery  of  twenty-pounder 
Parrott  guns,  the  skirmishers  of  the  Fourth  being  the  first  to  reach  it.  The 
regiment,  then  in  front  of  Jonesboro,  at  three  o'clock  on  the  morning  of 
September  2,  heard  a  heavy,  roaring  sound,  like  a  double  volley  of  heavy 
artillery.  It  turned  out  to  be  the  destruction  of  the  arsenals,  foundries, 
etc.,  at  Atlanta.4  On  the  5th,  the  army  of  the  Tennessee  started  thither 
ward,  and  shortly  afterwards  encamped  at  East  Point,  where  it  remained 
during  the  rest  of  the  month.  Here  our  regiment,  which  had  been  re 
duced  during  the  campaign  to  less  than  two  hundred  men,  underwent 
several  changes  as  to  its  officers.  Major  Nichols  was  promoted  to  the 
lieutenant-colonelcy,  and  Captain  Anderson  appointed  to  the  vacancy. 
Several  line  officers,  whose  term  of  service  had  expired,  resigned. 

In  the  chase  after  Hood,  which  commenced  on  October  4th,  the  regiment 
took  part,  marching  to  northern  Alabama  by  forced  marches,  and  returning 


*  I  have  been  unable  to  obtain  lists  of  casualties  in  the  regiment  after  Pea  Ridge.  The  regiment 
was  no  less  distinguished  afterwards.  As  we  have  seen,  it  won  the  highest  honors  at  Chickasaw 
Bayou.  Fought  like  brave  men  long  and  well  at  Vicksburg.  Everywhere  officers  and  men  of  the 
command  were  distinguished.  A  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  describing  the  battle  of 
Atlanta,  July  22d,  calls  Williamson's  Iowa  Brigade  "  one  of  the  bravest,  truest,  most  tenacious  fight 
ing  brigades  that  have  marched  to  the  rescue  of  our  nation's  liberties."  The  reports  of  generals, 
the  correspondence  of  influential  journals,  are  strewn  with  praises  of  the  brigade,  and  of  the  regi 
ment  with  whose  history  we  now  have  to  do.  In  all  the  battles  in  which  it  took  part,  it  met  with 
loss,  and  it  is  to  be  deeply  regretted  that  the  list  of  casualties,  sent  to  tho  office  of  the  Adjutant- 
General,  have  been  permitted  to  lie  silent  on  the  files. 

Captain,  afterwards  Major  Anderson,  was  wounded  at  Jonesboro;  Lieutenant  Charles  Baker, 
Lieutenant  Thomas  Cramer,  and  Sergeant  William  J.  Ferguson,  were  slain  at  Ringgold ;  Captain 
Frederick  Teal  was  severely  wounded  at  Columbia,  South  Carolina.  Major  Nichols  was  severely 
wounded  on  the  Atlanta  campaign.  But  I  have  accounts  of  no  others. 


92  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

with  the  army  to  the  vicinity  of  Atlanta.  It  took  part  also  in  the  "march 
to  the  sea,"  and  in  the  march  through  the  Carolinas,  and  was  heavily  engaged 
at  the  battle  of  Bentonville,  North  Carolina,  the  last  engagement  in  which  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee  was  called  upon  to  meet  the  enemy,  who  soon  after 
wards  surrendered,  thereby  making  a  practical  end  of  the  war.  The  regiment 
marched  from  Raleigh  to  Washington  City,  remained  in  camp  there  a  few 
days,  participated  in  the  grand  review,  and  moved  thence  by  rail  and  river 
to  Louisville,  Kentucky,  where  it  performed  provost  duty  till  mustered  out 
of  service,  in  July,  1865.  It  arrived  at  Davenport  on  the  28th,  numbering 
four  hundred  and  fifty-seven  men  and  twenty-three  officers,  some  of  the 
men  having  been  transferred  from  other  regiments  at  Washington  City. 
"The  returning  heroes,"  says  the  Gazette,  "were  received  with  a  brief 
address  of  welcome  by  S.  F.  Smith,  Esq. ,  who  greeted  their  return  to  Iowa 
in  behalf  of  the  citizens  of  Davenport  and  the  State  at  large."5 

I  cannot  close  my  imperfect  account  of  this  regiment,  whose  officers  and 
men,  from  first  to  last  so  highly  distinguished  themselves,  more  appropri 
ately  than  by  quoting  the  farewell  address  of  General  Williamson,  whose 
merits  as  a  soldier  were  too  tardily  acknowledged  by  the  government  which 
he  and  his  gallant  command,  whether  regiment  or  brigade,  had  so  long,  so 
faithfully,  so  honorably  served : 

HEAD-QUARTERS  DISTRICT  OF  SAINT  Louis,     i 
ST.  Louis,  Mo.,  July  6, 1865.  J 

"FELLOW-SOLDIERS  or  THE  FOURTH  IOWA  INFANTRY: — Having  re 
ceived  the  appointment  of  brigadier-general,  and  been  assigned  to  duty  in 
another  quarter,  my  official  connection  with  you  has  ceased.  In  taking 
leave  of  you,  I  deem  it  but  right  to  briefly  allude  to  our  past  association  as 
soldiers.  Four  years  ago  we  left  our  homes  and  loved  ones  to  fight  for  the 
Union  cause.  Then  we  numbered  one  thousand  men.  We  were  undisci 
plined  and  knew  nothing  of  war,  but  we  did  know  that  our  country  needed 
our  services,  and  that  was  enough.  Since  then  we  have  had  more  than 
three  hundred  added  to  our  ranks.  To-day  our  whole  number  is  less  than 
four  hundred.  Where  are  the  one  thousand  of  our  missing  companions? 
Most  of  them  have  fallen  on  the  battle-fields  from  Pea  Ridge  to  Columbia. 
Some  have  been  discharged  on  account  of  wounds  received  in  battle ;  but 

6  The  following  is  tho  roster  of  the  regiment : — Lieutenant-Colonel  S.  D.Nichols;  Major  A.  R. 
Anderson;  Adjutant  L.  Shields;  Surgeon  Dr.  Greenleaf ;  Assistant  Surgeon  Dr.  Whitefield . 

Company  A. — Captain  G.  A.  Henry;  First  Lieutenant  E.  Hill.  Company  B. — First  Lieutenant  G. 
W.  Lloyd.  Company  C.— Captain  W.  W.  Campbell ;  First  Lieutenant  C.  W.  Hill.  Company  D.— 
Captain  F.  Teele ;  First  Lieutenant  James  Finley.  Company  E.— Captain  W.  S.  Simmons ;  First 
Lieutenant  E.  S.  Bramhall.  Company  I1.— Captain,  A.  J.  Tisdale;  First  Lieutenant  J.  H.  Kelly. 
Company  G.— Captain  R.  Sry;  First  Lieutenant  F.Bennett.  Company  H.— Captain  J.  Bishop;  First 
Lieutenant  T.  Alexander.  Company  J.— Captain  Robert  Laing;  First  Lieutenant  G.  J.  Laing. 
Company  K— Captain  P.  R.  Crisp  ;  First  Lieutenant  W.  A.  Anderson. 


FOURTH     INFANTRY.  93 

the  saddest  thing  of  all  remains  to  be  told :  some  were  starved  to  death  in 
Southern  prison-pens.  An  enemy  claiming  to  be  chivalrous  and  brave  com 
mitted  the  dark,  damnable  deed  of  starving  our  brave  men  to  death.  G?od 
alone  can  avenge  these  '  murders  most  foul. '  To  us  the  work  is  not  fully 
given.  Human  means  are  inadequate.  You,  the  survivors  of  our  glorious 
old  regiment,  will,  I  hope,  very  soon,  be  permitted  to  go  home  and  enter 
again  upon  the  duties  and  assume  the  responsibilities  of  citizens  of  the  Re 
public  and  of  the  young  State  of  Iowa,  for  which  you  have  helped  to  make 
so  glorious  a  name  during  this  war. 

"It  need  not  be  said  to  men  like  you,  who  have  fought  on  more  than 
thirty  different  battle-fields,  who,  under  Curtis,  'won  immortal  honors'  at 
Pea  Ridge,  and  made  the  memorable  march  through  Missouri  and  Arkansas 
in  mid-summer,  who  were  ordered  by  General  Grant  to  inscribe  '  First  at 
Chickasaw  Bayou '  on  your  banners,  who  were  under  Sherman  at '  Chickasaw 
Bayou'  and  'Arkansas  Post,'  who  were  under  Grant  through  the  entire 
campaign  of  Vicksburg,  including  Jackson  and  Brandon,  who  marched 
from  Vicksburg  to  Chattanooga  under  Sherman,  who  fought  with  Hooker 
above  the  clouds  at  Lookout  Mountain,  and  were  with  him  at  Missionary 
Ridge  and  Ringgold,  who  were  under  Sherman  through  the  entire  Atlanta 
campaign  and  participated  in  every  battle,  and  who  again  under  this  great 
leader  made  the  famous  'march  to  the  ocean,'  and  thence  to  "Washington, 
to  be  good  citizens. 

"Whatever  may  be  said  to  the  contrary,  none  can  appreciate  peace  and 
civil  government  better  than  those  who  have  so  freely  offered  their  lives  in 
war  to  secure  these  blessings. 

"In  conclusion,  I  have  only  to  add,  that  I  thank  my  lucky  star  that  my 
fortunes  as  a  soldier  were  cast  with  you,  and  I  thank  you  for  my  'Stars.' 
May  that  kind  Providence  who  has  preserved  and  directed  you  through  so 
many  hardships  and  dangers,  guide  you  in  the  path  of  honor  and  glory  in 
the  future  as  in  the  past. 

"Your  fellow-soldier, 

"J.  A.  WILLIAMSON." 


CHAPTER   V. 

FIFTH    INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZATION— MUSTERED  INTO  THE  SERVICE  AT  BURLINGTON— MARCH  IN  PURSUIT 
OF  "  MART.  GREEN."— VOYAGE  TO  ST.  LOUIS— UP  THE  MISSOURI  TO  JEFFERSON 
CITY— FREMONT'S  MARCH  TO  SPRINGFIELD— A  WINTER  IN  MISSOURI— GENERAL 
POPE'S  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  NEW  MADRID,  ISLAND  NO.  TEN,  AND  FORT  PILLOW— 
THE  SIEGE  OF  CORINTH  UNDER  HALLECK— DEATH  OF  COLONEL  WORTHINGTON— 
MARCHINGS  AND  COUNTERMARCHINGS— THE  BATTLE  OF  IUKA— BATTLE 
OF  CORINTH— PURSUIT  OF  THE  ENEMY— MARCH  INTO  THE  INTERIOR  OF  MISSIS 
SIPPI—RETURN—THE  VICKSBURG  CAMPAIGN— ON  GARRISON  DUTY  IN  THE  CITY- 
MOVE  TO  HELENA  — MARCH  TO  CHATTANOOGA,  TENNESSEE  —  COMBAT  NEAR 
TUNNEL  HILL— BAREFOOTED  MEN  LIVING  ON  PARCHED  CORN— THE  VETERANS 
OF  THE  REGIMENT  TRANSFERRED  TO  THE  FIFTH  IOWA  CAVALRY. 

THE  companies  which  formed  the  Fifth  Iowa  Volunteer  Infantry  were 
organized  in  their  respective  neighborhoods  immediately  after  the  receipt 
of  intelligence  of  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter;  but  the  general  government  not 
then  appreciating  the  magnitude  of  the  conflict  which  was  to  ensue,  gave 
no  authority  for  their  regimental  organization  till  some  time  afterwards. 
The  companies  were  enrolled  in  the  counties  of  Cedar,  Jasper,  Louisa, 
Marshall,  Buchanan,  Keokuk,  Benton,  Yan  Buren,  Jackson,  and  Alamakee, 
but  other  counties  contributed  to  swell  their  numbers.  They  were  organized 
into  the  Fifth  Regiment,  and  as  such  sworn  into  the  service  of  the  general 
government  at  "  Camp  Warren,"  near  the  city  of  Burlington  on  the  15th, 
16th,  and  17th  days  of  July,  1861,  at  which  time  the  command,  rank  and 
file,  numbered  nine  hundred  and  eighteen  robust  men.  William  H.  Worth- 
ington,  of  Keokuk,  was  appointed  Colonel ;  Charles  L.  Mathies,  of  Bur 
lington,  Lieutenant-Colonel;  William  S.  Robertson,  of  Columbus  city, 
Major ;  John  S.  Foley,  Adjutant ;  Charles  H.  Rawson,  Surgeon ;  Peter  A. 
Carpenter,  Assistant ;  Robert  F.  Patterson,  Quartermaster ;  and  Reverend 
A.  B.  Medeira,  Chaplain.  At  the  time  of  his  appointment  as  second  in 
command  of  this  regiment,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mathies  was  serving  as  cap 
tain  of  one  of  the  companies  in  our  First  regiment,  then  making  forced 
94 


FIFTH     INFAXTKY.  95 

inarches  from  Booneville  to  Springfield,  Missouri.  The  other  officers  of 
the  regiment  were  taken  directly  from  civil  life.1 

The  command  remained  at  Camp  Warren,  performing  simple  drill  and 
guard  duties,  something  more  than  a  fortnight,  when  it  proceeded  by 
steamer  to  Fort  Madison,  and  there  took  cars  for  Keokuk.  This  was  at 
the  time  when  ' '  Mart.  Green, ' '  a  rebel  leader,  notorious  in  Northeastern 
Missouri,  was  making  much  disturbance  in  that  region,  culminating  a  few 
days  afterwards  in  the  attack  on  Athens.  Colonel  Moore  whipped  the 
noted  partisan  handsomely,  but,  his  return  being  anticipated,  a  detachment 
of  the  Fifth  Iowa,  under  command  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mathies,  pro 
ceeded  to  the  scene  of  the  late  action,  and  from  there  made  a  rapid  march 
of  several '  miles  into  the  interior  with  the  object  of  cutting  off  Green's 
retreat,  it  being  by  this  time  known  that  he  was  moving  toward  Dixie. 
Our  detachment  was  unable  to  overtake  him,  but  it  here  had  its  first 
experience  of  actual  campaigning — bivouacking  during  the  night  in  an  open 
field,  and  receiving  next  morning,  a  breakfast,  composed  of  square,  rather 
solid  crackers,  since  known  everywhere  by  the  name  of  "hard-tack."  On 
the  day  following,  the  detachment  returned  to  Keokuk,  and  soon  thereafter 
the  regiment  left  on  steamers  for  St.  Louis,  reaching  that  city  on  the  12th 
of  August.  Thence  the  command  almost  immediately  proceeded  to  Jeffer 
son  Barracks,  where  the  men  received  their  arms. 

Their  stay  here  was  very  brief.  The  regiment  was  ordered  to  Lexington, 
Missouri,  by  steamer,  and  commenced  the  voyage  thitherward  on  the  even 
ing  of  the  14th,  accompanied  by  other  troops.  Three  days  afterwards, 
when  some  forty  miles  above  Jefferson  city,  the  fleet  was  met  by  the  steamer 
"White  Cloud,"  transporting  a  regiment  of  three-months  men,  whose  term 
had  expired.  The  Colonel  of  this  regiment,  by  representations  of  the 
hair-breadth  'scapes  from  guerrilla-men  and  other  dangers  through  which 
he  had  passed,  and  other  statements  going  to  show  the  rashness  of  his 
further  advance,  persuaded  Colonel  Worthington  to  return  to  Jefferson 
City.  Reaching  the  capital,  the  Colonel  telegraphed  to  General  Fremont  a 
statement  of  the  situation,  and  was  ordered  to  disembark  and  go  into  camp. 

1  Roster  of  line  officers,  at  the  organization  of  the  regiment : 

Company  A. — Captain  Eugene  Childs,  First  Lieutenant  William  H.  Hammond,  Second  Lieutenant 
Joshua  T.  Taylor.  Company  B.— Captain  Samuel  H.  Chapman,  First  Lieutenant  A.  L.  Mateer, 
Second  Lieutenant  John  H.  Tait.  Company  C. — Captain  John  L.  Grubb,  First  Lieutenant  Edwin 
Reimer,  Second  Lieutenant  R.  F.  Patterson.  Company  D.— Captain  W.  S.  Rice,  First  Lieutenant 
Jabez  Banbury,  Second  Lieutenant  Obed  Caswell.  Company  E. — Captain  C.  E.  L.  Lee,  First  Lieu 
tenant  George  C.  Jordan,  Second  Lieutenant  William  S.  Marshall.  Company  F. — Captain  Ezekiel  S. 
Sampson,  First  Lieutenant  Uriah  H.  Keath,  Second  Lieutenant  Henry  S.  Downs.  Company  G.— 
Captain  Jacob  S.  Hunt,  First  Lieutenant  William  F.  Pickerel,  Second  Lieutenant  Samuel  Ober- 
lender.  Company  L — Captain  C.  H.  L.  Lunge,  First  Lieutenant  Peter  Moriarty,  Second  Lieutenant 
John  P.  Foley.  Company  H. — Captain  John  M.  Shaw,  First  Lieutenant  Joel  Brown,  Second 
Lieutenant  B.  P.  Hunt.  Company  K. — Captain  George  H.  Stevens,  First  Lieutenant  Charles  A. 
Comstock,  Second  Lieutenant  D.  S.  Malvin. 


96  IOWA    AXD     THE     REBELLION. 

A  few  days  afterwards  the  men  were  for  the  first  time  clothed  with  the 
uniform  of  the  Union,  and  provided  with  knapsacks,  haversacks,  and  can 
teens,  greatly  to  their  gratification. 

From  the  latter  part  of  August  till  the  march  on  Springfield  commenced, 
the  head-quarters  of  the  regiment  were  some  of  the  time  at  Jefferson  City, 
some  of  the  time  at  Booneville,  and  much  of  it  in  the  field,  moving  in  various 
expeditions.  Thus,  on  the  25th  of  August,  Colonel  Worthington  proceeded 
on  the  steamship  War  Eagle  to  Booneville,  with  a  detachment  of  his  regi 
ment,  and  there  seized  the  confiscated  stock  of  a  shot-tower,  a  tin-shop,  and 
a  printing  office,  bringing  the  same  with  him  to  Jefferson  City,  a  day  or 
two  afterwards,  together  with  the  specie  from  the  Booneville  Bank,  and  a 
number  of  citizen  prisoners.  On  the  28th,  five  companies  of  the  regiment 
were  sent  to  the  Osage  River,  to  guard  the  bridge  of  the  Pacific  Railroad 
over  that  stream.  They  returned  on  the  1st  of  September,  and  on  the 
evening  of  that  day  embarked  on  steamers  with  the  other  companies  of  the 
regiment  and  a  company  of  Home-Guard  Cavalry  for  Rocheport,  a  place 
some  thirty-five  miles  up  the  river.  A  heavy  rain  storm  and  dense  fog 
prevented  the  departure  of  the  boats  till  the  next  day.  They  reached 
Rocheport  at  sun-down,  when  five  companies  of  the  Fifth  and  the  cavalry 
disembarked,  and  immediately  commenced  a  march  on  Columbia,  ten  miles 
east,  being  under  command  of  Lieutenant- Colonel  Mathies.  Colonel 
Worthington  steamed  down  the  river  about  ten  miles,  and  there  landing 
the  rest  of  the  troops,  also  marched  on  Columbia.  The  object  of  this 
movement  was  to  capture  a  body  of  rebels,  said  to  be  collected  there 
under  the  rebel  Major  Hams.  No  enemy  was  found,  however,  and  the 
regiment  marched  across  the  country  from  Columbia  to  Jefferson  City, 
having  gained  nothing  but  a  wholesome  experience  in  carrying  knapsacks 
on  the  march.  Having  occupied  the  intermediate  period  in  drilling  and 
the  duties  of  the  camp,  the  regiment  again  moved  up  the  Missouri  on 
steamers,  on  the  14th,  to  reenforce  a  small  body  of  Home  Guards  at  Boone 
ville,  who  had  been  attacked  the  day  before  by  a  considerable  force  of 
rebels  under  Colonel  Brown.  The  regiment  reached  Booneville  early  on  the 
morning  of  the  15th,  and  was  gratified  with  the  intelligence  that  the  Home 
Guards  had  bravely  repelled  the  attack,  killing  and  wounding  some  sixty 
rebels,  Colonel  Brown  himself  being  among  the  killed.  The  command 
remained  at  Booneville  ten  days,  adding  to  the  duties  of  the  camp,  drill,  and 
scout,  much  hard  work  in  the  way  of  improving  the  fortifications  which  had 
been  commenced  by  General  Lyon  early  in  the  summer.  On  the  25th,  the 
regiment  moved  up  the  river  to  Glasgow,  where  there  was  an  easy  crossing 
of  the  Missouri,  to  prevent  the  passage  of  forces  to  reenforce  Price,  who 
had  captured  Lexington  a  few  days  before.  In  the  performance  of  this 
watchful  and  important  duty  the  regiment  was  engaged  about  a  week.  It 


FIFTH     INFANTRY.  97 

then  returned  to  Booneville  and  remained  there  till  October  14th,  when  it 
joined  the  army  under  Fremont  in  the  march  to  the  southwestern  part  of 
the  State. 

During  this  campaign,  the  regiment  was  attached  to  Colonel  Kelton's 
brigade,  in  General  Pope's  division,  which  made  a  rapid  march  over 
wretched  roads  to  Springfield,  and  returned  to  Syracuse  on  November 
17th,  having  marched  something  more  than  three  hundred  miles.  Dur 
ing  much  of  the  following  winter,  Colonel  Worthington  was  in  com 
mand  of  the  brigade,  head-quarters  at  Otterville.  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Mathies,  with  seven  companies  of  the  regiment,  was  at  Booneville, 
comfortably  quartered  in  houses.  The  remaining  companies  were  at 
Syracuse,  in  an  encampment  of  tents,  patroling  the  railroad  day  and  night, 
until  the  close  of  January,  1862.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mathies  made  one 
or  two  expeditions  during  the  winter,  but  they  were  of  no  special  interest. 
On  the  1st  of  February,  the  three  companies  from  Syracuse  joined  the 
principal  part  of  the  command  at  Booneville.  On  the  6th,  the  regiment 
crossed  the  Missouri  and  encamped  at  Franklin,  a  few  miles  north  of  the 
river.  Remaining  here  a  day  or  two,  it  took  up  line  of  march  for  St. 
Charles,  in  company  with  the  Forty-Seventh  Illinois  Infantry  and  the 
Eleventh  Ohio  Battery.  The  weather  was  extremely  unpleasant,  and  the 
roads  horrible.  Nevertheless,  the  march  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
was  performed  by  this  little  army  in  ten  days.  It  reached  St.  Charles  at 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  February  17th,  having  marched  that  day 
nearly  thirty  miles.  On  the  next  day  our  regiment  crossed  the  Missouri, 
and  immediately  went  to  St.  Louis  by  rail. 

General  Grant  had  just  forced  the  garrison  of  Fort  Donelson  to  an  un 
conditional  surrender,  and  it  was  no  time  for  idleness  on  the  part  of  western 
troops.  Our  regiment,  on  reaching  St.  Louis,  simply  marched  from  the 
depot  to  the  river,  and  there  boarding  a  steamer,  was  soon  southward 
bound.  The  men  disembarked  at  Cairo  on  the  morning  of  the  21st,  and 
went  into  barracks  near  the  city  of  magnificent  water-views.  Having 
remained  here  a  few  days  they  again  embarked,  and  going  up  the  river 
debarked  at  Commerce,  Missouri,  some  thirty  miles  above  Cairo.  Here 
they  received  new  tents,  but  only  halted  in  them  one  day.  On  the  26th, 
they  marched  to  Benton,  nine  miles  distant,  where  the  Army  of  the  Mis 
sissippi,  under  General  Pope,  was  concentrating.  The  march  on  New 
Madrid  was  commenced  on  the  1st  day  of  March,  our  regiment  being  in 
the  first  brigade,  Colonel  "Worthington  commanding,  second  division,  Gen 
eral  Schuyler  Hamilton.  The  army  came  in  sight  of  New  Madrid  at  noon 
of  the  3d,  having  made  a  difficult  march  over  roads  obstructed  by  the 
enemy,  through  swamps  and  drenching  rains,  and  camped  in  line  about 
two  miles  from  the  town.  In  all  of  the  operations  against  New  Madrid, 
13 


98  IOWA    AND     THE     KEBELLION. 

Island  No.  10,  and  soon  after  the  brilliant  successes  there,  in  the  movement 
against  Fort  Pillow,  by  the  Army  of  the  Mississippi,  our  regiment  took  an 
active  part.  It  was  the  first  to  enter  the  town  of  New  Madrid,  on  the 
morning  of  March  14th.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  in  all  these  active 
operations,  in  which  the  regiment  was  as  conspicuously  engaged  as  any 
other,  but  one  man  was  killed — private  William  Beaver,  of  Company  A, 
who  fell  on  a  reconnoisance  on  the  evening  of  the  4th.  The  enemy  could 
be  more  surely  compelled  to  abandon  Memphis  by  the  defeat  of  Beauregard 
at  Corinth,  than  by  the  capture  of  Fort  Pillow  by  Pope.  Hence  he 
relinquished  his  hold  on  that  work,  and  embarking  his  army  on  steamers, 
reenforced  Halleck  by  Cairo.  Our  regiment  made  the  voyage  to  Cairo  on 
a  leaky  steamer,  but  there  making  an  exchange,  went  on  up  the  Ohio  and 
Tennessee  without  noteworthy  incident,  and  debarked  at  Hamburg  Land 
ing  on  the  22d  of  April. 

The  movement  against  Corinth,  directed  by  Major-General  Halleck,  was 
now  progressing  with  a  wonderful  degree  of  theoretical  skill,  and  with  even 
more  of  deliberateness  and  caution.  The  country  was  partly  swamp,  partly 
"pine  ridges,"  and  altogether  unadapted  to  the  passage  of  a  large  army, 
without  much  labor  in  the  way  of  building  roads,  and  removing  obstruc 
tions.  But  it  was  not  nearly  so  impracticable  as  some  portions  of  the  Caro- 
linas  since  marched  over  by  the  armies  under  General  Sherman  at  a  rate 
which  would  have  swung  Halleck' s  army  around  Corinth  the  forenoon  after 
the  day  it  commenced  the  movement  thereon.  The  snail-like  motions  of 
the  march,  if  they  can  properly  be  called  a  march  at  all,  the  stealthy 
advance,  called  the  siege  of  Corinth,  after  we  had  got  to  within  very  long 
range  of  the  enemy,  need  not  be  here  narrated.  In  the  dull  duties  of  this 
campaign,  in  the  occasional  reconnoissances  which,  under  the  direction  of 
division  commanders,  relieved  the  monotony,  our  regiment  bore  its  part 
with  becoming  resignation  in  the  one  case  and  with  distinguished  valor  in 
the  other.  On  the  22d  of  May,  while  the  regiment  was  encamped  at 
Farmington,  Colonel  Worthington  was  killed  by  a  picket  of  our  own  army, 
while  visiting  during  the  night  the  grand  guard  of  the  division  as  general 
officer  of  the  day.  This  sad  accident,  causing  the  only  death  in  the  regi 
ment  during  the  movement  from  Hamburg  to  Corinth,  cast  a  gloom  over 
the  whole  division,  in  which  Colonel  Worthington  was  generally  known, 
and  greatly  respected  and  loved.  General  Pope  issued  the  following 
order : — 

"HEAD-QUARTERS,  ARMY  OP  THE  MISSISSIPPI,! 
NEAR  FARMINGTON,  May  22, 1862.     J 

"  General  Orders,  No.  53. 

"The  General  commanding  announces  with  deep  regret  to  the  army  the  death  of  Colonel  W.  H. 
Worthington,  Fifth  Iowa  Volunteers.  He  was  killed  by  an  unfortunate  accident  at  three  o'clock 
this  morning,  while  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  General  Officer  of  the  Day.  In  the  death  of 


FIFTH     INFANTRY.  99 

Colonel  Worthington  this  army  has  sustained  a  serious  loss,  and  his  place  in  the  regiment  will  be 
difficult  to  fill.  Prompt,  gallant,  and  patriotic,  a  brilliant  career  in  the  military  profession  waa 
before  him.  The  hand  of  God  has  stricken  him  down  in  the  midst  of  his  usefulness  and  while 
discharging  his  duties  as  a  soldier  in  the  face  of  the  enemy.  Sad  as  is  his  fate,  he  has  lived  long 
enough  to  be  mourned  by  his  country,  and  have  his  memory  cherished  by  the  army  with  which  he 
served.  The  officers  of  his  division  will  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning  for  thirty  days. 

"  By  order  of  MAJOR-GENERAL  POPE, 
"  SPEED  BUTLER,  A.  A.  G." 

The  remains  of  Colonel  Worthington  were  taken  to  Keokuk,  and  there 
consigned  to  the  narrow  house,  amidst  the  unaffected  mourning  of  the  citi 
zens  generally.  Meantime,  the  regiment  moved  slowly  from  Farmington 
toward  Corinth,  which  was  evacuated  by  the  rebels  on  the  morning  of  the 
30th  of  May,  and  entered  the  same  day  by  General  Halleck.2 

General  Pope  at  once  made  his  famous  telegraphic  pursuit  of  the  enemy, 
but  as  for  the  Fifth  Iowa,  though  it  was  one  of  the  best  marching  regi 
ments  of  his  command,  it  was  delayed  by  rivers  and  creeks,  the  bridges 
over  which  had  been  destroyed,  and  by  other  obstructions,  so  that  its  pro 
gress  was  exceedingly  slow,  and  in  view  of  the  accompanying  bulletins, 
painfully  so.  It  marched  but  five  miles  on  the  day  of  the  evacuation,  but 
eight  the  next,  and  then  halting  a  day  or  two  to  exchange  old  arms  for 
Whitney  rifles,  moved  a  dozen  miles  to  near  Rienzi,  and  the  day  afterwards 
proceeded  to  Booneville,  eight  miles  farther  south  where  it  went  into 
bivouac  and  there  remained  till  the  10th  of  June.  And  such  is  likewise  a 
brief  account  of  the  march  of  General  Schuyler  Hamilton's  division  of  the 
Army  of  the  Mississippi,  during  the  same  period. 

On  the  llth  of  June,  the  command  faced  about  and  returned  northward, 
reaching  its  recent  encampment,  near  Corinth,  on  the  next  day,  where,  and 
at  a  more  eligible  encampment  near  by,  it  remained  till  the  27th,  drilling 
being  the  principal  duty.  On  this  day  another  march  southward  was 
begun,  which  continued  for  a  few  days.  On  the  1st  of  July,  the  column 
having  gone  a  few  miles  south  of  Ripley,  again  turned  back  and  marched 
to  Rienzi.  Halted  here  to  the  10th,  and  then  returned  to  the  old  camp 
near  Corinth,  where  it  remained  until  the  5th  of  the  following  month. 
During  this  quiet  period  at  Corinth,  General  Pope  retired  from  the  com 
mand  of  the  Army  of  the  Mississippi,  and  proceeded  to  save  both  the 
national  capital  and  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  It  is  but  just  to  his  repu 
tation  to  add  that  he  succeeded  in  both,  the  situation  requiring  a  com 
mander  having  his  rare  combination  of  bluster  and  ability,  and  that  for  his 
services,  which  were  above  all  valuation,  he  was  coolly  shelved  upon  the 
Indian  Department.  But  gratitude  among  statesmen  and  blood  in  turnips 

*  An  exchange  paper  says :  "  General  Halleck  is  devoting  his  leisure  hours  to  writing  a  history  of 
the  siege  of  Corinth."  Probably  General  Halleck  thinks  "  the  pen  is  mightier  than  the  sword," 
and  that  is  the  reason  he  didn't  devote  his  leisure  hours  to  taking  Corinth  when  Beauregard  occupied 
it  with  his  army.— New  York  Tribune,  July  8, 1865. 


100  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

are  equally  common.  General  Rosecrans  succeeded  General  Pope,  and 
about  the  same  time  General  Schuyler  Hamilton  was  relieved  of  the  com 
mand  of  the  division  by  General  C.  S.  Hamilton.  On  the  5th  of  August, 
the  division  marched  to  Jacinto,  and  there  remained  till  the  day  before  the 
battle  of  luka.  Meantime,  Major  Robertson  of  our  regiment  had  resigned. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Mathies  had  been  promoted  to  the  colonelcy,  and 
Captain  Sampson  to  the  lieutenant-colonelcy.  Captain  Banbury  was  pro 
moted  to  the  majority,  but  did  not  receive  his  commission  till  after 

TB.E  BATTLE  OF  IVKA. 

This  engagement,  fought  on  the  evening  of  September  19th,  1862,  was  one 
of  the  severest,  bloodiest  combats  of  the  war.  The  rebel  General  Sterling 
Price,  with  a  considerable  army,  was  at  Tupelo,  on  the  Mobile  and  Ohio 
Railroad,  some  sixty  miles  south  of  Corinth,  in  the  early  part  of  the 
month.  About  the  10th  he  moved  northward,  and  leaving  the  railway  at 
or  near  Baldwin,  marched  on  luka,  a  small  town  on  the  Memphis  and 
Charleston  Railroad,  distant  from  Corinth  not  quite  twenty-five  miles.  It 
contained  much  public  property,  and  was  garrisoned  by  the  Eighth  Wis 
consin,  Colonel  Murphy.  On  the  13th,  Price  cut  the  telegraph  and  rail 
road  between  Corinth  and  luka,  whereupon  Colonel  Murphy  hastily  and 
shamefully  evacuated  the  latter  place,  without  destroying  the  stores.  Price 
immediately  entered,  and  his  troops  had  the  enjoyment  of  the  large 
quantities  of  food  left  by  the  folly,  or  the  treachery,  of  Colonel  Murphy. 
General  Grant,  at  Corinth,  did  not  have  a  force  greatly  superior  to  Price, 
which  he  could  send  against  him,  because  Van  Dorn,  with  a  large  army, 
was  threatening  Corinth  from  the  direction  of  Holly  Springs.  Neverthe 
less,  he  determined  to  attack  Price  at  luka,  and  destroy  or  capture  his 
army  while  in  that  isolated  position.  His  dispositions  were  made  accord 
ingly,  and  werel  in  fine,  that  Major-General  Ord,  reenforced  by  General 
Ross,  from  Bolivar,  Tennessee,  so  that  his  army  numbered  more  than  six 
thousand  men,  should  move  on  luka  by  roads  north  of  the  railway ;  and 
that  General  Rosecrans,  with  a  force  about  nine  thousand  strong,  should 
move  south  to  Jacinto,  and  thence  upon  the  point  of  attack  from  that 
direction.  This  plan,  contemplating  a  combined  attack  by  Ord  and  Rose 
crans,  was  frustrated  by  the  able  general  in  command  at  luka,  who  moved 
away  from  his  works  there  and  made  a  spirited  attack  on  Rosecrans, 
designing  first  to  defeat  him,  and  then  whip  Ord.  But  for  the  unexpected 
and  unparalleled  gallantry  of  our  troops  at  the  combat  of  luka,  this  plan 
might  have  succeeded,  to  the  great  discomfiture,  both  immediate  and 
prospective,  of  our  arms  in  the  southwest. 

General  Hamilton's  division  of  Rosecrans'  army  had  been,  as  we  have 
seen,  for  some  time  at  Jacinto.  Here  it  was  joined  by  the  other  divisions 


FIFTH     INFANTRY.  101 

of  the  army,  and  on  the  18th  commenced  the  movement  against  luka, 
proceeding  in  an  easterly  direction  several  miles,  and  then  turning  north. 
About  noon  the  next  day  the  Fifth  Iowa,  being  in  the  advance  of  the 
column,  came  upon  the  rebel  pickets  at  Thompson's  Cross  Roads,  about 
seven  miles  south  of  luka.  The  regiment  was  at  once  deployed  as  skir 
mishers,  and  thus  preceded  the  column  for  a  distance  of  three  miles,  when 
it  was  relieved  by  a  regiment  from  Missouri.  The  Fifth  then  took  its 
place  at  the  head  of  the  main  column.  The  country  was  exceedingly  diffi 
cult  of  passage,  being  but  little  better,  from  Thompson's  Cross  Roads  to 
within  about  two  miles  of  luka,  than  an  uninterrupted  swamp,  extending 
indefinitely  on  either  side  of  the  road  upon  which  the  column  was  moving. 
From  the  northern  margin  of  this  extensive  bog  to  luka,  the  face  of  the 
country  is  broken  into  innumerable  hills  and  ravines,  the  hills  rising 
gradually  higher  and  higher  toward  the  north,  with  southern  slopes 
admirably  suitable  for  the  manoeuvres  of  battle,  or  at  any  rate  admirably 
adapted  to  the  posting  of  troops,  so  that  their  fire  could  be  simultaneously 
effective.  If  the  nature  of  the  country  offered  many  advantages  to  an 
army  facing  south,  it  offered  as  many  disadvantages  to  an  army  facing 
north. 

General  Price  was  not  the  man  to  let  slip  his  advantages.  He  attacked 
the  Union  column  at  the  very  place  where  it  was  impossible  to  use  half 
its  force.  The  head  of  the  column  had  but  barely  penetrated  the  hilly 
region  just  described,  and  was  marching  on  the  brow  of  a  densely  wooded 
hill,  falling  off  abruptly  to  the  right  and  left,  when  our  pickets  were  driven 
rapidly  in,  and  announced  the  enemy  just  in  front  drawn  up  in  heavy  lines 
of  battle.  The  nature  of  the  locality  prevented  deployments,  but  our 
troops  hastily  moved  by  the  flank  into  position  across  the  road,  which  was 
here  intersected  by  one  running  east  and  west.  The  Eleventh  Ohio  battery 
with  difficulty  took  position  on  the  crest  of  the  hill,  commanding  the  road 
in  front.  The  Fifth  Iowa  was  posted  on  the  right  of  the  battery,  the 
Forty-eighth  Indiana  on  the  left.  One  wing  of  the  Twenty-sixth  Missouri 
was  just  to  the  rear  and  right  of  the  battery.  And  this  was  all  the  front 
we  had  to  oppose  an  army  nearly  ten  thousand  strong  moving  against  it, 
with  the  power  of  firing  from  treble  lines.  And  even  this  cramped  front 
was  formed  under  a  heavy  fire  from  both  artillery  and  musketry. 

The  battle  commenced  on  the  Union  side  by  these  three  regiments  of 
infantry  and  the  Ohio  battery  alone,  it  being  a  simple  impracticability  to 
bring  more  troops  into  line  at  one  time.  As  other  troops  came  up  they 
were  placed  in  position  in  reserve  or  on  the  flanks,  but  in  addition  to  the 
regiments  already  named  the  Tenth  and  Sixteenth  Iowa,  the  Eleventh  Mis 
souri,  Fourth  Minnesota,  Eightieth  Ohio  and  a  section  of  Immell's  Wiscon 
sin  battery  were  the  only  troops  actively  engaged  during  the  combat;  others 


102  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

were  under  fire.  The  fighting  commenced  about  five  o'clock  in  the  after 
noon,  and  from  that  time  until  darkness  put  an  end  to  it,  the  conflict  raged 
with  a  fierceness  never  exceeded  in  any  combat  between  civilized  men. 
Price  threw  his  heavy  lines  against  our  little  front  repeatedly,  and  was  met 
with  a  devouring  sheet  of  flame  which  consumed  large  numbers  of  his 
daring  troops.  In  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Ohio  battery,  the  combat 
was  terrible.  The  guns  were  manned  with  unsurpassed  skill,  and  kept  con 
stantly  throwing  into  the  rebel  ranks,  at  close  range,  a  storm  of  fatal  iron. 
The  battery  must  be  silenced  or  taken,  Price  saw,  or  he  could  make  no 
headway.  The  rebels  were  accordingly  massed  upon  it,  to  take  it,  at  what 
ever  cost.  Before  this  overpowering  charge,  the  Forty-eighth  Indiana 
gave  way,  and  the  left  of  the  battery  fell  into  the  enemy's  hands.  Fresh 
troops  came  to  the  rescue,  charged  bayonets  upon  the  exultant  rebels,  and 
drove  them  from  the  guns.  Three  times  was  this  devoted  battery  taken 
and  retaken  within  an  hour.  The  horses  were  all  killed  or  wounded,  most 
of  the  gunners  were  disabled  or  dead,  the  battery  itself  was  little  better 
than  a  mass  of  ruins,  the  guns  themselves  being  the  only  parts  left  which 
were  not  riddled  with  bullets  or  torn  into  splinters  by  the  fearful  agencies 
of  this  awful  strife.  When  darkness  put  an  end  to  the  struggle,  the  guns 
were  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  but  they  had  failed  to  drive  us  from  our 
principal  position.  Our  exhausted  troops  slept  on  their  arms  on  the  field 
of  battle.  During  the  night  Price  retreated  by  luka  to  Eastport,  and  thence 
afterwards  moved  south  to  form  a  junction  with  Van  Dora.  The  Union 
army  marched  into  luka  on  the  morning  of  the  20th. 

In  the  battle  of  luka,  the  rebel  losses  in  killed  and  wounded  were  esti 
mated  at  about  twelve  hundred.  There  were  two  hundred  and  sixty-three 
of  their  killed  buried  on  the  battle-field,  whilst  more  than  four  hundred, 
severely  wounded,  fell  into  our  hands.  The  total  number  of  prisoners  cap 
tured  by  us  was  nearly  one  thousand.  The  rebel  general  Little  was  killed, 
and  Whitfield  mortally  wounded.  It  is  certain  the  enemy's  loss  was  much 
more  severe  than  our  own.  They  felt  that  they  had  been  thoroughly 
whipped.  "  I  know  this,"  says  a  rebel  oflicer,  in  the  Jackson  "Mississip- 
pian,"  "that  the  events  of  that  evening  have  considerably  increased  my 
appetite  for  peace,  and  if  the  Yankees  will  not  shoot  at  us  any  more,  I 
shall  be  perfectly  satisfied  to  let  them  alone.  It  was  a  terrible  struggle, 
and  we  lost  heavily."  The  Union  loss  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing, 
was  probably  about  one  thousand,  though  it  is  put  down  in  the  official  re 
ports  at  seven  hundred  and  ninety-nine.  General  Hamilton  makes  his 
loss — and  he  did  the  principal  part  of  the  fighting — one  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  killed,  five  hundred  and  twenty-seven  wounded,  and  twenty-six  miss 
ing.  Among  our  wounded  officers  were  Colonel  Chambers,  Sixteenth 


FIFTH     INFANTRY 


103 


BATTLE,  OF 
IUKA 


104  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Iowa,  Colonel  Eddy,  Forty-eighth  Indiana,  and  Colonel  Boomer,  Twenty- 
sixth  Missouri. 

The  regiments  from  Iowa  which  particularly  distinguished  tiiemselves  in 
this  short,  sharp  contest  were  the  Fifth  and  the  Sixteenth.  The  Tenth  also 
performed  valuable  service  on  the  left  flank,  and  received  a  complimentary 
notice  from  General  Rosecrans.  The  Seventeenth  had  the  misfortune  to 
receive  the  censure  of  the  General  commanding.  It  was  under  the  com 
mand  of  Colonel  Rankin,  who  had  offered  his  resignation  some  time  before, 
on  account  of  the  requirements  of  his  personal  business,  and  who  never 
made  a  report  of  the  part  taken  by  his  regiment  in  the  battle.  The  censure 
of  General  Rosecrans  was  unjust,  for,  though  the  regiment  was  thrown  into 
confusion,  it  was  because  of  the  break-neck  stampede  through  its  lines  of 
the  general  commanding,  himself,  and  his  prodigious  staff.  It  lost  in  the 
action,  forty-one  killed  and  wounded,  and  has  since,  without  a  single  failure 
or  rebuke,  made  a  record  which  General  Rosecrans  would,  doubtless,  be 
proud  to  share.  ' '  The  Sixteenth  Iowa, ' '  says  the  general  order  announcing 
the  results  of  the  engagement,  "amid  the  roar  of  battle,  the  rush  of 
wounded  artillery-horses,  the  charge  of  a  rebel  brigade,  and  a  storm  of 
grape,  canister,  and  musketry,  stood  like  a  rock,  holding  the  centre." 

But  it  was  the  Fifth  Iowa,  which  here  won  the  brightest  honors  of  the 
day  for  our  State.  It  was  warmly  complimented  by  the  correspondents  of 
newspapers,  by  the  general  commanding  division,  by  General  Rosecrans, 
and  by  the  whole  army.  "The  glorious  Fifth  Iowa,"  says  Rosecrans, 
"under  the  brave  and  distinguished  Mathies,  sustained  by  Boomer  with 
part  of  his  noble  little  Twenty-sixth  Missouri,  bore  the  thrice-repeated 
charges  and  cross-fires  of  the  rebel  left  and  centre,  with  a  valor  and  deter 
mination  seldom  equalled,  never  excelled  by  the  most  veteran  soldiery." 
"The  Fifth  Iowa,"  says  General  Hamilton  in  his  official  report,  "under  its 
brave  and  accomplished  Mathies,  held  its  ground  against  four  times  its 
number,  making  three  desperate  charges  with  the  bayonet,  driving  back 
the  foe  in  disorder  each  time ;  until,  with  every  cartridge  exhausted,  it  fell 
back  slowly  and  sullenly,  making  every  step  a  battle-ground  and  every 
charge  a  victory. ' '  And  the  correspondent  of  the  Cincinnati  Commercial 
says  that  ' '  most  of  our  troops  engaged  behaved  in  the  most  gallant  manner, 
particularly  the  Eleventh  Missouri  and  Fifth  Iowa.  These  two  regiments 
stood  the  brunt  of  the  battle  as  their  lists  of  killed  and  wounded  testify." 
Colonel  Mathies  in  his  report  states  that  high  praise  is  due  to  all  his  officers- 
and  men,  without  exception.  "In  commanding  my  regiment  before  the 
enemy,"  he  states,  "I  was  nobly  assisted  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Sampson 
on  the  right,  Adjutant  Patterson,  acting  major,  on  the  left,  and  Lieutenant 
W.  S.  Marshall,  acting  adjutant,  all  of  whom  behaved  most  gallantly,  re 
peating  my  commands,  and  steadying  and  cheering  on  my  brave  boys 


FIFTH     INFANTRY.  105 

throughout  the  engagement. ' '  For  his  own  gallant  and  meritorious  con 
duct  Colonel  Mathies  was  afterwards  promoted  to  the  rank  of  brigadier- 
general.  Of  the  four  hundred  and  eighty-two  officers  and  men  of  the  Fifth 
Iowa  who  were  engaged  in  the  battle  more  than  two  hundred  and  twenty 
were  killed  and  wounded.3 

i 

s  LIST  OP  CASUALTIES  :— Adjutant  R.  F.  Patterson,  wounded. 

Company  A. — Killed — Lieutenant  Lafayette  Shawl,  James  Edgar.  Wounded — Lieutenant  John 
W.  Casad,  Sergeant  L.  D.  Ingman,  Sergeant  Parley  S.  McCracken,  Corporal  Wm.  C.  Hawk,  James  J. 
Anderson,  Nelson  Alexander  (mortally),  Joseph  R.  Fobes  (mortally),  Robert  A.  Farrell,  Charles  B. 
Harris,  Charles  S.  Hussy,  Jackson  D.  Mitchell,  Wm.  H.  Morrow  (prisoner),  Samuel  H.  Ollinger,  N. 
M.  II.  Parsons,  John  Rumsey,  John  S.  Smurr,  Wm.  A.  E.  Tisdale,  Milton  E.  Thurston,  Freeland  G. 
Tubbs,  Helburn  Zeitler,  Jacob  F.  Weaver,  Wm.  F.  Begole,  John  C.  Stout,  John  F.  Webb. 

Company  B.— Kitted— Elias  E.  Babcock,  John  D.  Bodley,  Moses  W.Cattrell,  George  W.  Lowe,  Oscar 
B.  Piper,  Samuel  Pitman,  James  II.  Smail,  Leroy  F.  Shelley.  Wounded — Lieutenant  Alexander  L. 
Mateer  (mortally),  Sergeant  Wm.  W.  Dungan,  Sergeant  James  Vauatta,  Corporal  James  W.  Mc- 
Crosky,  Corporal  Willard  C.  Winslow,  Corporal  James  P.  Banks,  Isaac  T.  Borden,  Luther  H.  Carey, 
Burnett  Dewitt,  Joseph  H.  M.  Delong,  David  Heron,  Hiram  C.  Hall,  Isaac  M.  Louderback,  Charles  M. 
Morris,  Wm.  A.  Rice,  Asbury  D.  Romans,  Wm.  H.  Sparks,  Henry  Scott,  Wm.  Worell,  George  F. 
Work,  James  D.  Peregrine,  James  A.  Shellidy. 

Company  C. — Killed — Corporal  Nicholas  Reinheart.  Wounded — Captain  John  Albaugh,  Lieutenant 
Albert  Ellis,  Sergeant  Milton  Campbell,  Corporal  Wm.  Gamble,  Corporal  Richard  E.  Payton,  Wm.  B. 
Wallace  (mortally),  Wm.  P.  Branden,  John  Butler,  James  M.  Cooper,  Orville  George,  Vane  Graham 
(mortally),  Edward  0.  Griswold,  Oscar  Hann,  Gethens  Jenkins,  James  F.  Kellogg  (mortally),  Thomas 
S.  Littleton,  Robert  Lynch,  Wm.  Neal,  Wm.  F.  Orr,  Joseph  S.  Osborn,  George  Palmer  (mortally), 
Humphrey  Roberts  (mortally),  Isaac  Scofield,  James  R.  Smith,  Julius  T.  Spafford,  John  Stephens, 
Stewart  Thompson  (mortally),  Clemens  Zingheim,  J.  Carnady.  Missing — Charles  Jones. 

Company  D. — Killed — Jacob  Oswald,  David  Sullivan.  Wounded — Lieutenant  John  E.  Page,  Lieu 
tenant  Benjamin  Jarvis,  Sergeant  John  E.  Page,  Sergeant  Haman  A.  Jones,  Corporal  Wm.  C.  Hausa- 
faus,  Corporal  Wm.  R.  Brush,  Corporal  James  Johnston,  Wm.  H.  Hartman  (mortally),  Stephens  S. 
Mills  (mortally),  Wm.  Mooney,  Amos  B.  Nil^s,  Tillman  H.  Payton,  Warren  B.  Parett,  James  Rey 
nolds,  Jacob  Sipe,  Fred.  E.  Strong,  Samuel  W.  Williams,  William  Woodward. 

Company  E. — Killed — John  H.  Towle.  Wounded— Lieutenant  Alexander  B.  Lewis,  Sergeant  Wm. 
Bunce,  Corporal  Julius  F.  Phelps,  Wm.  W.  Baughman  (musician),  Elijah  Chittester,  Adin  B.  Kinsel, 
Hela  C.  Sprague. 

Company  F, — Killed — Lieutenant  Elvin  M.  Holcomb,  Sergeant  Sebastian  Fisher,  Wm.  J.  Fulton, 
Isaac  H.  Greene,  Richard  B.  Howell,  Isaac  Lang,  John  W.  Teller.  Wounded— Sergeant  James  A. 
Rentfro,  Sergeant  Charles  S.  Miller,  Sergeant  Abram  G.  Long,  Corporal  Nathaniel  B.  Jones  (mor 
tally),  Corporal  Robert  McClanahan,  Corporal  Henry  B.  Landers,  Corporal  Reason  P.  Laffer,  Sherri- 
dan  G.  Rose  (musician),  Andrew  Beard,  John  Cabler,  David  C.  Glandon  (mortally),  Charles  S.  Goss 
(mortally),  Charles  Guno,  John  Hall,  David  M.  Jones  (mortally),  John  V.  Ketchum  (mortally)  Pleas 
ant  E.  Minor,  James  H.  Holland,  Alfred  Shipman,  Thomas  A.  Shockly,  Wm.  L.  Switzer,  George  B. 
Tipton,  James  Woods,  Harding  Voss.  Missing— Wm.  Eberhart  (musician),  Abel  F.  Wilson. 

Company  G. — Killed — Henry  Ditch,  Earle  Wellington.  Wounded — Lieutenant  Samuel  S.  Sample, 
Lieutenant  John  E.  Pangborn,  Sergeant  Basil  H.  Martin,  Corporal  Americus  Campbell,  Henry  B. 
Fisher,  Byron  A.  Knowles,  Piereon  Mills,  John  Waitman  (mortally),  James  M.  Miskimmons,  John 
Minton. 

Company  H. — Killed — Sergeant  Rezin  B.  Hughes,  Alvin  C.  Ebbert,  Thomas  I.  Nutt,  Hamilton 
Rodgers,  George  W.  Armentrout.  Wounded — Captain  Joel  Brown,  Lieutenant  W.  C.  Huber,  Corporal 
Jacob  T.  Overturff,  Milton  J.  Arlington,  George  W.  Baldwin,  Thomas  P.  Estal,  Wm.  T.  Hughes, 
Joseph  W.  Knapp,  Benjamin  Penn,  John  A.  Pierce,  Elijah  Roberts,  John  P.  Shuffleton,  Milton  W. 
Shaw,  Asbury  Sutton,  John  A.  Troette,  Simeon  K.  Winscott,  John  Whilton. 

Company  L  —  Killed— Samuel  Hughes,  Patrick  O'Driscol,  Noah  B.  Piereon,  Abel  B.  Wright. 
Wounded— Sergeant  Wra.  H.  Brakey  (mortally),  Wm.  D.  Thompson,  Wm.  C.  Morden,  George  W. 
Bousman,  Ferdinand  Blush,  John  S.  Howard,  Henry  P.  Marvin,  Charles  P.  Reed,  Wm.  Shuler,  Wm. 
W.  Stevens,  Stephen  H.  Sanderlin.  Missing— Lieutenant  Wm.  H.  Cotton. 

Company  K. — Killed — Lieutenant  Stephen  W.  Smith,  Corporal  George  W.  Foote,  Homer  Ellis,  Sol- 
14 


106  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Our  regiment  remained  on  the  battle-field  during  the  most  of  the  day 
after  the  combat,  engaged  in  the  sorrowful  duty  of  burying  the  dead. 
Now  that  the  excitement  of  battle  was  over,  and  the  men  could  see  the 
effects  of  it,  it  seemed  miraculous  that  a  man  escaped  the  storms  of  bullets, 
whose  marks  were  everywhere,  thick  as  autumnal  leaves  that  strew  the 
vales  of  Vallambrosa.  Every  tree,  every  sapling  bore  marks  of  the  terrible 
combat.4  On  the  21st  the  regiment  reached  its  old  camp  near  Jacinto, 
and  there  remained  during  the  remainder  of  the  month.  On  the  1st  of 
October  it  marched  to  Corinth.  During  the  first  day's  battle,  which  soon 
followed,  it  was  posted  some  distance  from  Corinth,  on  the  Pittsburg 
Landing  road,  where,  as  it  happened,  there  was  no  fighting.  It  was 
engaged,  however,  on  the  4th,  from  early  in  the  morning  till  the  defeat  of 
the  enemy  about  noon,  but  being  posted  in  an  advantageous  position 
behind  natural  defences,  it  suffered  only  a  trifling  loss,  but  performed 
valuable  service,  especially  in  the  repulse  of  a  charge  on  the  Eleventh 
Ohio  battery,  which  it  was  supporting  on  the  left.  The  charge  was  made 
on  the  right  of  the  battery,  and  to  repel  it  our  regiment  marched  on  the 
double-quick  step  to  the  threatened  point,  fired  four  volleys  into  the  enemy, 
and  drove  them  off  in  most  admirable  disorder.  In  the  pursuit  of  the 
rebels  after  their  terrible  defeat,  the  regiment  marched  westward  some 
distance,  then  wheeled  to  the  left,  and  marching  by  Bienzi,  reached  the 
Hatchie,  some  twelve  or  fifteen  miles  distant  from  that  place,  and  remained 
on  the  west  side  of  the  stream  a  day  or  two.  It  then  returned  to  Corinth, 
and  went  into  camp  near  by  on  the  evening  of  the  llth,  the  men  worn  out 
with  fatigue,  many  of  them  entirely  without  shoes,  and  scarcely  any  having 
suitable  clothing. 

omon  W.  F.  Field,  John  Sheidnecker.  Wounded — Lieutenant  Jerome  Darling,  Sergeant  Hezekiah 
G.  Doolittle,  Corporal  Wm.  Setchfield,  George  W.  Botsford,  John  Healy  (mortally),  John  A.  King, 
Walter  E.  Lytle  (mortally),  Wm.  T.  Powell,  James  B.  Rinehart,  Segmann  Shryock,  John  W.  Smith, 
Andrew  Soil,  Henry  Spaulding,  Rinehart  Stitsman,  Newton  E.  Terrill,  Henry  Fry,  W.  Presho.  JUiss- 
ing — Chauncey  L.  Burrington. 

*  Captain  Keath,  of  Company  F,  visited  the  battle-field  in  October,  1863.  He  thus  speaks  of  it,  in 
a  letter  to  the  Sigourney  News : 

"  On  the  20th  inst.,  in  company  with  Lieutenant-Colonel  Sampson  and  Major  W.  S.  Marshall,  of 
the  Fifth,  I  visited  the  old  battle-field  of  luka.  I  found  evidence  enough  of  the  fierce  and  terrible 
conflict  which  took  place  there  on  the  19th  of  September,  1862.  Scarce  a  tree  on  all  that  ground 
but  shows  its  wounds  ;  the  little  grove  of  small  saplings,  which  is  in  rear  of  where  our  regiment 
fought,  is  literally  cut  down  with  balls ;  but  few  small  trees  are  living.  Where  the  Eleventh  Ohio 
battery  stood,  the  ground  is  covered  with  bleached  bones  of  horses,  which  rattled  beneath  the  feet 
of  our  own.  The  little  house  which  was  just  to  the  left  of  Company  F  still  stands,  more  silent  than 
Goldsmith's  '  Deserted  Village.'  Near  this  poor  man's  castle  fell  the  lamented  Holcomb  and  the 
daring  Fisher.  In  life  they  were  friends;  in  death  they  sleep  side  by  side.  Other  brave  and 
lamented  heroes  fell  here,  and  are  buried  here  ;  they  too  sleep  together,  their  names  marked  upon 
little  pine  boards  at  their  heads.  I  plucked  a  leaf  from  a  small  oak  bush  which  stands  near  and 
overhangs  the  heads  of  Holcomb  and  Fisher,  and  also  one  from  a  small  chestnut  tree  close  by, 
and  sent  the  same  to  the  mother  of  young  Holcomb,  with  a  brief  description  of  his  resting- 
place." 


FIFTH     INFANTRY.  107 

Two  pitched  battles,  and  marches  making  altogether  about  two  hundred 
miles  within  the  period  of  a  month,  were  quite  enough,  one  should  think, 
to  entitle  the  regiment  to  rest.  It  did,  in  fact,  remain  in  camp  near 
Corinth  during  the  remainder  of  October,  but  the  men  were  a  good  deal 
of  the  time  at  work  upon  the  fortifications.  When  General  Rosecrans,  at 
the  close  of  the  month,  relieved  General  Buell,  and  assumed  command  of 
the  Department  of  the  Cumberland,  General  C.  S.  Hamilton  took  command 
of  the  Army  of  the  Mississippi,  and  General  Isaac  F.  Quinby  that  of  the 
division  to  which  our  regiment  was  assigned.  From  the  2d  to  the  5th  of 
November  the  command  marched  to  Grand  Junction,  in  Tennessee,  and 
nearly  half  way  from  Corinth  to  Memphis.  General  Grant,  with  head 
quarters  at  Lagrange,  was  now  organizing  his  forces,  preparatory  to  the 
movement  by  Holly  Springs  to  take  Vicksburg  in  rear.  Two  divisions 
under  General  McPherson  joined  the  Army  of  the  Mississippi  at  Grand 
Junction,  and  the  whole  moved  southward  about  the  middle  of  November. 
There  was  no  good,  but  much  suffering,  resulted  from  this  campaign. 
The  same  officer  who  had  so  hastily  abandoned  luka  and  its  rich  stores  to 
Price,  surrendered  Holly  Springs  to  Van  Dorn's  raiders,  delivering  up 
vast  quantities  of  supplies  which  had  been  gathered  at  that  depot  by 
Grant.  This  misfortune  compelled  him  to  retrace  his  steps.  On  this 
march  our  regiment  went  as  far  as  Yocana,  about  ten  miles  south  of 
Oxford,  reaching  there  on  the  12th  of  December.  On  the  return,  the 
division  marched  in  the  advance  with  a  train  for  supplies,  and  arrived  at 
Memphis  on  the  29th.  On  the  last  day  of  the  year  marched  to  German- 
town  ;  on  the  next  day  to  Lafayette,  where  it  was  relieved  of  duty  as 
guard  of  the  train,  and  whence,  on  the  day  following,  it  returned  to 
Germantown,  and  there  remained  till  the  close  of  the  month.  At  this 
time  the  division  was  assigned  as  the  seventh  to  the  Seventeenth  Army 
Corps,  General  McPherson  commanding.  From  the  1st  of  February,  1863, 
to  the  2d  of  the  following  month,  the  division  remained  in  camp  near 
Memphis,  the  quiet  of  which,  so  far  as  our  regiment  is  concerned,  was 
only  broken  by  a  single  day's  scout  a  few  miles  from  town. 

The  regiment  commenced  its  work  in  the  Vicksburg  campaign  on  the  2d 
day  of  March.  From  that  time,  till  the  capitulation  of  Pemberton,  more 
than  one  hundred  and  twenty  days  afterwards,  its  history  forms  a  creditable 
part  of  the  memorable  events  of  that  period,  crowded  with  the  most  mo 
mentous  achievements  of  the  war.  First,  it  went  by  steamer  from  Mem 
phis  to  Grand  Lake  in  Arkansas,  not  far  north  of  the  Louisiana  line,  there 
debarked  and  remained  on  shore  long  enough  to  discover  that  it  was  im 
practicable  to  open  lines  of  communication  by  Bayou  Mason  to  Red  Eiver ; 
then  it  reembarked  and  passed  up  the  river  to  a  point  a  few  miles  below 
Helena,  where  it  remained  till  the  22d,  awaiting  the  arrival  of  small  trans- 


108  IOWA    AND     THE     KEBELLION. 

ports;  the  suitable  transports  having  arrived,  it  embarked  again,  and  until 
the  8th  of  the  following  month,  was  navigating,  first  down  arid  then  up,  the 
Yazoo  Pass,  the  Coldwater,  and  the  Tallahatchee,  on  Quinby's  reenforcing 
expedition  against  Fort  Pemberton,  which  was  full  of  wild  adventure  but 
without  military  results ;  fourthly,  having  remained  a  few  days  in  the  old 
camp  below  Helena,  it  embarked  again,  and  on  the  15th  arrived  at  Milliken's 
Bend,  where  about  a  fortnight  was  spent  in  drills  and  reviews,  and  where 
the  spirit  of  the  troops  of  the  whole  division  was  made  admirably  manifest 
by  the  fact  that  a  guard  had  to  be  placed  around  the  camps  to  prevent  the 
men  from  volunteering  to  run  the  blockade  of  the  Vicksburg  batteries ; 
marched  over  bad  roads,  under  a  scorching  sun,  and  with  heavy  knapsacks, 
from  Milliken's  Bend  to  Perkins'  Landing,  and  thence  eighteen  miles,  to 
' '  Hard  Times, ' '  where  it  crossed  the  river  on  the  gunboat  ' '  Pittsburg, ' ' 
and  forthwith  marched  nine  miles  into  the  interior ;  on  the  march  thence 
to  Jackson  frequently  skirmished  with  the  enemy,  and  made  one  or  two  im 
portant  reconnoissances  on  our  left  flank ;  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Jackson, 
on  the  14th  of  May,  but  suffered  only  a  small  loss;  at  the  severe  battle  of 
Champion  Hills,  two  days  afterwards,  was  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  losing 
there  nineteen  killed  and  seventy-five  wounded,  out  of  three  hundred  and 
fifty,  the  men  fighting  till  their  ammunition  was  exhausted,  then  using  that 
of  their  dead  and  wounded  comrades,  and  when  that  was  all  gone  keeping 
back  the  enemy  at  the  crisis  of  the  battle  with  their  bayonets;  in  the 
assault  on  the  works  of  Vicksburg,  May  22d,  the  regiment  marched  up  to 
the  vicinity  of  the  rebel  lines  in  as  perfect  order  as  on  parade,  losing  during 
the  day  three  killed  and  nineteen  wounded;  remained  in  front  of  the 
enemy's  works  till  June  22d,  our  rifle-pits  being  then  within  one  hundred 
and  fifty  yards  of  the  rebel  lines,  when  the  brigade  moved  out  to  the  Big 
Black  River,  to  assist  in  keeping  off  Johnston,  and  remained  in  the  perfor 
mance  of  that  service  till  Vicksburg  fell  into  our  possession.  In  this  im 
portant  campaign,  up  to  about  the  1st  of  June,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Samp 
son  was  in  command  of  the  regiment,  and  Brigadier-General  Mathies,  after 
the  assault  on  the  22d  of  May,  during  which  Colonel  Boomer  was  killed, 
commanded  the  brigade.  Up  to  that  time,  he  had  commanded  a  brigade 
in  the  Fifteenth  Corps.  On  the  5th  of  June,  Colonel  Banbury,  promoted, 
took  command  of  the  regiment,  and  Adjutant  Marshall  was  promoted  to 
the  majority. 

In  the  campaign  under  Major-General  Sherman  which  immediately 
followed  the  capture  of  Vicksburg,  the  brigade  to  which  our  regiment 
was  attached  performed  valuable  service,  and  was  handsomely  compli 
mented  by  General  Sherman  in  his  official  report  of  the  operations  which 
resulted  in  driving  Johnston  out  of  the  State,  and  in  essentially  bringing 
the  whole  of 'it  under  the  power  of  our  repossessing  armies.  On  the 


FIFTH     INFANTRY.  109 

marches  and  countermarches  of  this  campaign,  the  Fifth  Iowa  encamped 
two  different  times  on  the  memorable  field  of  Champion  Hills,  remaining 
there,  after  the  retreat  of  Johnston,  from  the  17th  to  the  22d  of  July.  It 
then  proceeded  by  leisurely  marches  to  Vicksburg,  and  encamped  within 
the  works  on  the  24th,  where  it  remained,  in  the  performance  of  light 
garrison  duties,  for  nearly  two  months,  in  common  with  the  whole  division. 

On  the  12th  of  the  following  September,  the  division  moved  by  steamers 
to  Helena,  Arkansas,  for  the  purpose  of  reenforcing  General  Steele.  That 
officer,  however,  had  captured  Little  Rock  on  the  10th,  and  needed  no 
more  troops.  The  lines  of  communicating  intelligence  between  the  capital 
of  Arkansas  and  Helena  were  not  telegraphic,  and  the  troops  sent  to  ree'n- 
force  Steele  were  ready  to  move  before  news  of  his  fine  success  reached 
them,  and  caused  the  orders  for  the  march  to  be  countermanded.  Very 
shortly  afterwards,  and  whilst  these  troops  at  Helena  were  awaiting  transpor 
tation  back  to  Vicksburg,  General  Rosecrans  met  with  the  reverse  at  Chick- 
amauga.  General  Sherman,  commanding  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  was  ordered 
to  reenforce  the  army  of  the  Cumberland,  and  that  he  might  do  so  the 
more  promptly,  the  division  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps  at  Helena  was 
exchanged  into  his  command  in  place  of  one  of  his  divisions  near  Vicks 
burg.  Our  regiment  accordingly  moved  with  the  division  to  Memphis  by 
river,  and  thence  by  rail  to  Corinth,  reaching  that  place  of  varied  associa 
tions  on  the  afternoon  of  October  4th, — -just  one  year  from  the  great  victory 
which  it  had  there  helped  to  win.  Here,  along  the  railway  toward  luka, 
and  at  luka,  the  regiment  remained  till  the  end  of  the  month,  rebuilding 
the  railroad,  and  in  other  ways  making  ready  for  the  march  to  Chattanooga, 
which  began  on  November  1st,  and  ended  on  the  24th,  with  th%  division, 
now  the  Third,  Fifteenth  Corps,  in  face  of  the  enemy  on  Missionary 
Ridge. 

In  the  remarkable  contest  which  ensued,  called  in  history  the  Battle  of 
Chattanooga,  and  which  was  a  series  of  grand  combats  from  the  banks  of 
the  Tennessee  to  the  tops  of  mountains  above  the  clouds,  our  regiment  well 
performed  its  part  near  the  northern  extremity  of  Missionary  Ridge.  Here, 
near  Tunnel  Hill,  frowning  with  rebel  batteries,  the  regiment  fought  through 
the  afternoon  of  the  25th,  but  was  overcome  near  evening  by  an  overwhelm 
ing  force  of  the  enemy.  Many  were  captured,  including  Major  Marshall 
and  Adjutant  Byers.  The  colors  also  fell  into  the  enemy's  hands,  whilst 
the  men  who  escaped  passed  through  a  shower  of  balls,  and  amid  yells  of 
the  rebels  to  "halt."  The  regiment  went  into  the  action  with  two  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  men  and  twenty-one  officers,  and  lost  in  killed,  wounded, 
and  captured,  one  hundred  and  six,  of  whom  quite  a  large  proportion  were 
captured.  Colonel  Banbury  thus  closes  his  official  report :  "I  cannot  feel 
justified  in  closing  this  report  without  bearing  testimony  to  the  uncomplain- 


110  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

ing  manner  in  which  my  brave  men  have  performed  the  hard  labor,  and 
endured  the  severe  deprivations  of  the  campaign  just  closed,  especially 
during  the  last  week  of  November,  following  immediately  upon  the  long 
fatiguing  march  of  over  two  hundred  miles.  They  were  up  at  midnight  of 
the  23d  fortifying,  and  maneuvering  for  battle  all  day  of  the  24th.  On 
picket-guard  in  the  face  of  the  enemy  on  the  night  of  the  24th,  fighting 
desperately,  and  under  most  unfavorable  circumstances  on  the  25th,  pursu 
ing  the  enemy  on  the  26th  and  27th,  (without  rations  or  blankets,  shivering 
around  their  camp-fires  during  the  nights,  and  marching  through  rain  and 
mud  during  the  days, )  and  returning  to  camp — twenty-two  miles — on  the 
28th.  All  this  in  the  dead  of  winter,  and  without  a  murmur. ' ' 

It  should  seem  that  the  command  had  now  performed  service  enough 
during  the  year  to  entitle  it  to  rest  and  comfortable  quarters  during  the  re 
mainder  of  the  winter.  It  had  taken  part  in  two  of  the  most  remarkable 
campaigns  in  military  history.  It  had  marched  through  the  swamps  of 
Louisiana;  marched  and  fought  over  the  hills  of  Mississippi ;  rushed  under 
the  guns  of  Vicksburg  in  the  terrible,  unavailing  assault ;  sweltered  in  the 
heat  under  those  formidable  works  during  long  weeks  of  siege ;  commenced 
another  campaign  before  that  was  finished,  and  materially  assisted  in  bring 
ing  it  to  a  successful  close ;  by  steamer,  railway,  and  march,  traveling  five 
hundred  miles  to  join  in  the  final  grand  victory  of  the  year,  whereby  the 
"backbone  of  the  rebellion"  was  broken,  and  its  complete  destruction 
made  but  a  question  of  time.  Campaigns  like  these  could  not  be  conducted 
without  great  losses,  and  in  common  with  all  the  organizations  engaged  in 
them,  the  Fifth  Iowa,  lost  heavily.  Its  little  camp  on  Missionary  Ridge 
near  Chattanooga,  on  the  1st  of  December,  1863,  would  barely  have  con 
tained  two  companies  of  the  regiment  when  in  rendezvous  near  Burlington 
in  1861.  But  it  could  not  remain  there  long.  Some  of  the  men  were 
bare-footed,  and  none  had  sufficient  food.  When  the  regiment,  on  the  3d, 
4th,  and  5th  days  of  December,  marched  to  Bridgeport,  Alabama,  many 
of  the  men  had  nothing  but  parched  corn  in  their  haversacks — light  diet 
for  a  winter's  march.  The  command  remained  at  Bridgeport,  which  is  in 
the  extreme  northeastern  part  of  the  State,  until  the  22d,  when  it  marched 
for  Larkinsville,  forty-five  miles  distant.  Having  halted  there  a  day  or  two 
it  moved  a  few  miles  south  to  a  mill,  and  remained  there,  on  guard  duty, 
and  engaged  in  the  milling  business  for  a  week.  On  the  7th  of  January, 
1864,  line  of  march  for  Huntsville,  some  forty  miles  west  of  Larkinsville, 
was  taken  up.  The  command  reached  that  place  on  the  9th,  and  there 
spent  the  remainder  of  the  winter.  Whilst  here,  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  members  of  the  regiment,  being  most  of  those  present  for  duty,  ree'n- 
listed  under  the  orders  of  the  War  Department  for  the  formation  of  an 
army  of  veterans.  On  the  1st  of  April  the  veterans  of  the  regiment 


FIFTH     INFANTRY.  Ill 

started  to  Iowa  on  furlough.  They  remained  in  the  State  one  month,  and 
rejoined  the  brigade  at  Decatur,  Alabama,  on  the  14th  of  May. 

Very  soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  regiment  at  Decatur,  certain  rebel 
cavalry  made  a  raid  on  the  railway  between  that  place  and  Huntsville, 
striking  it  at  Madison  Station,  and  capturing  the  troops  who  were  there, 
among  them  being  a  few  members  of  the  Fifth,  who,  knowing  the  regiment 
had  received  orders  to  move  to  that  post,  had  gone  thither  in  advance. 
From  this  time  until  the  close  of  the  month  the  regiment  was  on  duty 
guarding  the  railroad  near  Madison.  It  then  returned  to  Decatur,  where 
it  remained  a  fortnight,  when  it  moved  by  rail  to  Huntsville.  Thence,  on 
the  22d  of  June  it  began  the  march  to  Stevenson,  whence  it  proceeded  by 
rail  to  Kingston,  Georgia,  arriving  there  on  the  28th.  Shortly  afterwards 
the  regiment  moved  a  short  distance  from  Kingston  to  the  Etowah  River, 
and  remained  on  duty  guarding  a  bridge  and  several  fords  on  that  stream 
till  near  the  end  of  July.  While  here  one  man  was  killed,  and  one 
bounded  by  guerrilla-men.  On  the  30th,  the  non- veterans  of  the  regiment 
were  honorably  mustered  out  of  the  service.  The  veterans  were  afterwards 
transferred  to  the  Fifth  Iowa  Cavalry,  in  which  organization  they  have 
since  done  brave  and  valuable  service,  but  the  history  of  the  gallant  Fifth 
Iowa  Infantry,  as  a  distinct  command,  virtually  closed  when  the  non-vete 
rans  were  mustered  out 

The  term  of  its  service  was,  therefore,  a  little  over  three  years.  During 
this  period  it  marched,  on  foot,  over  two  thousand  miles,  in  the  States  of 
Missouri,  Arkansas,  Louisiana,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Mississippi,  Alabama, 
and  Georgia,  participating  in  Fremont's  Campaign  of  "One  Hundred 
Days"  in  southwestern  Missouri  in  the  fall  of  1861,  in  the  campaign  against 
New  Madrid,  Island  No.  Ten,  and  Fort  Pillow,  in  the  siege  of  Corinth,  in 
the  battle  of  luka,  and  that  of  Corinth  shortly  afterwards,  in  the  campaign 
into  central  Mississippi  under  General  Grant,  the  Yazoo  Pass  Expedition, 
in  the  grand  campaign  against  Vicksburg,  in  that  of  Chattanooga,  closing 
an  eventful,  honorable  history  with  its  ranks  so  thinned  that  it  was  com 
pelled  to  yield  up  its  separate  organization — retired  from  the  records  of  the 
war  for  the  future,  but  with  a  past  so  well  secured  by  many  glorious  ser 
vices,  undimmed  by  the  shade  of  any  unworthy  act,  that  its  memory  will  be 
kept  green  among  our  people  till  luka  and  Chattanooga  shall  have  passed 
from  their  recollection,  and  much  of  the  noblest  heroism  of  the  war  have 
been  forgotten. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

SIXTH    INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZATION  AND  RENDEZVOUS  AT  BURLINGTON— STOP  AT  KEOKUK— REENFORCE 
COLONEL  MOORE  AT  ATHENS,  MISSOURI— FREMONT'S  CAMPAIGN  TO  SPRINGFIELD 
—GUARD  DUTY— PROCEED  TO  THE  FRONT— BATTLE  OF  SHILOH— GENERAL  GRANT'S 
UNSUCCESSFUL  CAMPAIGN  IN  MISSISSIPPI— GARRISON  DUTY  AT  MEMPHIS— THE 
CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  VICKSBURG— THE  SIEGE  OF  JOlCJraOJV— MARCH  TO 
CHATTANOOGA,  TENNESSEE— BATTLE  OF  MISSIONARY  RIDGE— RELIEF  OF  KNOX- 
VILLE— REENLIST  AND  RETURN  TO  IOWA— BACK  AGAIN— GENERAL  SHERMAN'S 
ATLANTA  CAMPAIGN— MARCH  TO  SAVANNAH— THROUGH  THE  CAROLINAS— HOME 
WARD  BOUND. 

THIS  regiment  was  organized  during  the  month  of  June  and  the  early 
portion  of  July,  1861,  rendezvousing  at  the  city  of  Burlington,  where  it 
was  mustered  into  the  Federal  service  on  the  17th  and  18th  of  July,  then 
numbering,  rank  and  file,  about  nine  hundred  men.  John  Adair  McDowell, 
of  Lee  county,  was  Colonel ;  Markoe  Cummins,  of  Muscatine,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  ;  John  M.  Corse,  of  Burlington,  Major ;  E.  B.  Woodward,  of 
Lucas  county,  Adjutant ;  James  Brunaugh,  of  Henry,  Quartermaster ;  A. 
T.  Shaw  of  Lee,  Surgeon ;  and  Reverend  John  Ufford,  of  Muscatine,  Chap 
lain.  Company  A  had  been  recruited  in  Linn  county,  and  its  officers  were 
Hosea  W.  Gray,  Captain,  C.  Caldwell  and  Willard  Harland,  Lieutenants. 
Company  B  had  been  recruited  in  Lucas,  Clarke,  Wayne,  and  Monroe 
counties.  Daniel  Iseminger  was  Captain,  and  E.  B.  Woodward  and  Eugene 
E.  Edwards  were  Lieutenants.  The  next  company  was  principally  from 
the  counties  of  Hardin  and  Franklin — Captain  D.  M.  Stump,  Lieutenants 
A.  B.  Harris  and  Robert  Allison.  Appanoose  county  furnished  nearly  all 
the  men  for  Company  D,  and  Captain  M.  M.  Walden,  and  Lieutenants 
John  L.  Bashore  and  William  A.  E.  Rhodes.  Company  E  hailed  for  the 
most  part  from  Monroe  county,  as  did  all  its  officers,  namely,  Captain 
Henry  Saunders,  Lieutenants  Calvin  Kelsey  and  L.  C.  Allison.  The  next 
company  came  mostly  from  Clarke  county,  with  Captain  S.  P.  Glenn,  and 
Lieutenants  Calvin  Minton  and  John  T.  Grimes.  Johnson  county  furnished 
112 


SIXTH     INFANTRY.  113 

a  large  proportion  of  the  men  for  Company  G,  but  it  contained  representa 
tives  from  several  other  counties.  John  Williams  was  Captain,  and  A.  J. 
Miller  and  Joseph  M.  Douglass,  Lieutenants.  Company  H  was  composed 
of  men  from  various  parts  of  the  State,  a  majority  being  from  Lee  county. 
The  officers  were  Washington  Galland,  Captain,  and  Rufus  Goodnough  and 
George  R.  Nunn,  Lieutenants.  Captain  Fabian  Brydolf,  and  Lieutenants 
J.  S.  Halliday  and  S.  B.  Phillips  held  the  first  commissions  in  Company 
I,  whose  enlisted  men  came  from  several  different  counties  in  the  State, 
and  from  other  States,  as  did  also  those  composing  Company  K,  a  majority, 
however,  being  citizens  of  Henry  county,  of  which  company,  Captain  W. 
D.  Deniston,  and  Lieutenants  James  Brunaugh,  (soon  appointed  Quarter 
master,  )  and  Richard  E.  White  were  the  first  officers.  A  great  proportion 
of  the  rank  and  file  of  this  regiment  were  remarkable  for  their  fine  physical 
appearance.  Being  nearly  all  farmers  and  mechanics,  accustomed  to  manly 
labor,  they  were  possessed  of  a  hardy  vigor  which  enabled  them,  as  their 
history  afterwards  proves,  to  endure  the  toils  and  privations  of  army  life 
with  a  spirit  amounting  to  cheerfulness.  It  is  certain  they  presented  a  fine 
military  appearance  on  their  first  public  parade  at  Burlington. 

Not  long  after  the  regiment  was  mustered  into  the  service  of  the  United 
States,  it  went  to  Keokuk.  On  the  5th  of  August,  the  rebel  Green  attacked 
Colonel  Moore  at  Athens,  Missouri,  about  twenty-five  miles  from  Keokuk, 
up  the  Des  Moines  River,  and  opposite  the  town  of  Croton,  in  Iowa.  The 
rebels  very  largely  outnumbered  the  force  under  Moore,  but  he  gave  them 
a  gallant  fight,  and  after  some  two  hours  contest,  whipped  them  effectually, 
and  drove  them  in  wild  disorder  in  all  directions,  with  heavy  loss.  The 
affair,  however,  created  much  excitement  and  not  a  little  panic  for  some 
time.  A  detachment  of  the  Sixth  was  sent  up  to  Croton  to  reenforce 
Moore.  It  went  to  the  scene  of  conflict  as  rapidly  as  steam  could  carry  it, 
but  arrived  too  late  to  take  part  in  the  battle.  Green  had  been  thoroughly 
discomfited,  and  his  troops  were  already  concealed  in  the  brush.  The 
detachment  returned  to  Keokuk,  bearing  good  news,  and  quieting  the 
nerves  of  citizens  who  had  been  alarmed  by  extravagant  reports  of  an  in 
vasion  by  the  rebels.  Here  the  regiment  remained  a  considerable  length  of 
time,  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  the  duties  which  would  be  required  of  men 
in  the  field. 

Major-General  John  C.  Fremont  was  at  this  time  in  command  of  the 
Department  of  Missouri,  head-quarters  at  St.  Louis.  On  the  31st  day  of 
August,  he  issued  his  famous  general  order,  placing  the  State  under  mar 
tial  law,  confiscating  to  the  public  use  the  property,  real  and  personal,  of 
all  who  should  take  up  arms  against  the  United  States,  and  declaring  the 
slaves  of  all  such  to  be  free  men.  This  stringent  measure,  said  the  general 
commanding,  was  made  necessary  by  the  disorganized  condition  of  the 
15 


114  IOWA    AND     THE    .REBELLION. 

State,  the  helplessness  of  the  civil  authority,  the  total  insecurity  of  life, 
and  the  devastation  of  property  by  bands  of  murderers  and  marauders, 
who  were  infesting  nearly  every  county  in  the  State,  availing  themselves  of 
the  public  misfortunes  and  the  vicinity  of  a  hostile  force  to  gratify  private 
and  neighborhood  vengeance,  and  who,  finding  an  enemy  wherever  they 
found  plunder,  were  driving  off  the  inhabitants  and  ruining  the  State. 
Whatever  may  be  thought  of  his  means  of  correction,  it  is  certain  General 
Fre'mont  did  not  put  the  case  of  the  public  evils  too  strong;  and  it  is 
equally  certain,  what  with  the  difficulties  of  the  evils  themselves,  inter 
meddling  politicians  both  in  Missouri  and  at  the  national  capital,  and  bad 
men  about  him,  the  general  commanding  the  department  had  upon  his 
shoulders  a  weight  which  he  could  not  bear,  and  which,  perhaps,  no  man 
could  have  borne.  He  might  have  repressed  the  public  evils,  but  the  poli 
ticians  were  irrepressible.  He  labored  with  tremendous  energy,  and  organ 
ized  from  the  raw  soldiery,  rendezvousing  at  different  and  distant  places, 
and  from  those  who  had  been  marching  and  countermarching  in  Missouri, 
an  army  about  thirty  thousand  strong,  including  five  thousand  cavalry  and 
eighty-six  guns.  This  army  concentrated  at  Tipton,  then  the  terminus  of 
the  Pacific  Railroad,  and  near  the  geographical  centre  of  the  State,  during 
the  latter  part  of  September  and  the  first  of  October.  The  Sixth  Iowa 
formed  a  part  of  it.  The  army  was  ill  supplied  with  transportation.  On 
the  13th  of  October,  Simon  Cameron,  Secretary  of  War,  and  Adjutant- 
General  Thomas,  each  with  a  considerable  suite,  mainly  composed  of  snobs 
and  toadies,  visited  the  army,  and  it  was  through  their  reports  that  the  public 
press  of  the  country  generally  announced  that  Fremont's  campaign  was  a 
failure,  that  he  could  never  move  his  army  to  Springfield,  and  that  southern 
Missouri  was  virtually  in  the  control  of  traitors.  Nevertheless,  General 
Fre'mont  did  move  his  army  to  Springfield,  crossing  with  apparent  ease  and 
little  delay,  large  streams  which  the  aforesaid  suites  had  pronounced 
utterly  impassible.  The  march  from  Tipton  was  very  rapid  and  very  severe. 
The  advance,  being  General  Fre'mont' s  body-guard  of  cavalry,  under  Major 
Zagonyi,  dashed  into  Springfield  on  the  25th,  making  the  boldest  charge 
of  the  war,  defeating  and  routing  a  confederate  force  two  thousand  strong, 
but  the  advance  of  the  main  column  did  not  approach  till  two  days  after 
wards.  The  whole  army,  by  moving  with  a  rapidity  over  bad  roads  which 
was  well  nigh  fearful,  and  which  caused  great  suffering  among  the  troops, 
reached  Springfield  on  the  last  three  days  of  October,  and  the  first  day  of 
November.  Generals  Pope's  and  McKinstry's  commands,  with  which  latter 
was  our  regiment,  came  up  on  the  1st,  having  marched  seventy  miles  in  two 
days.  The  next  day,  General  Fre'mont  was  relieved  of  command  by  order 
of  Lieutenant-General  Scott,  upon  whom  the  politicians  placed  this  respon 
sibility,  but  who  had  himself  been  retired  the  day  before,  on  account  of 


SIXTH      INFANTRY.  115 

superannuation.  Major-General  Hunter  took  command,  but  in  a  few  days 
marched  back  to  the  railroad,  and  has  much  of  the  time  since,  it  may  be 
remarked  in  passing,  been  engaged  in  a  line  where  his  talents  are  acknow 
ledged  to  be  conspicuous,  to  wit,  the  line  of  courts-martial. 

The  Sixth  Iowa  returned  with  the  army  to  Sedalia,  and  was  soon  placed 
on  guard  duty  at  Larnine  Bridge,  where  it  remained  some  time,  and  was 
then  ordered  to  Tipton  on  garrison  duty.  Here  six  companies  remained, 
garrisoning  the  place,  during  the  winter,  the  other  four  companies,  under 
Captain  Iseminger,  performing  similar  sendee  at  Syracuse,  a  few  miles 
westward.  While  the  regiment  was  thus  stationed,  Colonel  McDowell  was 
in  command  of  a  brigade  of  troops,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Cummins  having 
command  of  the  regiment.  Major  Corse,  meantime,  was  on  the  staff  of 
General  Pope,  as  his  inspector-general. 

When  the  campaign  of  1862  had  been  fully  inaugurated  by  the  capture 
of  Fort  Henry  and  Fort  Donelson,  and  not  long  after  the  latter  thrilling 
victory,  our  regiment  proceeded  to  St.  Louis  by  rail,  and  thence  by  steamer 
to  Pittsburg  Landing,  Tennessee.  At  the  battle  of  Shiloh  the  regiment 
held  the  extreme  right  of  the  advance  line,  and  fought  with  unsurpassed 
bravery,  holding  its  position  with  unflinching  tenacity  till  all  support  had 
been  driven  back,  and  then  retiring  through  a  murderous  fire,  still  fronting 
the  enemy  and  dealing  upon  him  heavy  blows  as  opportunity  offered.  Colo 
nel  McDowell  was  here  in  command  of  the  brigade.  During  the  battle, 
Lieutenant- Colonel  Cummins  was  placed  in  arrest,  and,  Major  Corse  being 
still  with  General  Pope,  the  command  devolved  upon  Captain  John  Wil 
liams,  who  led  the  regiment  with  conspicuous  bravery  through  the  most 
desperate  portion  of  the  fight,  and  until  he  was  himself  severely  wounded, 
when  Captain  Walden  took  command.  The  loss  of  the  regiment  in  this 
battle,  of  which  I  have  heretofore  given  a  somewhat  detailed  account,  was 
very  heavy.1 

1  LIST  OP  CASUALTIES: — Company  A. — Killed — Sergeant  Samuel  W.  Bowers,  George  W.  Sharp,  Wm. 
H.  Willsey,  Geo.  W.  Willsey,  Fred.  F.  Weed.  Wounded— Corporal  John  A.  Gunn,  Corporal  Chas. 
L.  Byam,  Wm.  Brown,  John  B.  Brown,  John  Boardman  (mortally),  John  A.  Clark,  Henry  M.  Howe 
(mortally),  Joseph  Perrigo,  Isaac  N.  Wood,  Lafayette  Wiggins,  Geo.  H.  Wightman,  S.  B.  Plummer. 
Missing— Owen  Ward. 

Company  B.— Killed— Captain  Daniel  Iseminger,  Chas.  J.  Cheeny,  Monroe  Hardin,  Oliver  B.  Miller, 
Wm.  Sheets,  James  H.  Spurling,  John  M.  Sayer,  John  W.  Weaver.  Wounded — John  W.  Armstrong 
(mortally),  James  H.  Hess,  Z.  M.  Lanning  (mortally),  Jas.  R.  Smith,  George  F.  Holmes. 

Company  C.— Killed—  Sergeant  Charles  J.  Payne,  Martin  V.  Allen,  Walter  Smith,  G.  C.  Vandervort, 
Jackson  Woodruff.  Wounded — Sergeant  John  Lockard  (mortally),  Solomon  Kellogg,  Jas.  Kellogg, 
George  Reed  (mortally),  C.  A.  Gummere,  Thomas  J.  Newport.  Missing — Joshua  Lee. 

Company  D. — Killed — Oliver  P.  Atkinson,  David  W.  McGee,  Geo.  R.  Vincent.  Wounded — Sergeant 
G.  N.  Udell,  Corporal  Joseph  K.  Morey,  Chas.  F.  Stratton,  Jerome  B.  Somers,  B.  F.  Bradley,  Thomas 
H.  Morris,  M.  Westenhaver,  Peter  Kuhns.  Prisoners — Uri  Hallcck,  Zimmer  James. 

Company  E— Kilted— Sergeant  David  J.  Hayes,  Wm.  B.  Crawford,  James  B.  Duncan,  Oliver  P. 
Evans,  Wm.  Swayny,  Wm.  H.  Waugh,  Thomas  McKissick,  John  L.  Harrison.  Wounded — Lieutenant 
John  II.  Orman,  Noah  Carmach,  Thomas  Baker,  Cyrus  N.  Blue,  Geo.  A.  Brown,  Charles  H.  Claver, 


116  IOWA     AND     THE      REBELLION. 

Not  long  afterwards,  Major  Corse  was  relieved  from  duty  on  General 
Pope's  staff  and  returned  to  the  regiment,  of  which  he  took  command.  In 
the  following  month  he  was  appointed  lieutenant-colonel,  in  the  place  of 
Cummins,  mustered  out  of  service  by  sentence  of  a  military  commission, 
and  Captain  John  Williams,  of  Company  G,  was  promoted  to  the  majority. 
The  regiment  saw  the  army  under  Major-General  Halleck  drag  its  slow  length 
along  from  the  field  of  Shiloh,  participating  in  the  siege  of  Corinth,  and 
was  presenlgipon  the  evacuation  of  that  place  by  the  rebels.  The  command 
accompanied  a  considerable  detachment  of  the  army,  which  was  afterwards 
sent  on  a  reconnoissance  to  the  interior  of  Mississippi.  Near  Coldwater  it 
had  a  skirmish  with  rebel  cavalry  under  Forrest,  July  2d,  in  which  the  noted 
troopers  were  handsomely  driven  out  of  the  way.  Remaining  in  the  vicin 
ity  of  Holly  Springs  during  the  two  days  following,  the  command  then 
marched  to  Memphis  with  the  army,  reaching  that  city  on  the  24th  of  July. 
Here  the  regiment  remained  during  the  rest  of  the  summer  and  most  of 
the  fall  of  this  year,  the  brigade  to  which  it  was  attached  being  assigned  to 
duty  as  provost  guard  of  the  city,  which  required  no  little  vigilant  atten 
tion. 

Early  in  November,  General  Grant  commenced  his  campaign  against 
Vicksburg,  with  the  intention  of  moving  on  the  rear  of  the  stronghold  by 
the  interior  of  Mississippi.  The  campaign  was  unsuccessful,  but  unaccom 
panied  by  the  fearful  loss  of  life  which  befell  the  contemporaneous  cam 
paign  of  General  Sherman,  closing  with  the  slaughter  of  Chickasaw  Bayou. 
Our  regiment  marched  with  the  forces  under  Grant  as  far  as  the  Yohna- 
patafa  River.  By  this  time  General  Grant's  communications  were  so 

Thos.  Fullerton  (mortally),  L.  S.  T.  Hatton,  Jas.  W.  Hare,  Grandin  Hendrix,  H.  L.  Kills  (mortally), 
George  A.  Looman,  Joseph  McKissick,  Thomas  J.  Smith,  John  W.  Service,  Nathaniel  Carter 
(mortally). 

Company  F.— Killed— Corporal  Z.  F.  Delaney,  Jackson  Wigings,  Grundy  Lock,  James  Mardia,  Jas. 
M.  Right.  Wounded— Lieutenant  John  T.  Grimes,  Sergeant  Elihu  Gardner,  Sergeant  Geo.  W.  Hess 
(mortally),  Corporal  Nathaniel  Thrasher,  Corporal  Andrew  Byers,  Edward  Chambers,  Wm.  J.  Ham 
ilton,  John  M.  Hunter,  J.  L.  Hagerty,  0.  S.  Medcalf,  Wm.  Pagett,  Clark  Tripp. 

Company  G— Killed—  Sergeant  L.  D.  Prather,  Corporal  Wm.  Davis,  Wm.  Delap,  David  Moreland. 
Wounded — Captain  John  Williams  (commanding  regiment),  Jas.  Calhoun  (mortally),  Thos.  A.  Clark, 
Robert  J.  Jones,  George  Reedy  (mortally),  Jacob  Will,  Perry  L.  Foote,  Wm.  F.  Green,  Geo.  Miller. 
Prisoner — John  Ditto,  George  S.  Richardson,  Wm.  Tingling. 

Company  H.— Kitted— Corpora.}  Wm.  J.  Hufford,  George  Knuck,  Michael  A.  Randall,  Henry  W. 
Smith.  Wounded — Corporal  Wm.  Spain,  S.  P.  Burke,  John  W.  Hufford,  Jas.  S.  Ortman,  Peter  Rob 
ertson,  Albert  M.  Smith  (mortally),  Frank  Scott  (mortally).  Prisoners — Captain  Washington  Galland, 
and  a  number  of  men. 

Company  L— Killed— Corporal  Geo.  W.  Clark,  Archibald  Conner,  David  Key,  C.  C.  Philbrook,  Gus- 
tavus  Johnson.  Wounded — Captain  F.  Brydolf,  Lieutenant  Joseph  S.  Halliday,  Noyes  W.  Wads- 
worth  (mortally),  John  Harpman,  Joseph  H.  Herron,  Chas.  Jerrico,  Wm.  H.  Milligan,  L.  L.  Owens, 
Albert  Wentworth. 

Company  K— Kitted— Captain  Richard  E.  White,  Henry  Young,  Jas.Cackly.  Wounded—  Sergeant 
Wm.  H.  Arnold,  Sergeant  Lemuel  Baldwin,  Sergeant  John  Cook,  Corporal  Robert  Crawford,  Corporal 
Arthur  Wilson,  Corporal  Vine  G.  Williams,  Corporal  Henry  McCoy  (mortally),  Jacob  B.  Burris,  Enos 
R.  Clark,  Franklin  Ferree,  Benjamin  Hutchison,  Wm.  Hall,  Wm.  P.  Taylor,  Thos.  Townsend. 


SIXTH      INFANTRY.  117 

seriously  endangered  that  he  was  compelled  to  return.  The  Sixth  accom 
panied  the  army  on  its  northward  march,  and  went  into  camp  at  Grand 
Junction,  Tennessee.  While  the  regiment  was  at  this  encampment,  Colo 
nel  McDowell  resigned.  In  March.  1863,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Corse  was 
promoted  to  the  colonelcy.  Major  Williams  had  resigned  in  October,  1862, 
and  Captain  A.  J.  Miller,  promoted  to  his  place,  was  now  made  lieu 
tenant-colonel,  and  Adjutant  Ennis  promoted  major.  During  the  winter, 
however,  of  1862-3,  the  regiment  was  mounted,  and,  attached  to  a  division 
under  command  of  Brigadier-General  William  S.  Smith,  made  several  rapid 
and  important  raids  into  the  enemy's  country,  chiefly  in  the  State  of  Mis 
sissippi. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  campaign  against  Vicksburg,  in  1863,  the  regi 
ment  did  not  directly  participate.  Temporarily  attached  to  the  Ninth 
Army  Corps,  two  divisions  of  which  under  General  Parke  reenforced  Grant 
on  the  14th  of  June,  it  took  position  with  them  on  Haines'  Bluff,  and  there 
remained,  ready  to  keep  off  the  rebel  Johnston,  should  he  approach,  or  to 
assist  the  investing  army  in  the  other  direction,  as  occasion  might  demand. 

Things  remained  all  quiet  near  Haines'  Bluff — excepting,  of  course,  the 
alligators,  cat-fishes,  and  reptiles  of  the  Yazoo,  flowing  slimily  by — until  the 
rebels  capitulated  on  the  4th  of  July,  after  which,  and  without  any  delay, 
General  Sherman  commenced  active  operations  against  Johnston — opera 
tions  which  resulted  in  an  irregular  siege  of  the  city  of  Jackson,  the  retreat 
of  the  rebels,  the  second  occupation  of  the  capital,  and  the  destruction  of 
an  immense  quantity  of  public  property  belonging  to  the  enemy,  including 
many  miles  of  railroad,  north,  south,  and  east  of  Jackson.  I  will  endeavor 
to  relate,  briefly,  the  principal  events  in  the  campaign,  closing  with 

THE  SIEGE  OF  JACKSON. 

The  rebel  general,  Pemberton,  having  surrendered  to  Grant,  the  forces 
under  Major-General  Sherman,  namely,  his  own  corps,  the  Fifteenth,  the 
Thirteenth,  General  Ord,  and  the  Ninth,  General  Parke,  immediately 
moved  west  in  search  of  Johnston.  The  Fifteenth  Corps,  at  this  time  com 
manded  by  Major-General  Steele,  occupied  the  centre,  Ord  the  right,  and 
Parke  the  left.  All  the  cavalry  was  united,  under  Colonel  Bussey,  Third 
Iowa  Cavalry,  and  the  whole  force  was  called  the  expeditionary  army.  The 
Big  Black  River  was  crossed  on  the  6th  of  July,  and  on  the  9th  the  army 
sat  down  before  Jackson,  the  rebels  having  retreated  all  the  way  thither, 
without  serious  opposition,  but  in  strong  force,  so  that  the  march  of  the 
Union  army  was  necessarily  cautious,  as  it  must  have  at  any  rate  been  slow, 
on  account  of  the  excessive  heat  and  the  stifling  dust.  Such  skirmishing 
obstructions  as  were  offered  were  quickly  brushed  out  of  the  way  by  Colonel 
Bussey' s  cavalry  command  and  its  infantry  supports. 


118  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

By  the  morning  of  the  13th,  the  enemy  was  completely  invested  in  Jack 
son,  from  the  Pearl  River  above  to  the  river  below,  our  army  holding 
undisputed  possession  of  all  the  roads  leading  to  the  place  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  stream,  our  artillery  within  easy  range  of  every  part  of  the 
city,  with  the  State  House  in  plain  view.  The  works  now  about  Jackson 
for  the  defense  of  the  place  were  much  stronger  than  they  had  been  in 
May,  when  it  was  first  captured.  The  parapets  had  been  enlarged  and 
strengthened,  heavy  rifled  guns  had  been  mounted  en  barbette,  commanding 
the  Clinton  and  Canton  roads,  the  lines  had  been  extended  so  as  to  rest  on 
Pearl  River,  and  along  the  whole  were  well-constructed  embrasures  of  sod 
and  cotton  bales.  It  was  no  part  of  General  Sherman's  duty  to  assault 
these  works.  He  constructed  works  for  the  protection  of  his  own  army, 
extended  his  lines  from  day  to  day  till  the  investment  was  complete,  and 
sent  off  detachments  to  right  and  left  on  errands  of  destruction. 

It  was  on  the  12th  of  the  month,  whilst  the  Thirteenth  Corps  was  execut 
ing  a  movement  to  make  our  line  of  investment  complete  upon  the  right, 
that  a  sad  loss  occurred  to  the  division  commanded  by  Brigadier-General 
J.  G.  Lauman,  of  Iowa,  in  a  conflict  as  desperate,  for  a  short  time,  as  anj7 
other,  perhaps,  of  the  whole  war.  "Whilst  General  Lauman' s  division 
was  moving  up  into  position,"  says  General  Sherman,  in  his  official  resume 
of  the  campaign ;  ' '  dressing  to  his  left  on  General  Hovey ,  the  right  of  his 
line  came  within  easy  range  of  the  enemy's  field  artillery  and  musketry 
from  behind  his  works,  whereby  this  division  sustained  a  serious  loss, 
amounting  in  killed,  wounded  and  missing,  to  near  five  hundred  men. 
This  was  the  only  serious  loss  which  befell  my  command  during  the  cam 
paign,  and  resulted  from  misunderstanding  or  a  misinterpretation  of 
General  Ord's  minute  instructions  on  the  part  of  General  Lauman." 

In  this  bloody  conflict,  which,  for  a  part  of  General  Lauman' s  division, 
was  absolutely  an  assault  upon  the  enemy's  works — an  assault  by  a  brigade 
upon  a  line  of  strong  works,  defended  by  twelve  guns  and  heavy  lines  of 
musketry — the  Third  Iowa  Infantry,  Major  G.  W.  Crosley  commanding, 
fought  with  desperate  valor,  and  out  of  the  two  hundred  and  forty-one 
rank  and  file  engaged,  left  one  hundred  and  fourteen  dead  or  wounded  on 
the  field.  Major  Crosley  pronounced  it  the  severest  conflict  in  which  the 
regiment  had  ever  been  engaged,  and  declared  that  all  the  officers  and  men 
did  their  duty  nobly.2 

Meanwhile,  the  siege  progressed  favorably,  and  Bussey  on  the  north,  and 

2  General  Lauman  was  relieved  of  command  by  General  Ord  immediately  upon  the  occurrence  of 
the  disaster  mentioned  in  the  text,  and  there  was  much  feeling  against  General  Laumun  in  the 
army,  and  no  little  unfavorable  comment  in  the  public  press.  I  have  myself  heard  him  assert  that 
he  simply  obeyed  the  verbal  orders  of  General  Ord,  which  were  conveyed  to  him  after  the  "  minute 
instructions  "  referred  to  by  General  Sherman.  Every  one  who  knows  General  Lauman  knows  that 
he  would  not  assert  a  falsehood. 


SIXTH      INFANTRY.  119 

Ord's  cavalry  on  the  south,  were  tearing  up  railroads  and  destroying  all 
kinds  of  public  property.  On  the  16th,  Colonel  Corse,  in  command  of  the 
skirmishers  of  the  First  Division,  Sixteenth  Corps,  for  the  time  being 
forming  a  part  of  the  Ninth  Corps,  made  a  strong  reconnoissance  on  our 
left,  moving  on  the  enemy's  works  along  the  entire  front  of  the  division, 
for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  strength  and  position  of  their  batteries. 
This  delicate  and  dangerous  duty  was  performed  by  Colonel  Corse  and  the 
regiments  under  his  command  with  great  gallantry  and  success ;  the  Sixth 
Iowa  here  winning  the  plaudits  of  the  whole  army  and  the  hearty  congratu 
lations  of  the  general  commanding  division.  Speaking  of  the  part  taken 
by  the  regiment  in  this  brilliant  affair,  Colonel  Corse  says:  "I  assumed 
command  of  the  line  formed  by  the  Sixth  Iowa  Infantry,  and  at  the  desig 
nated  signal  the  men  dashed  forward  with  a  shout,  met  the  line  of  the 
enemy's  skirmishers  and  pickets,  drove  them  back,  capturing  eighteen  or 
twenty,  and  killing  as  many  more ;  clearing  the  timber,  they  rushed  out 
into  the  open  field,  across  the  railroad,  over  the  fence,  up  a  gentle  slope, 
across  the  crest,  down  into  the  enemy's  line,  when  two  field  batteries  of 
four  guns  each,  fronting  west,  opened  a  terrific  cannonade.  The  enemy 
were  driven  from  two  pieces  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  our  men  literally 
running  them  down.  In  rear  of  the  batteries  two  regiments  were  lying 
supporting  the  gunners,  and  at  our  approach  they  opened  along  their  whole 
line,  causing  most  of  the  casualties  in  this  gallant  regiment.  With  such 
impetuosity  did  the  line  go  through  the  field,  that  the  enemy,  so  completely 
were  they  stunned,  would  have  precipitately  fled  had  they  not  been 
reassured  by  a  large  gun  battery  nearly  six  hundred  yards  to  our  right, 
which  enfiladed  the  railroad  line  of  skirmishers.  Startled  at  this  unex 
pected  obstacle,  which  was  now  in  full  play,  throwing  its  whirlwind  of 
grape  and  canister  about  us  till  the  corn  fell  as  if  by  an  invisible  reaper,  I 
ordered  the  bugler  to  sound  the  '  lie  down. '  The  entire  line  fell  in  the 
corn  rows,  and  I  had  the  opportunity  to  look  around,  knowing  my  men 
were  safe.  To  pass  through  the  batteries,  cross  the  regiments  in 

our  front,  ascend  the  hill  and  get  inside  their  main  works,  was  more  than  I 
could  accomplish  with  the  slender,  yet  gallant  line  lying  on  my  left  and 
right;  and  feeling  that  I  had  obtained  all  the  information  I  could,  I 
ordered  the  '  rise  up'  and  retreat,  which  I  must  confess  was  done  in  the 
most  admirable  manner,  under  the  fire  of  at  least  three  regiments  and 
seven  guns ;  three  of  those  enfilading  my  line.  But  few  of  those  who  had 
so  gallantly  charged  the  battery  got  back.  I  cannot  speak  in  too  extrava 
gant  terms  of  the  officers  and  men  of  the  Sixth  Iowa  on  this  occasion. 
They  obeyed  my  commands  with  a  promptness  and  rapidity  I  could  hardly 
have  expected  on  a  parade.  If  they  challenged  my  praise  at  the  impetu 
osity  of  their  advance,  which  I  found  so  rapid  as  to  cause  me  to  fear  that  I 


120  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

could  not  keep  up  with  them,  they  awakened  my  admiration  at  the  cool 
ness  with  which  they  retired,  returning  the  incessant  fire  of  the  enemy  as 
they  slowly  fell  back. ' '  The  loss  of  the  regiment  was  one  killed,  eighteen 
wounded,  and  nine  missing. 

Brigadier-General  Smith,  commanding  the  division,  was  so  much  grati 
fied  with  the  conduct  of  the  Sixth  Iowa  in  this  affair,  that  he  wrote  the 
following  congratulatory  note  to  the  colonel : 

11  July  16, 1863. 

"COLONEL   CORSE,   COMMANDING  SIXTH  IOWA  INFANTRY: The 

valor  of  your  noble  regiment  has  been  conspicuous,  even  amidst  the 
universal  good  conduct  that  has  marked  the  operations  of  all  the  troops 
of  the  First  Division  during  our  advance  upon  Jackson  and  since  our 
arrival  here.  I  cannot  too  highly  commend  the  gallantry  you  have  dis 
played  in  two  successful  charges  you  have  made.  The  true  heart  swells 
with  emotions  of  pride  in  contemplating  the  heroism  of  those  who,  in  their 
country's  cause,  charge  forward  under  the  iron  hail  of  half  a  dozen  rebel 
batteries,  and  exposed  to  a  murderous  fire  of  musketry  from  behind  strong 
entrenchments,  capture  prisoners  under  their  very  guns.  Such  has  been 
the  glorious  conduct  of  the  Sixth  Iowa  this  morning,  and  those  who 
shared  your  dangers  and  emulate  your  valor  will  join  me  in  tendering  to 
you  and  the  brave  men  under  your  command  my  warmest  thanks  and 

most  hearty  congratulations. 

'  Most  truly  yours, 

"WILLIAM  SOOT  SMITH, 
' '  Brigadier-General,  &c. ' ' 

On  the  night  of  the  16th  the  rebels  evacuated  Jackson,  and  on  the 
morning  of  the  17th  our  troops  entered  the  city.  Johnston  retreated  east 
ward,  but  Sherman  did  not  attempt  a  general  pursuit.  He  devastated 
central  Mississippi,  and  then  returned  to  the  vicinity  of  Vicksburg. 

The  losses  of  the  Sixth  regiment  during  this  campaign  and  siege  were 
between  sixty  and  seventy.  In  all  the  operations  before  Jackson,  Colonel 
Corse  commanded  the  skirmish  line,  and  so  successfully  did  he  perform 
the  arduous  duties  assigned  him  as  to  lead  to  his  promotion  to  the  rank 
of  brigadier-general.  The  regiment,  upon  its  return  from  Jackson,  went 
into  camp  near  the  Big  Black  River,  in  an  organization  known  as  the 
"Fourth  Brigade,"  and  which  was  commanded,  upon  his  promotion,  by 
General  Corse.  Here,  too,  Major  Miller  and  Adjutant  Ennis  were  mus 
tered  as  lieutenant-colonel  and  major  respectively,  to  which  rank  they  had 
been  before  appointed,  as  has  been  stated.  The  "Fourth  Brigade"  was 
subsequently  broken  up,  and  our  regiment  assigned  to  the  Second  Brigade, 
Fourth  Division,  Fifteenth  Army  Corps. 


SIXTH      INFANTRY.  121 

When  General  Sherman  made  his  memorable  march  across  the  country 
to  Chattanooga,  in  the  fall  of  1863,  the  Sixth  Iowa  formed  a  part  of  the 
column.  It  participated  in  the  battle  of  Missionary  Ridge,  in  the  latter 
part  of  November,  suffering  a  loss  in  that  remarkable  contest  of  sixty-nine 
officers  and  men,  killed,  wounded,  and  missing.  Major  Ennis  was  among 
those  severely  wounded.3 

The  armies  of  the  Cumberland  and  the  Tennessee,  with  their  comrade* 
under  Hooker  and  Howard  from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  having 
thoroughly  defeated  the  rebels  under  Bragg,  driving  them  from  positions 
of  vaunted  impregnability  not  only,  but  sending  them  whirling  out  of 
Tennessee,  General  Grant  promptly  set  in  motion  forces  for  the  relief  of 
Knoxville,  closely  besieged  by  Longstreet,  and  stoutly  defended  by  Burn- 
side,  with  troops  something  more  than  half  starved,  but  not  at  all  dispirited, 
nor  giving  one  moment's  thought  to  surrender.  General  Granger  was 
ordered  to  move  to  the  relief  of  Burnside.  He  moved  with  reluctance  and 
complaint.  General  Grant  therefore  determined,  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  two  divisions  of  Sherman's  forces  had  marched  from  Memphis,  and 
had  gone  into  battle  on  their  arrival  at  Chattanooga,  to  send  him  with  his 
command;  and  orders  were  accordingly  sent  him  at  Calhoun,  on  the 
Hiawassee,  to  assume  command  of  the  troops  with  Granger,  in  addition  to 
those  with  him,  and  proceed  with  all  possible  dispatch  to  the  relief  of 
Burnside.  "Seven  days  before,"  writes  General  Sherman,  "we  had  left 
our  camps  on  the  other  side  of  the  Tennessee,  with  two  days'  rations, 
without  a  change  of  clothing,  stripped  for  the  fight,  with  but  a  single 
blanket  or  coat  per  man,  from  myself  to  the  private  included.  Of  course 
we  then  had  no  provisions,  save  what  we  gathered  by  the  road,  and  were 
ill  supplied  for  such  a  march.  But  we  learned  that  twelve  thousand  of 
our  fellow-soldiers  were  beleaguered  in  the  mountain-town  of  Knoxville, 
eighty-four  miles  distant,  that  they  needed  relief,  and  must  have  it  in  three 
days.  This  was  enough  ;  it  had  to  be  done." 

»  Killed,  Captain  Robert  Allison ;  Sergeant  Robert  Mitchell ;  George  H.  Wightman ;  Corporal 
David  Gladfellow;  Liberty  H.  Kennedy,  Robert  B.  Davis,  George  W.  Pratt,  Alexander  Dalton. 
Died  of  wounds — Company  A — Corporal  William  Kellogg;  Wounded,  Major  Thomas  J.  Ennis; 
Captains  Calvin  Minton,  Leander  C.  Allison,  George  R.  Nunn.  Company  A— Sergeant  Charles  A. 
Hustin;  Corporal  Jeremiah  Freeman;  William  A.  Jones,  E.  S.Wilson,  T.R.Thompson,  Isaac  N. 
Wood,  William  H.  Vandyke.  Company  B — Corporals  Harvey  Ford,  Jesse  L.  Adkins ;  Isaac  R,  Ply- 
mate.  Company  C—  Martin  V.  Allen.  Company  D— Corporal  Alexander  Maring;  Uri  Halleck, 
Samuel  D.  Harn,  Lloyd  Wailes,  Joseph  F.  Payton,  Reuben  M.  Beamer,  William  Martin,  Elon  Ashby, 
William  M.  Hughes,  James  M.  Pierce.  Company  E— First  Sergeant  John  H.  Key;  Color  Sergeant 
Henry  Roberts;  Sergeant  Stephen  J.  Gahagan;  Corporals  George  W.  Hibbard,  Harrison  Hicken- 
looper;  Ira  W.  Gilbert.  Company  F—  First  Sergeant  E.  R.  Kennedy;  Corporal  John  Tobin; 
Frederick  B.  Johnson,  Elom  Ford,  Thomas  Carson,  Charles  H.  Wright,  Isaac  Gregg,  Thomas  Bar 
rows,  Edward  Chambers.  Company  G — Sergeants  Samuel  J.  Plymesser,  John  Gardner;  Corporal 
John  Ditto ;  William  A.  Richardson.  Company  H— Charles  L.  Allen,  0.  C.  Snyder.  Company  J— 
Sergeant  James  Turner;  Corporal  John  Sherm;  Jacob  Thomas,  Daniel  J.  Smith,  David  Silver 
smith.  Company  AT— Corporals  John  C.  Ferree,  Jasper  Ogden;  W.  H.  Barr,  John  M.  Grim,  Richard 
Ehipman,  Asbury  Smith. 
16 


122  IOWA    AND     THE      REBELLION. 

The  march  was  commenced  on  the  1st  of  December.  The  road,  accord 
ing  to  the  energetic  expression  of  Sherman,  was  villainous ;  it  was  crossed 
by  unfordable  rivers ;  the  bridges  were  destroyed ;  the  enemy  contested  the 
advance  with  cavalry  and  artillery.  Such  were  the  circumstances  under 
which  this  forced  march  was  made.  On  the  night  of  the  2d,  General 
Sherman  dispatched  Colonel  Long,  commanding  the  cavalry  brigade,  with 
a  picked  body  of  men,  ordering  him,  "  at  whatever  cost  of  life  and  horse 
flesh,"  to  push  into  Knoxville  within  twenty-four  hours,  and  inform 
Burnside  of  the  proximity  of  relief.  At  Philadelphia  the  column  turned 
to  the  right,  and,  crossing  the  Little  Tennessee  at  Morgantown  on  a  tem 
porary  bridge  erected  by  General  Wilson,  "partly  with  crib- work  .and 
partly  with  square  tressels  made  of  the  houses  of  the  late  town  of  Morgan- 
town,"  pushed  on  to  Marysville,  fifteen  miles  south  of  Knoxville.  The 
bridge  over  the  Little  Tennessee  once  gave  way,  causing  some  delay,  so 
that  the  column  did  not  reach  Marysville  till  the  afternoon  of  the  5th. 
Here  a  messenger  arrived  from  Burnside  with  the  news  that  Longstreet 
had  raised  the  siege  the  night  before.  Granger's  two  divisions  went  on  to 
Knoxville,  but  the  rest  of  the  army  halted  at  Marysville,  having  accom 
plished  its  purpose ;  its  approach  having  served,  according  to  the  hand 
some  acknowledgment  of  General  Burnside  himself,  to  raise  the  siege. 

In  this  short  but  most  useful  march,  made  when  the  weather  was  bitter 
cold,  by  officers  and  men  who  had  brought  neither  baggage  nor  provisions, 
there  was  much  suffering,  of  which  the  Sixth  Iowa,  some  of  whose  men 
were  without  shoes,  and  all  without  adequate  protection  from  the  severity 
of  the  weather,  bore  its  part  with  unmurmuring  devotion  to  duty.  Sherman 
returned  leisurely  to  Chattanooga,  reaching  that  place  on  the  18th  of 
December,  after  a  three  months'  campaign,  at  that  time  unparalleled  in 
the  history  of  the  war.  Early  in  1864  our  regiment  went  into  camp  at 
Scottsboro,  in  the  northeastern  part  of  Alabama,  having  well,  faithfully, 
honorably  done  its  part  in  the  memorable  campaigns  of  1863. 

The  command  remained  in  this  encampment  during  the  rest  of  the 
winter.  Here  the  most  of  the  men  reenlisted,  and  the  regiment  became 
the  Sixth  Iowa  Veteran  Volunteers.  In  accordance  with  the  rule  of  the 
War  Department,  it  was  now  entitled  to  a  furlough  of  thirty  days.  Accord 
ingly,  it  left  the  front  for  home  on  the  17th  of  March,  reaching  Iowa  on 
the  25th,  where  the  men  were  furloughed,  with  orders  to  report,  at  the 
expiration  of  a  month,  at  Davenport.  The  veterans  of  this  as  of  all  the 
other  Iowa  regiments  which  returned  about  this  time,  were  received  every 
where  with  marked  attention,  and  received  the  generous  hospitalities  of  a 
grateful  people,  and  all  marks  of  kind  consideration,  with  a  modesty  hardly 
surpassed  in  real  worth  by  the  valor  with  which  they  had  fought  for  the 
common  liberties  of  us  all  on  fields  made  forever  memorable  in  history. 


SIXTH      INFANTRY.  123 

On  the  27th  of  April,  our  regiment  left  Davenport,  and  proceeding  by  way 
of  Chicago,  Indianapolis,  and  Louisville,  arrived  at  Chattanooga  on  .the 
5th  of  May,  and  immediately  marched  to  join  the  main  army  under  Sher 
man  which  had  already  commenced  that  wonderful  campaign,  which  did 
not  entirely  close  even  with  the  capture  of  Atlanta,  four  months  after 
wards. 

In  this  campaign  the  regiment  again  served  with  the  Second  Brigade, 
Fourth  Division,  Fifteenth  Army  Corps.  It  participated,  sometimes  more, 
sometimes  less  directly  under  the  enemy's  fire  in  all  the  battles  of  this 
remarkable  period,  and  in  many  of  the  skirmishes,  which  not  infrequently 
were  accompanied  by  the  usual  results  of  a  battle  to  those  actually  engaged, 
but  the  importance  of  which  seems  trifling  in  comparison  of  the  grand  con 
flicts  of  which  they  were  but  the  prelude  or  epilogue.  Thus,  it  participated 
in  the  series  of  conflicts,  on  the  13th,  14th,  and  15th  of  May,  which  we  call 
the  battle  of  Resaca ;  in  the  fight  at  Dallas,  May  28th,  when  Longstreet 
attacked  McPherson,  and  was  thoroughly  whipped,  with  a  loss  of  two 
thousand  five  hundred  killed  and  wounded,  and  several  hundred  pris 
oners  ;  it  was  in  the  running  engagement  called  New  Hope  Church,  from 
the  1st  to  the  4th  of  June;  Big  Shanty,  on  the  15th;  it  ascended  Kenesaw 
Mountain  on  the  27th  in  that  unsuccessful  attempt  to  carry  a  position,  well 
fortified  and  defended,  which  it  would  have  been  difficult  to  reach  had  there 
been  neither  enemy  nor  works  to  encounter — the  rash  movement  of  the 
campaign;  and  in  all  the  battles  around  Atlanta,  on  the  21st,  22d,  and  28th 
of  July,  Jonesboro,  August  31st,  and  Lovejoy,  September  1st  and  2d,  it 
fought  with  a  bravery  which  its  long  list  of  casualties  might  persuade 
us  was  worthy  the  considerate  admiration  of  all  men. 

At  the  battle  of  Dallas,  Colonel  Miller  was  wounded,  and  Major  Ennis 
commanded  the  regiment  during  the  rest  of  the  fight.  Adjutant  Newby 
Chase  was  mortally  wounded  here,  and  died  the  next  day.  Lieutenant 
Francis  J.  Baldwin  was  also  killed.  At  the  fight  near  Big  Shanty,  Lieu 
tenant  John  T.  Grimes,  at  the  time  acting  as  adjutant  of  the  regiment,  was 
killed.  Major  Ennis,  commanding  the  regiment,  was  mortally  wounded  at 
the  battle  before  Atlanta,  July  28th.  When  this  gallant  officer  fell,  senior 
Captain  W.  H.  Clune  took  command  of  the  regiment,  and  led  it  through 
this  its  most  desperate  fight  of  this  fighting  campaign.  The  casualties  of 
the  regiment  in  the  battles  from  Resaca  to  Lovejoy  were  one  hundred  and 
fifty-nine  in  killed  and  wounded,  being  nearly  one  half  the  number  with 
which  the  command  marched  out  of  Chattanooga.  What  with  the  casualties 
of  battle  and  sickness,  the  regiment  went  into  camp  near  Atlanta,  after  the 
evacuation  of  the  city,  numbering  only  one  hundred  and  twenty  fit  for 
duty.8 

s  I  have  not  succeeded  in  procuring  a  complete  list  of  casualties  occurring  in  the  regiment  during 


124  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Certainly  the  little  command,  only  about  a  score  larger  than  one  of  the 
single  companies  of  the  regiment,  when  mustered  into  the  service  three 
years  before,  needed  repose.  It  did  not,  however,  have  the  opportunity  to 
take  a  long  rest.  Hood  undertook  to  destroy  Sherman's  communications, 
and  our  regiment,  having  had  barely  a  month  to  recuperate,  received 
marching  orders,  and  was  at  once  on  the  war  path,  now  moving  northward. 
The  enemy  having  been  driven  away  from  our  line  of  communications,  the 
army  returned  to  Atlanta  to  enjoy  only  about  one  more  week's  rest  before 
starting  on  the  march  to  the  sea. 

the  Atlanta  campaign.  For  the  following  partial  list,  I  am  indebted  to  the  correspondence  of  the 
Burlington  Hawkeye : 

RESACA,  GA.,  May  13. — Company  F—  Killed,  David  Shearer.     Wounded,  Samuel  Hart,  Calvin  Barber. 

Maylt.—Kilkd,  Uriah  M.  Davis.  Company  A— Wounded,  Charles  Huston.  Company  .B— Wil 
liam  D.  Tull,  William  J.  Hamilton,  and  Samuel  Mussel  man.  Company  C— James  Buchanan.  Com 
pany  H— John  Lawler.  Company  K—  Alexander  R.  Savage,  and  John  C.  Ferrer.  Macon  Van  Hook 

May  15.— Company  D— Killed,  Albert  H.  Cullen ;   Wounded,  Sergeant  Charles  Bilka. 

DALLAS.  GEORGIA,  May  27.— Company  C— Killed,  George  F.  Scott.  Company  A—  Wounded,  First 
Lieutenant  Rodney  F.  Barker.  Company  C—  A.  W.  Searles.  Company  E—  Calvin  Barnard,  William 
J.  Collett,  and  George  W.  Hibbard.  Company  F—  Sergeant  Jeremiah  Rhodes.  Company  H — Isaiah 
D.  Ware.  Company  7— William  Russell,  and  John  A.  G.  Sala. 

May  28.— Company  C— Killed,  First  Lieutenant  Francis  J.  Baldwin;  Corporal  John  M.  Potte,  and 
Robert  Osborne.  Company  D — George  Black.  Company  F— George  Babington.  Company  K—  John 
Bigham.  Wounded,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Alexander  J.  Miller.  First  Lieutenant  and  Adjutant  Newby 
Chase.  Company  A. — Corporal  Samuel  Baldwin.  Company  E — James  Spinks.  Company  F — John 
Jamison,  Edwin  Ford,  and  Isaac  Gregg.  Company  H—  John  Rodgers,  and  Sergeant  J.  Swan.  Com 
pany  7— Corporal  Samuel  J.  Smith.  Company  K — John  McKiernan.  Missing. — George  Trussell. 

Bio  SHANTY,  June  15.— Company  D— Killed,  First  Lieutenant  and  Acting  Adjutant  John  T. 
Grimes;  John  Hublee.  Company  I — Oscar  Bostrand.  Company  E — Wounded,  First  Sergeant  John 
H.  Key.  Company  E — Abraham  Morris,  John  A.  Miller,  and  Albert  Johnson. 

KENESAW  MOUNTAIN,  June,  27. — Company  I— Killed,  Sergeant  J.  A.  Hannum.  Company  A — D. 
Sleight.  Company  B — N.  J.  Gordon.  Company  C—Il.  Buckingham.  Company  77— Benjamin  Bixby. 
Company  K — J.  Robinson,  Company  A — Wounded,  Sergeant-Major  A.  T.  Samson,  First  Sergeant  A. 
L.  Ingraham,  Sergeant  W.  D.  Hall,  W.  M.  Harbeson,  Z.  Hein,  E.  S.  Wilson,  Harry  Harris,  and  Jacob 
Carbley.  Company  B—A.  G.  Egbert,  J.  L.  Miller,  W.  C.  Fitch,  William  Monahan,  and  A.  T.  Charles. 
Company  C1— Sergeant  J.  W.  Travis,  C.  A.  Gummere,  W.  Hadlock,  R.  Haskins.  Company  D — Sergeant 
M.  Westenhaver ;  Corporal  J.  B.  Armstrong,  J.  D.  Cox.  0.  F.  Green,  T.  Foster,  and  William  Crow. 
Company  E— Corporal  J.  McGonegal ;  Color-Sergeant  H.  Roberts,  E.  P.  Bradley,  T.  Hinton,  and  M. 
W.  Kemper.  Company  F— Corporal  J.  Ballou,  A.  S.  Stark,  F.  Sechris,  I.  B.  Sharp,  and  C.  H.  Wright 
Company  G — Captain  J.  J.  Jordan ;  Sergeant  S.  Plymesser ;  Corporal  T.  A.  Clark :  Sergeant  R 
Alexander,  J.  A.  Clarke,  R.  W.  Elliott,  G.  W.  Ford,  and  G.  A.  Miller  Company  77— Sergeant  0.  C 
Snyder ;  Corporal  J.  L.  Adkins ;  J.  McCleanan.  Company  7— Sergeant  J.  Turner,  H.  B.  Linton,  C.  M. 
Peterson,  George  Houts,  and  J.  Cestine.  Company  K— W.  Gallagher. 

ATLANTA,  July  20. —  Wounded,  Privates,  James  Pierce,  Benjamin  Devore,  George  W.  Wailes,  Thomas 
Lewman,  Enoch  Davis.  July  22.— Killed,  Alonzo  F.  Gale,  A.  A.  Hull.  Wounded,  Sergeant  Robert 
J.  Jones ;  Corporal  Harvey  Ford,  James  E.  Thomas,  Charles  Watson,  William  Rofe,  Thomas  Vincent, 
James  S.  Williams,  Charles  Shipman,  E.  R.  Rosbury.  July  28. — Killed,  Major  Thomas  J.  Ennw, 
Captain  Thomas  J.  Elrick ;  First  Sergeant  Ira  Linton,  Sergeant  Henry  Loomis,  Corporal  Daniel 
Musselman,  William  M.  Hughes,  Merrit  Jamison.  Wounded,  Corporals  M.  Westenhaver,  Benjamin 
F.  Kimlee;  John  Martin,  Michael  Ditto. 

SIEGE  OF  ATLANTA. — Killed,  Charles  Shipman,  Jacob  Chapman,  N.  B.  Nore.  Wounded,  Daniel 
Green,  Enoch  Davis,  John  Dupree,  James  Kemple,  Charles  Wright,  George  Gutches,  Richard  Ship 
man,  Charles  Erickson,  Thomas  Vincent,  William  W'right,  Lieutenant  George  W.  Clarke,  August  20. 
Lieutenant  Eugene  C.  Haynes,  August  22. 

JONESBORO. — Killed,  Charles  Main,  Alexander  R.  Savage.  Wounded,  Sergeant  C.  S.  Troutman ; 
Corporal  N.  W.  M.  Cay,  James  Hobbs,  N.  Callahan. 


SIXTH      INFANTRY.  125 

This  march  was  commenced  about  the  middle  of  November.  The 
details  thereof  need  not  be  here  related.  Suffice  it,  that  our  regiment  had 
its  due  share  of  the  enjoyment  of  that  remarkable  promenade,  as  well  as 
its  due  share  of  the  fighting,  of  which  latter  the  army  as  a  whole  did  not 
have  enough  to  cause  any  the  least  complaint.  At  the  battle  of  Griswolds- 
ville,  on  the  22d  of  November,  the  regiment  was  warmly  engaged,  and 
lost  four  killed  and  about  twenty  wounded  during  the  action.4  In  due 
time  Savannah  was  reached.  It  was  evacuated  on  the  night  of  the  20th 
December — a  fact  which  was  discovered  by  Robert  Barr,  of  the  Sixth, 
who,  being  on  the  skirmish  line,  saw  the  state  of  things,  and  was  the  first 
man  of  the  Union  army  to  enter  the  city,  which  he  did  with  the  utmost 
sang  froid  early  on  the  morning  of  the  21st — a  fact  which  might  be 
established  by  the  most  irrefragable  evidence,  but  which  would  be  none  the 
less  disputed  by  the  Twentieth  Corps,  which  had  great  good  luck  in  being 
the  first  to  enter  cities  that  had  been  evacuated  by  the  enemy  in  conse 
quence  of  the  fighting  or  maneuvering  done  by  others,  and  who  were 
frequently  called  by  many  members  of  the  more  "genteel"  corps  afore 
named,  ' '  Sherman' s  Bummers. ' ' 

The  regiment  remained  at  Savannah  about  three  weeks.  While  here, 
Major  Clune  was  appointed  lieutenant-colonel,  and  Captain  David  J. 
McCoy,  major.5  About  the  middle  of  January,  1865,  the  march  through 
the  Carolinas  began.  During  much  of  the  time  consumed  upon  this 
march  the  weather  was  raw  and  unpleasant.  A  good  deal  of  the  country 
was  swamp,  dismal,  gloomy,  offering  natural  obstructions  to  the  passage  of 
a  large  army,  which  rebel  generals  best  acquainted  therewith  thought 
would  form  a  barrier  which  General  Sherman  could  not  overcome.  Never 
theless,  the  army  went  marching  on,  moving  with  as  much  rapidity  as  was 


*  The  following  have  been  reported: — Killed,  Corporal  Benjamin  Thomas;  R.  F.  Stewart,  Horatio 
P.  Jackson,  William  Barr.     Wounded,  Major  William  H.  Clime;   Lieutenant  George  W.  Clarke; 
John  Thomas ;  Sergeant  W.  S.  Oviatt ;  Walter  Haddock,  John  Brown ;  Corporal  R.  W.  Courtney ; 
James  Scovill,  Oliver  Anderson;  Corporal  William  Lambert;  Sergeant  B.Thomas;  J.  W.  Lowrey; 
Charles  Donsay ;  Corporal  Henry  Harris. 

To  avoid  repeated  annotation,  I  will  here  state  that  the  subsequent  casualties  of  the  regiment 
were  one  killed  and  eight  wounded,  in  March,  1865.  Kitted,  Sergeant  E.  F.  Stratton.  Wounded, 
Adjutant  A.  T.  Samson;  William  Emmett,  Jacob  Debray,  John  Simpson,  M.  I.  Swift,  Richard 
Courtney,  J.  Spink,  G.  S.  Richardson. 

*  The  other  officers  at  the  same  time  were : — Adjutant  Andrew  T.  Samson ;  Surgeon  William  S. 
Lambert;  Assistant  N.  M.  Smith;  Quartermaster  Orrin  P.  Stafford. 

LINE  OFFICERS. — Company  A — Captain  R.  F.  Barker;  Lieutenant  A.  L.  Ingram.  Company  B — 
Captain  Orrin  S.  Rarrick ;  Lieutenant  James  E.  Thomas.  Company  C— Captain  Stephen  J.  Gaha- 
gnn.  Company  D— Captain  William  H.  Alexander;  Lieutenant  Eugene  C.  Hay nes.  Company  E— 
Captain  Robert  A.Wills;  Lieutenant  John  H.  Key.  Company  F— Captain  Edwin  R.  Kennedy; 
Lieutenants  F.  M.  Kyte,  Abraham  C.  Rarrick.  Company  G— Captain  James  J.  Jordan.  Company 
If— Captain  James  Swan;  Lieutenant  Edwin  F.  Allen.  Company  /—Captain  James  Turner;  Lieu 
tenants  Zachariah  Thomas,  Oliver  F.  Howard.  Company  K— Captain  Sebastian  L.  Blodgett;  Lieu 
tenant  William  H.  Arnold. 


126  IOWA    AND     THE     KEBELLION. 

required,  bivouacking  in  the  mud  for  many  nights  in  succession,  and  stop 
ping  for  rest  at  such  eligible  places  as  lay  in  the  way.  At  Columbia,  South 
Carolina,  our  regiment  was  engaged  in  skirmish  with  the  enemy,  losing 
one  man  killed,  and  seven  wounded.  Thence,  it  marched  with  the  army 
on  Goldsboro,  helped  to  win,  but  without  loss,  the  last  battle  fought  by 
Sherman,  at  Bentonsville,  North  Carolina,  and  soon  afterwards  went  into 
camp  at  Goldsboro,  where  the  campaigns  of  the  regiment,  accompanied  by 
battles,  closed.  Here  it  remained,  enjoying  a  short  respite  from  toil  and 
danger,  till  the  movement  on  Raleigh,  in  which  it  took  part. 

Johnston  having  surrendered,  whereby  the  war  was  virtually  closed,  the 
Union  column  soon  took  up  its  line  of  march  northward.  The  march  from 
Raleigh  to  Richmond,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  miles,  was 
performed  by  our  regiment,  as  well  as  by  nearly  the  whole  army,  in  five 
days,  the  average  distance  traveled  per  day  being  more  than  thirty-one 
miles.  From  Richmond  to  Washington  City,  the  march  was  made  at  a 
more  leisurely  rate,  but  with  a  dispatch  which,  had  it  been  performed  by 
any  army  but  Sherman's,  would  have  been  considered  remarkable. 

The  regiment  remained  near  the  national  capital  something  more  than  a 
fortnight.  It  participated  in  the  grand  review  which  there  took  place  in 
front  of  the  executive  mansion.  It  was  my  fortune  to  witness  that  magni 
ficent  spectacle,  and  I  shall  never  forget  the  emotions  of  pleasure  with 
which  I  heard  the  shout  of  applause  that  greeted  this  thinned  regiment  as 
it  wheeled  into  Fifteenth  street  in  front  of  the  grand  colonnade  of  the 
Treasury  Department.  Its  colors  were  torn  into  shreds,  its  number  was 
small,  but  the  men  marched  with  a  free,  steady  step,  and  that  elastic 
spring  which  only  belongs  to  veteran  troops.  There  were  among  the 
spectators  near  the  thronged  locality  mentioned,  those  who  knew  the 
history  of  the  regiment,  and  as  the  prominent  points  therein  were  whis 
pered  from  man  to  man,  the  applause  swelled  into  a  general  shout,  which 
Lieutenant- Colonel  Clune  gracefully  acknowledged  by  uncovering  his  head. 
The  display  over,  the  regiment  went  into  camp  a  few  miles  from  the  city, 
whence  not  many  days  afterwards  it  moved  by  rail  to  Parkersburg,  Vir 
ginia,  and  thence  by  steamer  down  the  beautiful  Ohio  to  Louisville,  Ken 
tucky.  Here  it  remained  till  homeward-bound  orders  came,  when  with 
other  veteran  organizations  it  returned  to  Iowa  in  the  latter  part  of  July  to 
be  disbanded,  and  to  receive  the  congratulations  of  old  friends,  and  the 
blessings  of  the  brave  and  true  in  all  parts  of  the  State. 

I  have  narrated  the  history  of  this  regiment  with  inexcusable  imperfec 
tion,  if  I  have  failed  to  place  it  in  a  favorable  light.  During  its  long  term 
of  service  it  traversed,  by  river,  railway,  march,  the  greater  part  of  the 
Southern  States,  moving  therein,  much  of  the  time  in  face  of  the  enemy, 
thousands  of  miles — in  Missouri,  through  Kentucky,  through  Tennessee, 


SIXTH     INFANTRY.  127 

in  Mississippi,  in  Alabama,  through  Georgia,  through  the  Carolinas. 
through  Virginia  to  the  political  metropolis  of  the  nation,  which  was  still 
more  than  a  thousand  miles  from  home.  In  this  vast  circuit  of  its  warfare 
it  passed  through  nearly  a  score  of  pitched  battles  and  sieges,  leaving  no 
less  than  one  hundred  and  fifteen  dead  comrades,  killed  in  battle,  in 
southern  graves ;  having  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  more  wounded, 
many  of  whom  will  be  maimed  for  life  ;  and  losing  from  its  rolls  sixty-sevten 
others  among  the  ' '  missing, ' '  not  a  few  of  whom  were  in  all  probability 
killed,  or  consigned  to  suffer  the  nameless  horrors  of  rebel  prisons.  When 
the  regiment  reached  St.  Louis  in  August,  1861,  it  numbered  nine  hun 
dred  men.  Preparing  themselves  for  the  duties  of  the  field  by  drilling 
several  hours  a  day  at  "  Camp  Jessie,"  in  the  beautiful  Lafayette  Square, 
they  appeared  as  a  brigade  appeared  at  the  close  of  the  war.  At  the  close 
of  the  campaign  of  1863,  it  numbered  less  than  five  hundred.  It  com 
menced  the  Atlanta  campaign  numbering  four  hundred  and  ninety-four, 
rank  and  file,  and  when  it  reached  the  capital  of  North  Carolina,  there 
were  only  two  hundred  and  eighty-four  names  left  on  the  rolls.  ' '  Brave 
boys  are  they,"  says  a  correspondent,  speaking  of  the  losses  of  the  regi 
ment,  "  whose  sacred  dust  now  lies  mouldering  beneath  the  sod  of  half  the 
late  Slave  States,  where  so  many  heroes,  famous  some,  and  others  '  name 
less  here  for  evermore,'  save  to  their  loved  ones  at  home,  have  enriched 
the  soil  with  the  blood  of  martyrs.  May  the  grass  never  wither  on  their 
graves,  may  the  sweetest  flowers  flourish,  and  shed  a  glad  perfume  over  the 
last  resting-places  of  our  comrades  who  have  gone  before,  never  more  to 
fall  in,  save  at  the  great  reveille. ' ' 


CHAPTER    VII. 

SEVENTH     INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZATION,  AT  BURLINGTON— PROCEED  TO  ST.  LOUIS— PILOT  KNOB.  MISSOURI- 
CAIRO,  ILLINOIS— ENCAMPMENT  NEAR  COLUMBUS,  KENTUCKY— BIRD'S  POINT— 
THE  BATTLE  OF  BELMONT—  ORDERED  TO  BENTON  BARRACKS— FROZEN 
UP  IN  THE  MISSISSIPPI  RIVER  — OFF  FOR  THE  FRONT  — FORT  HENRY  — FORT 
DONELSON-SHILOH  — SIEGE  OF  CORINTH  — PURSUIT  OF  THE  ENEMY-A  QUIET 
SUMMER— BATTLE  OF  CORINTH— A  YEAR  OF  COMPARATIVE  QUIET— "  SHEBANGS " 
—THE  ATLANTA  CAMPAIGN— PASSAGE  OF  THE  OOSTANAULA  RIVER— THE  MARCH 
TO  SAVANNAH— TO  WASHINGTON  CITY— MUSTERED  OUT. 

THE  companies  which  composed  this  regiment  came  from  different  loca 
lities  in  the  State — from  the  extreme  northern,  the  extreme  southern,  and 
the  central  portions  thereof.  A  majority  of  them  were  mustered  into  the 
service  at  Burlington,  the  rendezvous  of  the  regiment,  within  a  few  days 
after  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  Virginia,  July,  1861.  The  others  were  sworn 
in  not  long  afterwards,1  the  last  company  being  mustered  on  the  2d  day  of 
August. 

1  Company  A — was  from  Muscatine  county,  John  G.  Reed,  Captain  W.  W.  De  Heus,  and  Stephen 
Estle,  Lieutenants.  Company  B  was  from  Chickasaw  and  Floyd  counties  principally,  but  having 
members  from  Cerro  Gordo,  Howard  and  Butler.  Captain  Gideon  Gardner;  Lieutenants  R.  G. 
Reinegar  and  G.  W.  S.  Dodge.  Company  C  from  "  Proud  Mahaska,"  Captain  James  W.  McMullen; 
Lieutenants  James  N.  Smith  and  Benjamin  Ream.  Company  D  for  the  most  part  from  Lee  county, 
Captain  James  P.  Harper ;  Lieutenants  James  B.  Sample,  Daniel  F.  Bowler.  Company  E  Captain 
J.  C.  Parrott;  Lieutenants  C.  F.  Conn  and  Andrew  I.  Mefford;  this  company  was  also  mostly  from 
the  county  of  Lee.  Company  F  chiefly  from  Wapello  county;  Captain  Charles  W.  Kittredge 
(afterwards  Colonel  of  the  Thirty-sixth  regiment),  Lieutenants  Samuel  Mahan  and  Thomas  N. 
Barnes.  Company  G  mostly  from  Iowa  county;  Captain  C.  Hedges;  Lieutenants  John  Dillin  and 
Walter  Camp,  the  later  from  Johnson  county.  Company  IT  almost  entirely  from  the  county  of 
Washington;  Captain  Benjamin  Crabb;  Lieutenants  William  P.  Crawford  and  G.  G.  Bennett. 
Company  I  mostly,  again,  from  Wapello  county;  Captain  James  M.  Irvin;  Lieutenants  S.  E. 
Forsha  and  A.  I.  Barber.  Company  K  chiefly  from  the  counties  of  Keokuk,  Washington,  and 
Jefferson ;  Captain  Samuel  R.  Black ;  Lieutenants  Jacob  Snyder  and  Jesse  F.  Warner. 

Several  of  the  companies  were  at  the  rendezvous  some  time  before  there  was  a  field  officer,  but  after 
the  correction  of  certain  misunderstandings,  J.  G.  Lauman,  of  Burlington,  was  commissioned  Colonel. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Wentz  and  Major  Rice  did  not  report  to  the  regiment,  as  field  officers,  till  some 
time  afterwards,  when  the  command  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  Cairo,  Illinois.  Daniel  F.  Bowler 
was  appointed  Adjutant,  Dr.  Amos  Witter,  an  old  physician  and  legislator  of  Linn  county,  Surgeon, 
Lieutenant  Forsha,  Quartermaster,  and  Rev.  I.  Harvey  Clark,  Chaplain. 

If  it  should  appear  strange  that  this  regiment,  which  has  made  so  fine  a  record  during  the  war, 
commenced  its  career  without  a  full  complement  of  field  officers,  actually  going  into  the  field  with 
128 


SEVENTH      INFANTRY.  129 

The  condition  of  affairs  in  the  West  at  that  time  was  that  of  confusion 
much  confounded.  The  disaster  to  our  arms  in  Virginia  had  entirely  demo 
lished  the  expectation,  which  had  been  general,  that  the  war  was  to  be  of 
short  duration  and  of  trifling  importance.  The  theatre  of  war  in  the  west 
was  the  State  of  Missouri,  where  hostilities  were  carried  on  both  by  orga 
nized  forces  and  lawless  marauders,  so  that  quiet  prevailed  in  very  few 
parts  of  the  State.  General  Fremont  had  recently  taken  command  of  tlje ' 
Department,  then  embracing  Kentucky,  Illinois,  Missouri,  Kansas  and  the 
territories  west  of  these  states,  and  now  had  his  head-quarters  at  St.  Louis, 
with  his  troops  scattered,  in  little  armies,  over  a  wide  extent  of  territory; 
all  having  as  much  as  they  could  do,  and  some  of  them  more  than  they 
could  do,  to  maintain  their  positions  against  local  uprisings  and  the 
armies  which  treason  and  slavery  had  already  succeeded  in  raising,  and 
which  in  Missouri  alone  no  doubt  outnumbered  the  whole  force  which  Fr6- 
mont  had  in  his  department.  It  may  readily  be  believed,  from  this  imper 
fect  sketch  of  the  situation,  that  the  general  commanding  was  in  a  hnrrj 
for  troops.  It  was  on  account  of  the  pressing  military  necessity  that  the 
Seventh  Iowa  received  orders  to  hasten  to  St.  Louis,  not  only  before  ite 
complete  organization,  but  before  clothing,  arms,  or  equipments  had  arrived 
or  it  had  been  at  all  drilled  in  battalion.  It  left  Burlington  on  the  6th  of 
August,  per  steamer  "Jennie  Whipple,"  and  arriving  at  St.  Louis  on  the 
morning  of  the  8th,  it  marched  to  the  Arsenal  and  there  bivouacked.  At 
this  time  it  numbered,  rank  and  file,  nine  hundred  and  two  men. 

The  command  remained  in  bivouac  several  days  near  the  Arsenal,  and 
then  moved  to  Jefferson  Barracks,  a  few  miles  down  the  river,  where 
several  days  were  spent  in  not  uncomfortable  quarters.  It  then  returned 
to  St.  Louis,  where  arms  were  distributed  to  the  men,  the  flank  companies 
receiving  the  Springfield  rifle,  and  the  other  eight  companies  the  improved 
musket  from  the  same  place.  The  command  was  no  sooner  armed  than  it 
marched  to  the  depot  of  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad,  and  there  taking 
cars,  went  by  night  to  Pilot  Knob,  about  one  hundred  miles  south  by  west 
of  St.  Louis.  It  marched  thence  on  the  day  of  arrival  a  short  distance,  to 
the  shire  town  of  Iroriton,  where  it  pitched  tents  and  remained  in  camp 
about  a  fortnight,  the  regiment  being  here  first  drilled  in  the  manual  of 
arms. 

From  Ironton  the  regiment  commenced  its  first  regular  march,  moving 
westward  with  a  division  composed  of  some  half  dozen  regiments  under 
the  command  of  Brigadier-General  B.  M.  Prentiss,  and  reaching  Jackson, 
the  county-seat  of  Cape  Girardeau  county,  about  the  last  of  August. 

but  one  in  the  first  instance,  the  explanation  may  be  found  in  the  peculiar  exigencies  and  neces 
sities  which  existed  at  the  time — pressing  hard  upon  our  State  executive,  the  President,  and  Fre 
mont  in  Missouri. 

IT 


130  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Having  remained  in  camp  here  about  one  week,  it  marched  to  the  town  of 
Cape  Girardeau,  and  thence  proceeded  by  steamer  to  Cairo,  Illinois.  The 
command  soon  moved  across  the  Ohio  River,  nearly  opposite  Cairo,  and 
selecting  a  site  in  a  dense  forest,  soon  had  a  comfortable  and  pleasant 
encampment,  on  the  very  spot  which  is  now  occupied  by  Fort  Holt.  Here 
the  regiment  remained  another  fortnight,  and  then  marched  to  Mayfield 
Creek,  on  the  banks  of  which,  about  three  miles  from  the  Mississippi,  and 
only  seven  or  eight  from  Columbus,  a  camp  was  established,  and  out  of 
respect  for  an  aged,  rather  than  a  great  statesman,  called  Camp  Crittenden. 
Here  Lieutenant-Colonel  Augustus  Wentz,  having  served  his  time  as 
Captain  of  Company  G,  First  Iowa,  reported  for  duty.  From  Camp 
Crittenden  the  command  moved  in  a  few  days  to  Fort  Jefferson,  a  work  on 
the  Mississippi  River,  nearly  opposite  the  village  of  Norfolk,  Missouri. 
During  the  stay  of  the  regiment  at  Fort  Jefferson,  a  strong  picket  guard 
was  kept  up  at  Camp  Crittenden,  where  the  command  had  its  first 
skirmish,  in  which  one  man  was  slightly  wounded.  From  Fort  Jefferson 
the  regiment  moved  to  Bird's  Point,  in  Missouri,  opposite  Cairo,  where  it 
remained  a  few  days  and  then  marched  to  Norfolk.  Here,  Sergeant  Elliott 
W.  Rice,  of  Company  C,  received  his  commission  as  major  of  the  regi 
ment,  and  entered  upon  his  duties  in  that  capacity.  Here,  too,  the 
quartermaster  for  the  first  time  obtained  clothing  for  the  men,  of  which 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Parrott  afterwards  said,  with  an  unique  simile,  "they 
stood  sadly  in  need,  being  ragged  as  birds, ' '  however  ragged  that  may  be. 
Stopping  at  Norfolk  about  a  week,  the  regiment  returned  again  to  Bird's 
Point.  At  the  various  encampments  thus  far,  the  men  had  been  drilled 
less  or  more,  but  at  the  camp  near  Bird's  Point,  they  were  drilled  several 
hours  daily,  and  rapidly  acquired  great  proficiency  in  the  manual  of  arms, 
and  in  evolutions.  They  were  engaged  thus  in  acquiring  a  knowledge  of 
the  practical  duties  of  soldiers,  and  in  guard  and  picket  duties,  till  ordered 
away  for  the  purpose  of  taking  part  in  the 

BATTLE  OF  BELMONT. 

Brigadier-General  U.  S.  Grant,  commanding  District  Southeastern  Mis 
souri,  head-quarters  at  Cairo,  left  that  place  on  the  evening  of  November  6th, 
1861,  with  about  three  thousand  men  of  all  arms,  to  make  a  reconnoissance 
toward  Columbus,  with  the  object  of  preventing  the  enemy  from  sending 
out  reinforcements  to  Price  in  Missouri,  and  from  cutting  off  columns  of 
Union  troops  that  had  moved  from  Cairo  and  Cape  Girardeau  in  pursuit  of 
the  rebel  Jeff.  Thompson.  Within  the  scope  of  the  double  object  of  the 
movement,  was  an  attack  upon  Belmont,  a  hovel  on  the  Missouri  side  of 
the  Mississippi,  where  it  was  known  there  was  a  rebel  encampment  to  some 
extent  strengthened  by  artificial  means,  and  covered  by  the  heavy  guns  of 


SEVENTH      INFANTRY.  131 

Columbus,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  The  troops  composing  the 
detachment  which  engaged  in  the  affair  were  formed  into  two  brigades,  the 
first,  consisting  of  the  Twenty-seventh  Illinois,  Colonel  N.  B.  Buford,  the 
Thirtieth,  Colonel  P.  B.  Fouke,  Thirty-first,  Colonel  John  A.  Logan,  two 
companies  of  Illinois  cavalry,  and  Taylor's  Chicago  battery  of  four  six- 
pounder  guns  and  two  twelve-pounder  howitzers,  under  command  of  Briga 
dier-General  John  A.  McClernand  ;  the  second,  consisting  of  the  Twenty-  * 
second  Illinois,  Lieutenant-Colonel  H.  E.  Hart,  and  the  Seventh  Iowa, 
Colonel  Lauman,  under  command  of  Colonel  H.  Dougherty,  of  the  last 
named  Illinois  regiment,  left  Cairo  on  four  steamers,  convoyed  by  the  gun 
boats  Tyler  and  Lexington,  and  proceeded  down  the  river,  on  the  evening 
of  the  6th,  about  half  way  to  Columbus,  and  there  remained,  on  the  Ken 
tucky  shore,  till  the  next  morning.  General  Smith,  commanding  at 
Paducah,  at  the  same  time  made  demonstrations  against  Columbus.  At 
daylight  on  the  morning  of  the  7th,  General  Grant  proceeded  down  the 
river  to  a  point  some  two  or  three  miles  above  Belmont,  where  the  troops 
debarked,  and,  with  the  exception  of  three  companies  of  the  Twenty-second 
Illinois,  and  two — G  and  K — of  the  Seventh  Iowa,  immediately  moved  against 
the  enemy. 

Up  to  the  morning  of  the  battle  three  regiments  under  Colonel  Tappan, 
and  a  battery  of  artillery,  held  the  rebel  camp  at  Belmont.  Early  on  that 
morning,  General  Pillow  came  over  from  Columbus,  with  three  regiments, 
and,  assuming  command  of  the  whole,  made  a  stout  resistance  to  the  Union 
forces.  But  it  was  unavailing.  Our  lines  pressed  steadily  forward,  through 
forest,  field,  and  sloughs,  and  at  length,  the  enemy's  ammunition  being 
exhausted,  pressed  shoutingly  through  the  abatis  about  his  camp,  captured 
his  artillery,  drove  him  pell-mell  down  the  river  bank,  and  set  fire  to  the 
tents  and  stores  of  the  encampment.  He  was  now  thoroughly  and  com 
pletely  defeated.  Our  men  went  through  his  camp  at  pleasure,  laughing 
at  the  projectiles  from  the  heavy  guns  of  Columbus,  which  went  harmlessly 
over  their  heads.  Had  General  Grant  now  withdrawn  his  troops,  his 
victory  would  have  been  undisputed.  But,  he  delaying,  General  Cheatham 
crossed  over  from  Columbus  with  three  fresh  regiments,  and  not  long  after 
wards  Polk  himself  came  over,  having  at  last  made  up  his  mind  that  no 
direct  attack  upon  Columbus  was  contemplated,  bringing  two  regiments  with 
him,  and  posting  the  whole  upon  our  flank  and  rear,  seemed  disposed  to 
annihilate  or  capture  our  little  army  without  further  delay.  There  was 
nothing  left  for  the  Union  troops  but  to  cut  their  way  through  these  fresh 
regiments  to  their  transports,  which  they  did  with  great  gallantry,  taking 
with  them  two  of  the  best  guns  captured  from  the  enemy,  and  all  their 
own,  gaining  the  landing  about  5  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  having  spent 
seven  hours  in  almost  constant  and,  much  of  the  time,  desperate  fighting. 


132 


IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION 


OF 


SEVENTH     INFANTRY.  133 

The  most  heroic  fighting  of  the  day,  and  the  greatest  losses,  took  place  in 
this  latter  part  of  the  contest.  It  was  a  more  difficult  task  to  fight  our 
way  out  of  Belmont,  and  again  through  the  forest,  sloughs,  and  fields,  than 
it  had  been  to  fight  our  way  to  Belmont  in  the  morning ;  and  but  for  the 
aid  of  the  gunboats,  commanded  by  Captains  Walker  and  Stemble,  of  the 
Navy,  we  might  have  been  cut  to  pieces. 

Belmont  was  claimed  by  the  rebels  as  a  victory.  General  Polk,  so. 
claimed,  in  a  dispatch  to  Jefferson  Davis,  and  the  latter  returned  answer 
early  the  next  morning,  with  thanks  for  "the  glorious  contribution  just 
made  to  our  common  cause. ' '  Inasmuch  as  we  left  our  dead  and  severely 
wounded  on  the  field,  there  was  ground  for  their  claim.  But  it  is  certain 
their  losses  were  very  much  greater  than  ours.  We  lost,  in  killed, 
wounded,  and  missing,  five  hundred  and  forty-six,  whilst,  according  to  the 
admission  of  Pollard,  the  rebel  loss  was  six  hundred  and  thirty-two. 
Estvdn,  in  his  "War  Pictures  of  the  South,"  places  the  rebel  loss  at  six 
hundred  and  eighty  killed,  and  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  seventy 
wounded ;  but,  though  he  was  a  confederate  officer,  this  seems  incredible. 
The  rebel  loss  was  probably  not  far  from  a  thousand,  or  near  double  that 
of  the  Union  army.2  My  own  opinion,  formed  from  all  the  data  to  which 
I  have  had  access,  is  that  the  rebel  loss  exceeded,  rather  than  fell  under,  a 
thousand.  Their  loss  of  materiel  was  very  great,  whilst  ours  was  trifling. 
Upon  the  whole,  General  Grant  was  justifiable  in  issuing  a  congratulatory 
order  on  the  next  day.  In  this  order  he  said :  "It  had  been  his  fortune  to 
have  been  in  all  the  battles  fought  in  Mexico  by  Generals  Scott  and  Taylor 
save  Buena  Vista,  and  he  never  saw  one  more  hotly  contested,  or  where 
troops  behaved  with  more  gallantry. ' ' 

The  conduct  of  the  Seventh  Iowa  in  this  engagement  was  absolutely 
heroic.  General  McClernand,  who  witnessed  their  conduct,  but  did  not 
command  them,  takes  occasion  to  offer  praise  to  officers  and  men  of  the 
regiment,  in  his  official  report  of  the  day's  work.  Colonel  Dougherty  says 

2  The  Union  losses  in  the  different  organizations  were  as  follows : 

First  Brigade. — Twenty-seventh  Illinois,  eighty-one;  Thirtieth  Illinois,  forty-four;  Thirty-first 
Illinois,  eighty-nine;  cavalry,  three;  Taylor's  Battery,  five.  Total,  two  hundred  and  twenty-two. 

Second  Brigade.— Twenty-second  Illinois,  ninety-seven ;  Seventh  Iowa,  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven.  Total,  three  hundred  and  twenty-four.  Grand  total,  five  hundred  and  forty-six,  as  stated  in 
the  text. 

A  correspondent  (rebel)  of  the  Memphis  Appeal  gives  the  official  list  of  losses  in  Russell's 
brigade,  composed  of  three  regiments,  which  foots  up  two  hundred  and  eighty-five,  and  concluding: 
"  The  loss  in  the  others  has  not  yet  been  announced,  but  if  upon  the  same  ratio  it  must  have  been 
over  a  thousand." 

It  will  be  seen  by  a  comparison  of  the  above  figures  that  the  loss  in  the  Seventh  Iowa  was 
greater  than  that  of  General  McClernand's  brigade,  composed  of  three  regiments  of  infantry,  a 
squadron  of  cavalry,  and  a  full  battery.  Nevertheless,  from  a  long  account  of  the  battle  in  the 
Chicago  Journal,  one  would  gather  the  information  that  all  the  troops  engaged  were  from  that 
part  of  Illinois,  known  as  "  Egypt,"  with  the  exception  of  the  battery.  Happily,  that  kind  of 
treatment  did  not  continue  throughout  the  war,  especially  by  the  Journal. 


134  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

the  regiment  ' '  throughout  the  battle,  fought  like  veterans,  dealing  death 
to  rebels  wherever  they  encountered  them.  Iowa  may  well  feel  proud  of 
her  sons  who  fought  at  Belmont."  General  Grant  says  the  regiment 
"  behaved  with  great  gallantly,  and  suffered  more  severely  than  any  other 
of  the  troops. ' '  Lieutenant-Colonel  Wentz  was  killed  as  the  retreat  com 
menced.  Colonel  Lauman  had  his  horse  shot  under  him  in  the  earlier 
part  of  the  action,  and  was  afterwards  severely  wounded.  Major  Rice 
received  a  Minie  ball  in  his  leg,  which  he  has  carried  there  ever  since. 
Lieutenants  Dodge,  Ream,  and  Charles  Gardner  were  killed,  and  Captains 
Gideon  Gardner,  Harper,  Parrott,  and  Kittredge,  afterwards  Colonel  of 
our  Thirty-sixth  regiment,  were  severely  wounded.  Colonel  Lauman 
mentions  all  these  in  his  official  report,  and  also  Lieutenant  De  Heus,  who 
was  wounded,  Captain  Crabb,  taken  prisoner,  Adjutant  Bowler,  Lieutenant 
Estle,  and  private  Lawrence  A.  Gregg,  who  was  wounded,  and  soon  after 
wards  died  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels,  but  not  till,  his  leg  torn  off,  he  had 
expressed  to  his  captors  his  detestation  of  their  cause,  and  had  sung  his 
own  patriotic  dirge  in  the  inspiring  words  and  air  of  the  Star  Spangled 
Banner.  "But  I  might  go  on  in  this  way, "  says  Colonel  Lauman,  "and 
name  nearly  all  my  entire  command,  for  they  all  behaved  like  heroes." 

We  have  seen  that  Companies  G  and  K  of  our  regiment  remained  at  the 
place  of  landing,  as  part  of  a  detachment  detailed  to  guard  the  transports. 
These  companies,  of  course,  were  not  in  the  action,  and  did  not  suffer  any 
loss.  But  their  services  were  necessary  and  valuable,  whilst  their  position 
was  one  liable  at  any  moment  to  attack,  and  their  duties  delicate  and  diffi 
cult  when  the  main  body  again  approached  the  landing,  and  embarked  with 
some  degree  of  confusion  under  the  enemy's  fire.  The  eight  companies  of 
the  regiment  which  took  part  in  the  battle  numbered,  all  told,  four  hundred 
and  ten  men,  of  whom  two  hundred  and  twenty-seven  were  killed,  wounded, 
or  missing.3 

s  LIST  OF  CASUALTIES,  SEVENTH  IOWA,  AT  BATTLK  OF  BELMONT  :— 

Killed,  Lieutenant-Colonel  A.  Went/ ;  Musician  John  Worst.  Wounded,  Colonel  J.  G.  Lauman ; 
Major  E.  W.  Rice;  Adjutant  D.  F.  Bowler  and  prisoner;  Sergeant  A.  Witter  (prisoner);  Sergeant- 
Major  B.  K.  Smith  ;  Musicians  J.  D.  Coriel ;  W.  W.  Sapp  (prisoner). 

Company  A— Killed,  Sergeant  Thomas  Pitchforth  ;  A.  C.  Booth,  L.  Cunningham,  Isaiah  Dodder, 
John  F.  Hardy,  Leander  Pallat.  Wounded,  Lieutenant  W.  W.  De  Heus;  Sergeant  S.A.Wilson; 
Corporals  W.  B.  Bargewbush,  William  Davis,  T.  H.  Eichelberger  (prisoner),  T.  D.  Moore  (prisoner), 
John  Francisco  (prisoner),  Edwin  Hill  (prisoner),  M.  F.  Kurd  (prisoner),  W.  N.  Kennedy,  J.  W. 
Mahin,  D.  McNall,  A.  Miller,  Thomas  Morgan,  John  J.  Reed,  John  Sheely,  Harrison  Stein  (prisoner), 
S.  Van  Camp,  William  Wells  (killed),  Samuel  W'hite,  William  D.  Reynolds,  Herman  Hesser,  James 
B.  Raseman,  D.  R.  Wilbur  (mortally). 

Company  B — Killed,  Lieutenant  George  W.  S.  Dodge;  Corporal  Oscar  A.  Holmes,  William  H. 
Doan,  Joseph  M.  Gallahan,  Everett  Hawks,  Alvin  H.  Morton,  Joel  C.  Wilson,  Albert  G.  Strong. 
Wounded,  Captain,  G.Gardner;  Sergeants,  Andrew  S.  Felt  (prisoner),  Henry  J.  Smith;  Corporals 
George  Morse,  Henry  L.  Wisner  (prisoner),  Daniel  McTaggart  (prisoner),  John  Adair,  Henry  Benson, 
John  Brown,  Levi  Carkin,  Horace  A.  Gregory,  Alexander  P.  Gilmore,  Sylvanus  Haughey  (prisoner), 
Egbert  Hawks  (prisoner),  Alfred  Hildreth,  James  R.  Howard,  Kuut  Johnson  (prisoner),  Robert 


SEVENTH     INFANTRY.  135 

Whatever  may  be  the  final  judgment  upon  the  battle  of  Belmont,  con 
sidered  as  a  whole,  it  is  certain  the  Seventh  Iowa  there  maintained  the 
reputation  which  our  State  troops  had  borne  at  Wilson's  Creek  and  at  Blue 
Mills  Landing.  Their  gallant  conduct  was  the  theme  of  universal  praise 
on  the  part  of  our  people,  and  our  press  without  exception  lavished  gene 
rous  encomiums  upon  the  living,  and  sorrowful  eulogiums  upon  the  dead. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Wentz  was  buried  at  Davenport,  his  funeral  attended 

- 

II.  Mills,  William  H.  Mason,  Meltiah  Nye  (prisoner),  Josiah  A.  Rutherford,  Horatio  P.  Smith, 
Edwin  J.  Taylor,  William  Tannhill  (prisoner;,  Charles  Wilbur,  John  Morse,  J.  S.  Wilkinson,  Caleb 
Green. 

Company  C— Killed,  Sergeant  A.  G.  Young;  Corporal  William  H.  Jones,  Elias  White.  Wounded, 
Lieutenant  Benjamin  Ream  (mortally);  Sergeants  Wesley  Moreland,  David  Clumer;  Corporals 
Lawrence  A.  Gregg  (mortally),  George  Mastiller  (prisoner),  William  G.  Moore  (prisoner),  George 
Addy,  Solomon  B.  Clarke,  Harrison  A.  Grant,  Albert  Hites  (mortally),  Robert  McCollough,  John  L. 
Morgan  (prisoner),  James  D.  Mahaney  (prisoner),  Thomas  B.  McClure,  George  W.  Martin,  Silas 
Parsons,  John  W.  Pierson  (prisoner),  James  W.  Snooks,  Harvey  Smith,  Johnson  Thompson,  Samuel 
J.  Walker  (prisoner),  Samuel  H.  Wymore,  Philander  D.  Wilson  (prisoner.) 

Company  D— Killed,  Henry  Knapp,  Henry  Thomas,  Samuel  Robinson.  Wounded,  Captain  James 
P.  Harper;  Lieutenant  Benjamin  B.  Gale;  Sergeants  Thomas  Gahagan  (prisoner),  Samuel 
J.  Atler  (prisoner),  Charles  Webster  (prisoner);  Corporals  John  Wolgamuth,  Jones  B.  Bonney; 
Charles  Brown  (prisoner),  Alby  M.  Collins,  Nicholas  Gross,  Addison  Leavitt,  Milton  McNeill,  Joseph 
Miller,  Lewis  P.  Maynard,  Henry  Rogers  (prisoner),  Jonn  I.  Schmaltsle,  Matthew  C.  Stewart,  John 
Schiller,  Leuman  Van  Hoosen,  Foster  Walker  (prisoner,)  Denney  Henry  (killed),  William  E. 
Pickard. 

Company  E— Killed,  Alexander  Halickson,  John  H.  Littlefield,  Henry  Pipkin,  Theodore  Sheppard. 
Wounded,  Captain  James  C.  Parrott,  Sergeants  Alfred  F.  Carey,  John  McCormick,  Corporals  Wil 
liam  H.  Vansant  (prisoner),  George  W.  Diggs,  Alfred  F.  Carey  (prisoner),  David  Wallace,  John  L. 
Foster,  Thomas  W.  Taylor  (prisoner) ;  Abner  Allison,  Robert  Criswell,  John  W.  Jones,  William 
Knight,  John  Knight,  Robert  Kirkpatrick,  Mathias  O'Bleness,  James  Rouse  (prisoner),  Henry 
Turner,  John  Galbreath,  John  Scott,  William  H.  Robins  (prisoner),  Patrick  Cadell. 

Company  F— Killed,  Sergeant  William  W.  Farley,  William  Broadhead,  Mason  Bridenstine, 
Simon  A.  Cowgill.  Daniel  Deyar,  Josiah  B.  Evans,  William  Godfrey,  Silas  Hults,  Clarkson  Hiatt, 
Elisha  Wright,  Jeremiah  Watson.  Wounded,  Captain  Charles  W.  Kittredge ;  Sergeant  John  Ham- 
mitt  ;  Corporals  William  W.  Johnson,  William  Carroll  (prisoner) ;  Thomas  Dunn  (prisoner),  William 
Pickerel  (prisoner),  Henry  Voss,  James  H.  Wilson,  Collins  C.  Wing. 

Company  H— Killed,  Lewis  Austin,  Charles  Bloom,  Philip  Gladwin,  George  A.  Logan,  John  L. 
McDowell,  Ambrose  Shaw,  John  C.  Temple,  Reuben  Warthen,  John  Perkins.  Wounded,  Captain 
Benjamin  Crabb  (prisoner);  Sergeant  James  B.  Hope;  Corporals  Andrew  J.  Shephard,  William 
L.  Woods,  Alexander  D.  Reed,  Alfred  Gibson  (prisoner) ;  Joseph  A.  Abbey,  William  P.  Austin,  Wade 
C.  Arnold,  John  0.  Brins,  Cyrus  T.  Bush,  H.  Clark,  William  W.  Edmondson,  Theophilus  Ferreo, 
Wallace  E.  Gregg  (prisoner),  Edward  P.  Jayne,  Henry  S.  Kinsey,  George  S.  McKay,  Edward  A. 
Peckover,  John  S.  Perriton,  Leander  Rickey,  James  Shields,  George  Tenant,  Thomas  P.  Vincent, 
Robert  S.  Young  (prisoner). 

Company  I— Killed,  George  Noe,  Aldrick  Ostler,  John  Scott.  Wounded,  Sergeants  John  T.  Wallen, 
JohnWilcox;  Corporals  William  H.Evans,  Columbus  G.  Renfro,  Henry  C.  Nosier;  Benjamin  F. 
Crispin,  John  B.  Conwell,  James  A.  Chichester,  Cassius  Lazenbee,  Thomas  Myrick,  John  G.  Doll, 
Albert  Morton. 

The  above  list  is  taken  from  the  Adjutant  General's  Report,  and  is  not  complete,  though  nearly 
so.  There  were  a  few  who  were  taken  prisoners  who  escaped,  and  made  their  way  back  to  the  regi 
ment,  after  Colonel  Lauman's  report.  Of  those  reported  wounded,  several  afterwards  died  from  the 
effect  of  their  wounds.  And,  though  a  general  exchange  of  prisoners  taken  during  the  action  was 
agreed  upon,  there  were  some  of  our  regiment  not  returned.  Among  these,  private  Meltiah  Nye, 
of  Company  B,  Samuel  J.  Walker,  of  Company  C,  and  Sergeants  Thomas  Gahagan  and  Charles  Web 
ster,  of  Company  D,  after  much  suffering,  died  at  Macon,  in  Georgia,  and  Thomas  Dunn,  of  Com 
pany  F,  and  George  Masteller,  of  Company  C,  died  at  Annapolis,  Maryland. 


136  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

by  a  long  procession  of  soldiery  and  citizens.  The  remains  of  others, 
whose  bodies  were  recovered  under  flag  of  truce,  were  brought  to  their  old 
homes,  and  consigned  to  the  tomb  by  large  concourses  of  sorrowing  friends. 
But  the  most  of  the  honored  dead  still  repose  in  the  graves  on  the  field 
where  they  fell. 

The  regiment  remained  at  Bird's  Point  a  few  days  after  the  battle,  and 
was  then  ordered  to  Benton  Barracks,  to  rest  and  recruit.  Here  the  men 
spent  nearly  two  months,  during  which  period  many  officers  and  privates 
who  had  been  wounded  and  captured  at  Belmont,  returned  to  the  command, 
which  was  further  increased  by  the  addition  of  a  number  of  recruits.  Cap 
tain  Parrott,  of  Company  E,  was  meanwhile  promoted  Lieutenant- Colonel 
in  place  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Wentz,  killed.  On  the  13th  day  of  January, 
1862,  the  regiment  marched  to  St.  Louis,  and  embarked  for  the  south  on 
the  steamer  "Continental."  The  weather  was  intensely  cold — colder  than 
it  had  been  in  that  latitude  within  the  memory  of  the  oldest  inhabitants. 
On  account  of  the  low  temperature  the  boat  was  detained  till  nine  o'clock 
at  night — or,  at  any  rate,  that  was  the  reason  assigned  for  the  detention, 
though  every  body  knows  that  a  steamboat  never  yet  started  at  the  time 
appointed — when  she  got  under  way.  The  river  was  now  filled  with  ice, 
which,  floating  down  the  current  of  the  stream  in  heavy  masses,  materially 
interfered  with  navigation.  The  cold  grew  eveiy  moment  more  severe, 
navigation  more  difficult,  and  the  fine  vessel  had  only  proceeded  about 
twenty  miles,  when  she  succumbed  to  the  winter  king,  and  was  frozen  up 
in  the  middle  of  the  river.  The  regiment  remained  aboard  two  days, 
when  the  ice  being  strong  enough  to  bear  them  up,  officers  and  men  went 
ashore  on  the  Missouri  side,  and  taking  cars  returned  to  St.  Louis.  The 
cold  continued  to  be  severe,  but  the  good  citizens  of  St.  Louis  tendered  to 
Colonel  Lauman  the  use  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  which  he  gratefully 
accepted,  and  where  the  gallant  men,  in  warm  rooms,  and  with  hot  coffee 
and  other  luxuries  generously  provided  by  ladies  of  the  city,  soon  drove 
away  all  recollections  of  their  recent  experiences  out  in  the  bitter  cold. 

The  next  morning  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  cross  the  river  and  pro 
ceed  to  Cairo  by  rail.  It  was  very  easy  to  accomplish  the  latter  part  of  the 
order ;  but  to  cross  the  river  at  that  time  was  no  amusement.  Down  the 
middle  of  the  stream,  and  occupying  about  half  of  it,  the  river  was  covered 
with  a  solid  body  of  ice.  Upon  both  sides  of  it  were  channels,  in  which 
ferry-boats  were  constantly  plying.  So  the  regiment  embarked  on  a  ferry 
at  the  St.  Louis  wharf,  steamed  over  to  the  ice,  there  debarked,  packed 
their  baggage  on  the  ice-way  to  the  eastern  channel,  there  embarked  again, 
and  steamed  on  to  the  wharf  near  the  depot.  Crossing  the  Mississippi  in 
ihis  manner,  the  passage  occupied  nearly  all  the  day  and  up  to  the  middle 
of  the  following  night.  During  the  night  of  the  15th,  the  regiment  reached 


SEVENTH      INFANTRY.  137 

Cairo,  and  next  day  moved  over  to  Fort  Holt.  Having  stopped  here  a  few 
days,  it  went  by  steamer  up  the  Ohio  River,  and  debarked  at  Smithland, 
Kentucky,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cumberland.  Here  it  remained  a  short 
time  in  the  performance  of  drill  and  guard  duties,  and  then  went  by  trans 
port  down  the  Ohio  and  up  the  Tennessee  to  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Henry. 
Landed  on  the  morning  of  the  6th  of  February,  and  marched  over  miserable 
roads  to  invest  the  fort.  Flag-officer  Foote,  however,  with  what  the  army 
boys  called  his  "inland  navy,"  compelled  the  surrender  of  the  fort  about 
eleven  o'clock  of  the  same  day,  and  on  the  next  morning  our  regiment 
entered  the  work,  where  it  remained  in  comfortable  quarters  till  General 
Grant  commenced  his  movement  on  the  enemy's  works  at  Donelson. 

On  the  12th  day  of  February  it  marched  out  of  Fort  Henry,  and  joined 
the  column  moving  on  Fort  Donelson,  and  arrived  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
fort  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day.  In  the  siege  and  assault  of  this 
stronghold  the  regiment  bore  an  honorable,  conspicuous  part,  and  upon  the 
surrender  by  Buckner,  marched  into  the  principal  fort,  and  took  up  quar 
ters  in  the  rude  cabins  there,  luxurious  enough  in  comparison  of  the 
bivouacs  to  which  the  army  had  been  lately  consigned  in  the  surrounding 
forest.4  Here  for  nearly  a  month  the  regiment  enjoyed  a  quiet  rest  from 
their  late  labors  and  conflicts.  Then  it  marched  across  the  country  to  a 
landing  on  the  Tennessee  River,  where  it  encamped,  awaiting  transporta 
tion  on  which  to  proceed  up  the  river  and  join  the  army  at  Pittsburg 
Landing.  At  length  the  steamer  White  Cloud  took  the  regiment  aboard, 
and  proceeded  to  the  landing.  The  command  remained  aboard  several 
days  unable  to  effect  a  landing,  and,  then  debarking,  pitched  tents  near  the 
river.  Remaining  here  a  short  time,  it  went  to  the  line  of  encampment 
occupied  by  the  divisions  of  Generals  Hurlbut  and  C.  F.  Smith,  and  there 
remained  till  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  on  the  6th  and  7th  of  April.  In  this 
engagement  the  regiment  fought  gallantly  in  the  "Iowa  brigade,"  as  the 
organization  was  at  that  time  known,  and  which  was  commanded  by 
Colonel  J.  M.  Tuttle,  of  our  Second  regiment.  Colonel  Lauman  having 
be«n  promoted  for  gallantry  on  the  field  at  Donelson,  was  in  command  of 
another  brigade,  leaving  the  command  to  Lieutenant-Colonel  Parrott. 
Mlyor  Rice  was  afterwards  promoted  to  fill  Colonel  Lauman' s  place  in  the 
Seventh,  and  Captain  James  W.  McMullin,  of  Company  C,  to  the 

4  In  these  operations,  resulting  in  the  surrender  of  Fort  Donelson,  the  regiment  lost  thirty-nine 
killed  and  wounded.  Killed,  Matthew  C.  Stuart,  Michael  Wright.  Wounded,  Lieutenants  James  R 
Sample,  Wm.  G.Moore;  Charles  Goodno,  John  Brown,  Wm.  Nurman ;  Sergeant  Wm.  H.  Berkey; 
Wilson  Else,  Jason  Hilnick,  Stephen  D.  Sharp,  W.  H.  Vanlandingham,  Hiram  Bobart,  John  W. 
Bray,  F.  M.  Redding;  Corporal  Wm.  W.  Sapp ;  Patrick  Deveraux,  Warren  Kinney,  Herman  Hus 
kier,  Eli  Saul,  John  A.  Graham,  Wm.  Kerns,  Eli  Sweet ;  Sergeants  Robert  N.  Graham,  Thomas  L. 
Montgomery ;  Joseph  Carr,  John  A.  Van  Atta,  Preston  Rice,  J.  G.  Chambers,  Admiral  N.  Stafford, 
Joseph  Stortze,  Henry  White,  Jefferson  B.  Bailey,  John  C.  Walling;  Sergeant  Hugh  C.  Allen;  Theo 
philus  Ferree,  and  three  others  slightly  wounded. 
18 


138  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

majority  thus  vacated.  On  the  night  after  the  second  day's  contest  the 
regiment  returned  to  its  camp,  and  there  had  its  first  warm  meal  since  the 
evening  of  the  5th.  The  tents,  however,  were  filled  with  the  wounded  of 
both  armies,  and  the  men  threw  themselves  down  upon  the  wet  ground  for 
needed  rest,  and  there  enjoyed  the  deep  slumbers  consequent  upon  physical 
exhaustion,  undisturbed  by  the  groans  which  came  from  thousands  of 
sufferers  in  the  vast  temporary  hospital  about  them.  On  the  morning  of 
the  8th  they  marched  some  two  or  three  miles  to  the  front,  but  finding  no 
enemy,  returned  to  camp  in  the  evening,  and  found  it  ready  for  their  use.4 

The  regiment  remained  in  this  encampment  till  the  27th  of  April,  when 
the  whole  army,  under  command  of  Major-General  Halleck,  who  now,  for 
the  first  and  only  time  during  the  war  was  coaxed  or  driven  into  the  field, 
commenced  the  memorable  march  and  siege  of  Corinth ;  using  the  shovel 
much  more  than  the  rifle  or  any  other  offensive  weapon,  and  at  last 
worming  Beauregard  safely  out  of  his  works,  and  giving  our  commanding 
general  the  privilege  of  a  triumphal  entrance,  without  having  compelled 
him  to  experience  for  a  single  moment  the  thrilling  sensation  of  being 
under  the  enemy's  fire.  A  pursuit  of  the  rebels  was  commenced,  and, 
with  the  assistance  of  the  magnificent  bulletins  of  General  Pope — who 
could  get  off  more  thunder  and  less  lightning  than  any  other  of  our 
storming  generals — it  was  made  to  appear  as  a  fine  success.  In  this 
pursuit  our  regiment  joined,  and  went  as  far  as  Booneville,  about  twenty- 
five  miles  south  of  Corinth,  where  it  encamped  for  a  few  days,  and  then 
leisurely  returned. 

The  brigade  to  which  the  regiment  was  attached  now  pitched  their 
tents  in  a  beautiful  encampment  about  two  miles  southeast  of  Corinth, 
and  here  remained  in  perfect  quiet,  so  far  as  disturbance  from  the  enemy 
was  concerned.  Occasional  details  were  required  for  pickets,  others  for 
guard  duties,  and  drill  was  continued  all  the  while  a  portion  of  almost 
every  day,  but  upon  the  whole  the  summer  of  this  year,  from  early  in 
June  till  the  middle  of  September,  was  a  period  of  quiet  and  repose.  On 
the  15th  day  of  the  month  just  named  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  luka, 
and  arrived  there  on  the  17th.  The  command  did  not  directly  participate 

4  Lieutenant-Colonel  Parrott,  who  commanded  the  regiment  during  the  first  day's  battle,  and 
then,  on  account  of  indisposition,  turned  it  over  to  Major  Rice,  reports  the  loss  as  eleven  killed, 
seventeen  wounded,  and  six  missing.  The  following  list  is  taken  from  the  Adjutant-General's 
report : 

Killed,  Lieutenant  John  Dillon;  Privates  James  W.  Summers,  James  S.  Bonsel,  James  G.  Beek, 
(reported  killed,  afterwards  reported  prisoner),  A.  B.  Reed,  Jonathan  French,  George  W.  Wells,  G. 
W.  Hoag,  James  Murray,  George  W.  Charlton,  W.  C.  Truman.  Wounded,  Daniel  H.  Shannon,  Wil 
liam  C.  Henry,  William  H.  Todd,  W.  H.  Vallandingham,  (previously  wounded  at  Fort  Donelson),  N. 
Ilewett,  George  W.  Yocum,  Samuel  M.  Ream,  Joseph  Shirley,  Junius  Farmer,  L.  Harrington, 
Michael  Nunnemaker,  James  F.  Elliott,  M.  A.  Brown,  John  A.  Knerr,  Joseph  Leffler,  Gilbert 
Wheeler.  Missing,  Jacob  Alberson,  George  Pierson,  D.  L.  Wilson,  William  M.  Davis,  William 
Seaman. 


SEVENTH     INFANTRY.  139 

iii  the  battle  of  luka,  fought  on  the  afternoon  of  the  19th,  but  was  among 
those  troops  whose  disposition  had  been  made  by  General  Grant  with  the 
view  of  forcing  the  rebels  into  a  battle  where  the  Unionists  would  have 
greatly  the  advantage,  both  in  position  and  numbers,  and  which  design 
failed  of  execution  by  reason  of  Price's  sudden  and  fierce  attack  on 
General  Hamilton's  division,  and  the  retreat  of  the  enemy  after  that 
short  but  terrible  combat.  The  battle  over,  our  regiment  returned*  to 
their  former  camp  near  Corinth,  having  again  the  quiet  of  the  summer 
months  for  a  fortnight  more. 

In  the  battle  of  Corinth,  fought  on  the  3d  and  4th  days  of  October,  our 
regiment,  as  will  be  hereafter  more  particularly  related,  was  engaged  in 
the  thickest  of  the  combat,  and  gallantly  maintained  the  reputation  it  had 
fairly  won  at  Belmont,  at  Donelson,  and  at  Shiloh.  The  losses  of  the 
command  in  this  long  continued  engagement,  throughout  the  whole  of 
which  it  was  under  fire,  were  very  heavy,  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to 
about  one-third  of  the  number  who  participated  in  the  action.5 

The  brilliant  victory  having  been  won,  the  regiment  marched  with  the 

6  LIST  OF  CASUALTIES  : — Wounded,  Lieutenant-Colonel  J.  C.  Parrott;  Major  James  W.  McMullen ; 
Sergeant-Major  A.  D.  Cameron. 

Company  A.— Killed,  Henry  Porchers.  Wounded,  Corporal  D.  B.  Toulke;  F.  Graves  (missing),  F. 
L.  Major,  J.  W.  Mahin  (mortally),  C.  M.  Reynolds,  Silas  Reynolds,  G.  S.  Rutherford,  Thomas  Randle- 
man,  J.  S.  Wildman,  Charles  Reynolds,  Isaac  Cochrane. 

Company  B. — Killed,  Charles  I.  Channer,  Joseph  R.  Myers,  Silas  E.  Mills.  Wounded,  Sergeant 
Daniel  McTaggart  (prisoner),  Benjamin  E.  Morton,  John  McGee  (missing),  Henry  W.  Montrose, 
Giles  W.  Mead,  B.  H.  Poppleton  (missing),  James  Wilson. 

Company  C. — Killed,  Captain  Benton  K.  Smith ;  Francis  M.  Hoover,  H.  C.  Hollingsworth.  Wounded, 
Lieutenant  George  J.  Bennett ;  Sergeants  William  H.  Berkey,  J.  G.  Crookham  ;  Samuel  H.  Blair, 
Jason  Helmick,  Simpson  Hodges,  John  Hites,  William  Mullen,  R.  C.  McMahanan  (prisoner),  Solo 
mon  Myers,  Henry  Oswandle,  John  L.  Pearson,  James  W.  Snooks,  Theodore  M.  Dunbar,  Edward 
Jones. 

Company  D. — Killed,  James  Young.  Wounded,  Lieutenants  Benjamin  B.  Gale,  Joseph  B. 
Morrison  ;  Sergeant  James  L.  Stevens ;  Corporal  James  D.  Hamilton ;  Musician  Isaac  C.  Furtney ; 
Conrad  Eitzer,  Lewis  P.  Maynard,  Charles  E.  Oatman,  William  B.  Philips,  George  Rollett,  Henry 
Rogers,  Benjamin  Thomas,  Henry  Walbert,  Calvin  B.  Cowles,  Marquis  L.  Welch. 

Company  E. — Killed,  Corporal  John  Scott.  Woi-inded,  Captain  Curtis  F.  Conn ;  Sergeants  Natha 
niel  Reed,  Clayton  Hart;  Corporals  George  E.  Humphrey,  Jeremiah  C.  Percy  (prisoner),  Robert 
Criswell  (prisoner),  Peter  Miles,  Charles  S.  Sherman,  Patrick  Cadell  (prisoner),  John  McCormick. 

Company  F.— Killed,  Alonzo  W.  Neighbor,  John  A.  Seaton,  George  H.  White.  Wounded,  Ulysses 
Bartlett,  Edward  R.  Doolittle,  John  Harness  (mortally),  James  E.  Hoisington,  Alexander  Norris, 
Orin  Russell,  Henry  Voss,  John  Doak,  Eli  Saul,  James  Burton. 

Company  G.— Killed,  Sergeants  George  Horton,  Richard  Bartlett,  A.  K.  Babcock;  Byron  Butler 
(killed  by  guerrillas  before  battle),  William  Mary.  Wounded,  Lieutenant  Walter  Camp  (prisoner), 
Sergeant  Oliver  Patten ;  Corporals  Robert  Cooper,  John  Fredrickson ;  Robert  Burns,  Newton  S. 
Clothier,  Clark  Cross,  Junius  Farmer  (prisoner),  John  A.  Graham,  Lucius  Harrington  (prisoner),  John 
F.  Jenkins  (prisoner),  William  Kerns,  Robert  Kepney,  Robert  Montgomery,  Michael  McCoy  (pri 
soner),  Abraham  Talbott. 

Company  H. — Killed,  Hugh  Andrews,  William  W.  Edmundson.  Wounded,  Lieutenant  James  B. 
Hope  ;  Corporals  Samuel  M.  Logan,  Andrew  J.  Shepherd,  Samuel  M.  Rickey  (mortally);  Theophilus 
Ferree,  Burton  Fuller,  James  E.  Moorman,  Andrew  S.  Moorman,  John  S.  Matthew  (prisoner),  Leander 
Rickey,  George  Tenant  (mortally). 

Company  L— Killed,  James  King,  William  H.  McGonigal.  Wounded,  Lieutenant  Frank  A.  Irvin, 
Newton  I.  White. 


140  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

army  in  pursuit  of  the  flying  rebels  early  on  the  morning  of  October  5th ; 
but  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day  was  ordered  back  to  Corinth,  where  it 
bivouacked  a  short  time,  and  then  moved  to  Rienzi,  a  little  place  some  ten 
or  twelve  miles  south  of  Corinth,  which  was  reached  on  the  evening  of  the 
7th.  Taking  here  a  few  days  for  much  needed  rest,  it  marched  to 
Kossuth,  where  a  camp  was  established ;  but  on  the  day  after  the  men  had 
been  comfortably  quartered  therein,  they  were  ordered  to  a  little  place  a 
few  miles  northward,  and  which,  in  the  horrid  nomenclature  of  Southern 
towns  where  there  is  no  aristocracy,  was  called  Bone- Yard.  Here  tents 
were  pitched  again,  in  which  the  command  remained  for  about  one  month. 
Thence  it  marched  again  to  Corinth,  and  there  going  into  tents,  passed  the 
winter  of  1862-3  without  remarkable  or  noteworthy  incident. 

During  the  year  1863,  in  which  the  armies  of  the  Union  that  battled 
against  Lee  in  the  East,  and  by  bloody  contest  and  long  siege  contended 
for  the  control  of  the  Mississippi  River  in  the  Southwest,  and  which  by 
their  great  achievements  attracted  to  themselves  the  principal  attention  of 
the  country;  during  this  important  era,  those  small  armies  and  detach 
ments  which  were  not  engaged  on  the  immediate  theatre  of  hostilities  did 
perform,  nevertheless,  though  with  comparative  freedom  from  danger,  and 
in  comparative  quiet,  services  which  were  of  vast  importance  to  the  armies 
in  face  of  the  enemy,  and  of  general  advantage  to  the  country.  At  the 
time  to  which  reference  is  here  made,  the  lines  occupied  by  the  army  of 
the  Union  extended,  speaking  generally,  in  a  southwestern  direction,  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Shenandoah  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  To  the 
rear  were  strongholds,  forts,  fortified  towns  and  cities,  won  by  our  gallant 
soldiery,  and  many  fields  bearing  the  trophies  of  our  victories.  But  in 
pushing  the  armies  fighting  the  Republic  still  further  back  upon  the  sea 
and  the  gulf,  where  too  we  had  no  insignificant  forces  to  oppose  them,  the 
Union  troops  were  met  with  stout  resistance,  first  on  the  right  and  left  of 
their  grand  line,  and  afterwards  on  the  centre. 

The  troops  which,  during  this  year  of  great  events,  garrisoned  our  line 
of  military  frontier,  guarded  our  communications,  rebuilt  thoroughfares 
which  had  been  destroyed,  should  no  more  be  forgotten  than  should  the 
reserve  of  an  army  which  did  not  happen  to  be  called  into  action  in  a 
particular  engagement.  Nor  were  their  services  without  peculiar  dangers 
and  hardships.  In  a  certain  sense  within  the  enemy's  country,  they  were 
always  liable  to  attack  from  raiders  and  from  guerrilla-men,  whilst  it  was 
necessary  on  all  accounts  that  they  should  keep  up  a  constant  watehful- 
ness.  Details  were  frequently  required  for  scouts,  foraging  parties,  and 
guards  for  trains  between  the  more  important  outposts,  or  to  and  from  the 
depots  of  supplies.  No  little  time  was  spent  in  drilling.  In  fine,  the 
duties  of  that  portion  of  the  troops  of  the  Union  army  to  which  I  have 


SEVENTH      INFANTRY.  141 

been  referring  were  onerous,  monotonous,  and,  winning  little  notice  and 
none  of  that  eclat  in  which  the  true  soldier  takes  so  much  pride,  were 
irksome  and  disagreeable. 

It  was  in  the  performance  of  the  kind  of  service  here  briefly  described, 
that  the  Seventh  Iowa  spent  the  year  of  1863,  after  the  time  had  come  for 
the  commencement  of  active  operations  in  the  field.  The  regiment  moved 
to  Bethel,  Tennessee,  in  the  month  of  March.  This  village  is  about  eigli^y 
miles  nearly  east  of  Corinth,  and  about  the  same  distance  south  of  Nash 
ville,  and  not  far  from  the  railway  connecting  the  latter  city  with  Decatur, 
Alabama.  Here  it  remained  about  three  months,  and  then  returned  again 
to  Corinth,  where  the  men  built  themselves  comfortable  quarters,  but  be 
fore  getting  any  comfort  from  them  were  ordered  to  Moscow,  a  town  in 
Tennessee  a  little  more  than  midway  between  Corinth  and  Memphis,  and 
directly  on  the  railroad.  From  here  and  from  Lagrange,  a  few  miles  west 
ward,  where  the  regiment  also  spent  some  time,  the  command  made  two  or 
three  expeditions  into  Mississippi.  Late  in  the  fall,  when  the  nights  had 
become  cold,  the  men  of  the  regiment  rode  on  top  of  box-cars  to  luka,  and 
there  taking  up  line  of  march,  proceeded  across  the  country,  crossing  the 
Tennessee  River  at  Eastport,  to  the  wealthy  and  pleasant  little  city  of 
Pulaski,  which  is  about  ten  miles  north  and  a  little  east  of  Bethel.  The 
command  reached  Pulaski  on  the  llth  day  of  November,  having  during 
the  summer  passed  three  times  over  nearly  half  the  length  of  Tennessee, 
and  performed  several  other  marches  of  less  importance,  in  the  course  of 
their  duties  in  guarding  the  frontier. 

Almost  any  modern  map  of  Tennessee  will  show  that  Pulaski  is  on  the 
Southern  Central  Railroad,  but  at  the  time  our  regiment  reached  the  place, 
the  road  had  for  a  considerable  distance  both  north  and  south  of  Pulaski 
been  entirely  destroyed.  In  the  march  thither  but  little  transportation 
accompanied  the  column,  and  the  men  were  without  tents.  So  they  pro 
ceeded  to  build  for  themselves  rude  huts,  which  in  the  army,  perhaps  for 
the  reason  that  they  are  exclusively  an  army  institution,  and  therefore  de 
serve  an  army  name,  are  universally  called  "shebangs."  These  shebangs, 
though  exceedingly  comfortable,  are  built  somewhat  in  the  style  of  aborigi 
nal  architecture.  It  is  remarkable  how  quickly  an  army  or  a  detachment, 
on  entering  a  city,  will  build  for  itself  little  cities  of  shebangs.  In  every 
southern  town  there  would  be  found  unoccupied  houses — buildings  which 
had  never  been  finished,  perhaps  for  the  reason  that  the  cost  had  not  been 
counted  in  the  first  place ;  others  which,  built  long  ago,  had  been  abandoned, 
whose  bare  walls  were  now  only  "haunted;"  and  others  still,  partially  de 
stroyed  by  fire,  remained  as  melancholy  monuments  of  southern  shiftless- 
ness.  Moreover,  it  was  often  the  case  that  the  residences  of  notorious 
rebels  were  left  entirely  without  occupants.  It  will  readily  be  believed  that 


142  IOWA      AND     THE     REBELLION. 

from  all  these  rich  materials,  to  which  might  be  added  all  the  fences  with 
out  any  discrimination,  our  conquering,  occupying  legions,  whose  notions 
of  meum  and  tuum  most  decidedly  leaned  to  the  side  of  meum,  found 
plenty  wherewithal  to  construct  their  shebangs.  Besides  being  most  useful, 
many  of  them,  though  externally  rude,  were  richly  ornamented  within. 
Images  in  gold  and  ivory,  statuettes  of  all  the  gods  and  goddesses,  and 
some  of  the  muses,  arranged  on  temporary  brackets,  exhibited  the  classic 
taste  of  many  of  our  troops,  while  paintings  in  oil  executed  by  distin 
guished  limners  made  further  inquiry  useless  as  to  their  love  of  art.  Carpets 
from  Turkey,  from  Brussels,  from  the  famous  looms  of  Scotland,  softly  sank 
beneath  the  tread  of  many  bare-footed  heroes.  Nor  was  it  the  least  remark 
able  thing  connected  with  these  gorgeous  riches  of  the  shebang,  that  upon 
inquiry  as  to  where  they  come  from,  it  would  invariably  be  discovered  that 
they  had  been  found  buried  in  the  middle  of  a  field  by  parties  foraging  for 
potatoes  and  bacon.6 

The  men  of  our  regiment  enjoyed  the  luxuries  of  their  shebangs  at 
Pulaski  less  fully  than  they  might  have  done  had  it  not  been  for  the 
destruction  of  the  railway.  On  this  account  the  nearest  depot  of  supplies 
was  at  Smith's  Station,  six  miles  north  of  Columbia,  and  about  thirty-six 
miles  distant  from  Pulaski.  The  supplies  had  to  be  transported  this 
distance  by  wagon — a  thing  of  no  easy  accomplishment,  as  all  may  know 
who  are  acquainted  with  the  general  character  of  Tennessee  roads.  The 
regiment  was  escort  for  a  train  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  wagons  to  and 
from  Smith's  Station,  in  the  early  part  of  December,  at  a  period  when  the 
inclemency  of  the  weather  caused  no  little  suffering  among  the  men.  They 
returned  to  their  shebangs  with  feelings  of  pleasure  akin  to  those  of  the 
traveler  who  returns  to  his  native  land  after  years  spent  amid  the  cold  andt 
costly  hospitalities  of  foreign  eating-houses.  The  shebang  has  its  Penates 
scarcely  less  sacred  than  those  of  home. 

Whilst  the  regiment  was  here  quartered,  in  anticipation  of  a  merry 
Christmas,  and  but  a  few  days  before  that  anniversary,  orders  were  received, 
allowing  men  who  had  been  in  the  service  two  years,  to  reenlist,  and  thus 
become  veterans.  Within  a  few  days  three-fourths  of  the  men  of  the 
Seventh  present  for  duty  reenlisted.  They  were  entitled,  in  consequence, 
under  the  rule  of  the  War  Department,  to  one  month's  furlough  at  home. 
Accordingly,  on  the  7th  day  of  January,  1864,  the  regiment  started  for 
Iowa,  and  the  men  were  furloughed  on  the  20th.  They  were  received  with 
kind  demonstrations  by  the  people  of  the  State.  Returning  to  the  ren- 

6  The  "  shebang,"  as  described  in  the  text,  was  almost  exclusively  used  by  our  western  armies,  by 
whose  skill,  bravery,  and  fortune,  so  many  cities  were  captured.  The  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  at 
times  quartered  in  huts,  but  they  were  generally  made  in  pursuance  of  orders,  while  shebangs  were 
the  result  of  voluntary  labor  on  the  part  of  the  troops  and  of— foraging. 


SEVENTH     INFANTRY.  143 

dezvous  at  Keokuk  at  the  expiration  of  the  furlough,  they  left  for  the 
front  on  the  27th  of  February,  the  regiment  having  meantime  been 
increased  about  two  hundred  by  the  mustering  in  of  that  many  recruits. 
Going  by  steamer  to  Cairo,  and  by  other  steamers  to  Nashville,  the  regi 
ment  reached  the  latter  place  in  detachments,  from  the  4th  to  the  7th  of 
March,  and  thence  proceeded  by  rail  to  Pulaski.  Not  halting  long  here,  it 
moved  on  to  Prospect,  a  village  on  the  banks  of  the  Elk  River,  i& 
Tennessee,  but  near  the  State  of  Alabama.  From  this  time  till  near  the 
close  of  the  following  month,  it  garrisoned  this  post. 

On  the  27th  of  April  it  left  Prospect,  and  started  on  the  memorable 
campaign  against  Atlanta,  In  this  grand  march,  which  was  one  of  con 
tinual  skirmishing  and  fighting — skirmishes,  which  in  former  wars  would 
have  been  battles,  and  battles  which  were  like  contests  of  giants — the  regi 
ment  bore  its  part  with  untarnished  honor,  fighting  in  nearly  all  the  battles 
of  the  campaign,  coming  out  of  it  with  thinned  ranks,  but  indomitable 
spirit,  and  most  gratifying  reputation.  At  the  very  first  severe  fighting  of 
the  campaign,  the  regiment  was  heavily  engaged.  This  was  at  the  crossing 
of  the  Oostanaula  River,  at  Lay's  Ferry,  a  few  miles  southwest  of  Resaca — 
which  crossing  was  effected  by  Brigadier-General  E.  W.  Rice,  in  command 
of  the  advance  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  on  the  15th  of  May,  and 
which  caused  the  abandonment  of  Resaca  the  same  day  by  the  rebels. 

General  Rice,  having  made  demonstrations  to  cross  the  river,  on  the  14th, 
at  a  point  higher  up  the  stream,  early  on  the  morning  of  the  15th  threw 
his  brigade  rapidly  across  at  Lay's  Ferry,  by  means  of  an  old  flat-boat 
which  he  there  found,  and  pontoons.  The  passage  of  the  river  by  his 
brigade  occupied  about  an  hour  and  a  quarter,  during  which  time,  by  two 
companies  of  sharp-shooters  of  the  Sixty-sixth  Illinois,  whom  he  sent  across 
in  the  flat-boat  and  deployed  as  skirmishers  in  a  rather  open  field  above  the 
ferry,  under  cover  of  his  artillery,  and  the  Sixty-sixth  Indiana,  which 
double-quicked  to  the  bank  and  drove  the  enemy's  sharp-shooters  from 
their  rifle-pits  on  the  opposite  bank,  he  drew  the  attention  of  the  rebels 
away  from  the  real  passage.  The  passage  of  General  Rice's  brigade  having 
been  effected,  it  was  posted  in  echelon,  out  of  sight  of  the  enemy,  com 
pletely  concealed  by  the  woods  and  the  nature  of  the  ground.  A  tete-du- 
pont  was  immediately  thrown  up,  and  another  brigade,  reporting  to  General 
Rice,  crossed  the  river,  and  formed  on  the  left  of  his  brigade.  The  third 
brigade  of  the  division  also  reported  to  General  Rice,  but  was  formed  on  the 
north  bank  of  the  river.  The  tete-du-pont  being  completed,  demonstrations 
were  at  once  commenced  against  the  enemy,  consisting  of  an  entire  division 
under  command  of  General  Walker.  These  demonstrations  were  made  by 
the  second  brigade  upon  the  enemy's  right.  Meantime,  the  Seventh  Iowa, 
Major  McMullen  commanding,  and  an  Indiana  regiment,  were  sent  forward 


144  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

with  the  object  of  discovering  the  enemy's  left  flank.  Just  as  our  regi 
ment  reached  the  point  where  the  enemy  was  expected,  he  was  found 
massed  in  column,  ready  to  move  against  the  troops  in  the  open  field  on  our 
left.  The  Seventh,  quickly  followed  by  the  Indianians,  who  fairly  cracked 
the  air  with  their  indescribable  yells,  rushed  on  the  flank  of  the  surprised 
rebels,  and  speedily  threw  them  into  inextricable  confusion.  Two  full 
batteries  opening  on  them  from  commanding  positions  on  the  north  bank 
of  the  river,  they  could  not  be  rallied,  but  were  driven  headlong  from  the 
field  in  a  perfect  rout.  This  combat  on  the  enemy's  left  only  lasted,  so  far 
as  infantry  was  concerned,  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  in  which  brief  space, 
our  regiment  lost  about  sixty,  of  whom  seven  were  killed  on  the  spot,  and 
the  rest  wounded.  The  Indiana  regiment  lost  one  killed,  and  thirteen 
wounded.  The  enemy  left  thirty-six  dead  on  the  field,  and  his  total  loss 
could  not  have  been  less  than  two  hundred  and  fifty.  But  though  the 
affair,  simply  as  a  combat,  was  highly  creditable  to  General  Rice  and  the 
troops  under  his  command,  it  was  more  especially  noteworthy  on  account 
of  the  important  results  which  followed  from  it — results  which  were  disas 
trous  to  Johnston  and  beneficial  to  Sherman. 

The  Seventh  Iowa  Volunteers  in  this  short,  sharp,  and  decisive  engage 
ment,  fought  with  great  bravery  not  only,  but  with  an  enthusiasm  for  battle 
which  was  with  great  difficulty  restrained  within  proper  bounds.7  And 
they  kept  up  their  fine  fighting  reputation  throughout  the  campaign. 
They  did  not  get  much  rest  after  it  closed,  before  commencing  the  grand 
promenade  to  Savannah.  During  their  stay  at  Rome,  however,  between 
the  capture  of  Atlanta  and  the  beginning  of  the  fall  campaign,  they  cast 

1  LIST  OF  CASUALTIES  AT  LAY'S  FERRY.  Killed,  S.  A.  Meyers,  Silas  Parsons,  Francis  McMains,  B.  F. 
McNall.  Mortally  wounded,  John  Knight,  Wm.  H.  Litsey,  C.  S.  Buckner,  H.  C.  McGill,  L.  North,  0. 
E.  Frazier,  George  Courtney,  James  Cochran,  A.  C.  Field,  Peter  Leffler.  Wounded,  8.  C.  McMannis, 
S.  V.  Kalson,  W.  T.  Whittier,  Wm.  Darnell ;  these  on  the  14th.  On  the  15th,  Captain  T.  L.  Mont 
gomery  ;  Sergeant  Alex.  Irwin ;  J.  McNall,  H.  C.  Reynolds,  A.  T.  Johnson  T.  L.  Hull,  Wm.  B. 
Thompson,  Wm.  Meyers,  Bartus  Basch,  Wm.  H.  Styers,  E.  A.  Wood,  D.  W.  Butler,  G.  M.  Kuder, 
Sylvanus  Hoy,  John  W.  Hoit,  George  McGrue,  James  M.  Proctor,  John  L.  Morgan,  W.  C.  Bonsall, 
Sergeant  J.  D.  Hamilton ;  Wm.  R.  Berry,  Jacob  Gutterman,  John  Heisler,  Corporal  J.  C.  Percy ; 
Benedict  Friday,  Wm.  C.  Dove,  James  McGee,  John  Weyrick,  Corporal  D.  G.  Hoover ;  T.  N.  Long, 
Sergeant  J.A.Wilson;  Wm.  B.  Taylor,  Wm.  Black,  Sergeant  S.M.Logan;  Corporal  John  Moon; 
H.  C.  Gilliland,  A.  Rinsing,  G.  S.  McKay,  Sergeant  George  Lazenby;  John  Woodruff,  Samuel 
Roberts,  Sergeant  Charles  Pheasant;  also,  negro  cook,  "Flip." 

AT  DALLAS,  .KENESAW  MOUNTAIN,  NICKAJACK  CREEK,  ATLANTA,  JONESBORO.  Kitted,  Sergeants  B. 
Thomas,  J.  L.  Foster;  David  Warsheim,  B.  R.  Burdick,  F.  S.  Sprouls,  D.  H.  Poppleton.  Wounded,  Cap 
tain  Benjamin  B.  Gale ;  Lieutenant  C.  J.  Sergeant ;  John  Roth,  M.  Fanning,  Joel  Goddard,  D.  Stocker, 
George  Rallett,  Sergeants  George  Rutherford,  H.  L.  Balcom,  George  M.  Martin,  P.  M.  Hoisington ; 
J.  M.  Kercher,  Fred.  G.  Walters,  Thomas  E.  Rollins,  J.  H.  Wilson,  Charles  McCoy,  A.  P.  Hart,  Ser 
geant  H.  Skinsey ;  W.  E.  Dawson,  J.  B.  Jacobs,  E.  Crumb,  D.  G.  Hoover,  Z.  Johns,  H.  Young,  J.  M. 
Streble,  M.  L.  Welch,  A.  Kensing,  Sergeant-Major  A.  D.  Cameron ;  John  Clark,  C.  R.  Manafee,  Ser 
geant  Alexander  Fields ;  R.  0.  Thayer. 

Private  Jerome  Hunt,  was  killed  at  Alatoona  Pass,  October  5th,  being  on  detached  duty. 

The  gallant  Captain  W.  W.  De  Heus,  was  captured  June  19th,  and  died  months  afterwards  from 
the  effects  of  rebel  treatment.  Private  Edward  Hill,  was  captured  at  the  same  time,  making  the 
total  casualties  in  the  regiment  during  the  campaign,  one  hundred  and  four. 


SEVENTH     INFANTRY.  145 

their  votes  for  President,  under  the  law  of  the  State  giving  our  soldiers  in 
the  field  the  elective  franchise.  Mr.  Lincoln  received  three  hundred  and 
twenty  votes,  and  General  McClellan  only  two.  From  Rome,  the  regiment 
marched  to  Atlanta,  reaching  that  place  on  November  15th,  there  drew 
clothing,  rations,  etc. ,  and  at  once  joined  the  column  moving  forward.  In 
the  entire  march  from  Rome  to  Savannah,  there  were  but  three  casualties 
occurred  in  the  regiment,  two  men  being  slightly  wounded  in  a  skirmish,  * 
December  7th,  and  one  man  severely  on  the  llth,  in  front  of  the  works  of 
Savannah. 

Our  regiment  remained  in  camp  near  Savannah  about  five  weeks,  and 
then  commenced  the  march  homeward  bound.  The  command  moved 
northwestwardly  from  Savannah  on  the  28th  day  of  January,  1865,  and 
crossing  the  Savannah  River  at  Sister's  Ferry,  plunged  into  the  swamps  of 
South  Carolina.  Of  this  remarkable  march  of  the  army  through  the  Caro- 
linas,  in  some  respects  the  most  wonderful  in  history,  I  shall  hereafter  take 
occasion  to  relate  such  particulars  as  may  be  illustrative  of  its  general 
character,  and  which  shall  at  the  same  time  exhibit  the  part  taken  therein 
by  the  regiments  of  Iowa  which  marched  under  the  orders  of  Sherman. 
Let  it  suffice  for  the  present  that  in  this  laborious  march,  made  through  a 
hostile  country  in  mid  winter,  through  swamps  as  dismal  as  the  imagina 
tion  could  picture,  through  frequent  storms  of  rain  and  one  of  snow,  across 
innumerable  creeks  and  rivers,  our  regiment  never  for  a  moment  lost  its  cheer 
fulness,  never  uttered  a  murmur.  In  this  enthusiastic  spirit,  it  marched 
from  Savannah  to  Goldsboro,  a  distance  of  four  hundred  and  eighty  miles, 
suffering  much,  complaining  none,  and  having  built,  and  assisted  in  build 
ing,  nearly  thirty-nine  miles  of  corduroy  road  by  actual  measurement. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Parrott,  a  man  not  given  to  the  melting  mood,  speaks 
in  the  most  exalted  terms  of  the  conduct  of  his  gallant  men  throughout  the 
march,  during  which  the  losses  were  but  one  man  captured  and  two 
wounded.  They  reached  Goldsboro  on  the  24th  of  March,  and  went  into 
camp  near  the  city,  where  their  campaigning  practically  ended.  They 
afterwards  marched  to  Raleigh,  thence  by  Richmond  to  Washington  City, 
participating  there  in  the  great  review,8  and  then  going  by  rail  and  trans 
port  to  Louisville,  where  with  our  other  veterans  they  were  mustered  out, 
having  earned  the  gratitude  and  admiration  of  their  countrymen,  by  four 
years  of  as  gallant  service  in  the  cause  of  their  country,  their  God,  and 
truth,  as,  let  us  search  ever  so  strictly,  we  can  find  among  the  annals  of 
our  volunteer  soldiery. 

8  At  this  time  the  officers  of  the  regiment  were :  J.  C.  Parrott,  Lieutenant-Colonel  commanding ; 
Samuel  Mahon,  Major;  Wm.  W.  Sapp,  Adjutant;  Joseph  Everingham,  Surgeon;  John  Ashton, 
Assistant  Surgeon ;  Lieutenant  Wm.  W.  Birdsall,  Acting  Quartermaster.  Captains — Alexander  Irwin, 
Samuel  P.  Folsom,  S.  Helmick,  James  D.  Hamilton,  John  McCormick,  Allen  D.  Cameron,  Benjamin  S. 
Barbour,  Timothy  Spence.  First  Lieutenants — Wm.  D.  Reynolds,  Henry  I.  Smith,  Joseph  K.  Smith, 
L.  P.  Maynard,  John  Knight,  Peter  Hennegan,  Henry  S.  Kirisey,  George  W.  Lazenby,  Otho  Bonser. 
19 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

NINTH    INFANTRY. 

THE  REGIMENT  RECRUITED  BY  HON.  WILLIAM  VANDEVER— RENDEZVOUS  AT  DU- 
BUQUE  —  DEPARTURE  FOR  ST.  LOUIS  —  GUARDING  RAILWAY  — ARMY  OF  THE 
SOUTHWEST  — MARCH  TO  ARKANSAS  —  THE  BATTLE  OF  PEA  MIDGE— 
MARCH  ACROSS  ARKANSAS  TO  HELENA— QUIET— ACTIVE  CAMPAIGNING  AGAIN 
— CHICKASAW  BAYOU— ARKANSAS  POST— ATTACHED  TO  THE  FIRST  DIVISION, 
FIFTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS  — THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  VICKSBURG  — OF  JACKSON  — 
MARCH  TO  CHATTANOOGA,  TENNESSEE— BATTLES  OF  LOOKOUT  MOUNTAIN,  MIS 
SIONARY  RIDGE,  AND  RINGGOLD— HOME  ON  VETERAN  FURLOUGH— THE  ATLANTA 
CAMPAIGN— MARCH  TO  SAVANNAH— THROUGH  THE  CAROLINAS— TO  WASHING 
TON  CITY— MOVE  TO  LOUISVILLE,  KENTUCKY— HOME. 

IN  July,  1861,  on  the  day  after  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  the  Hon. 
WILLIAM  VANDEVER,  then  a  representative  in  Congress  from  the  second 
district  of  Iowa,  which  at  that  time  embraced  the  northern  half  of  the 
State,  went  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  tendered  a  regiment  of  volunteers, 
to  be  recruited  and  organized  by  himself  in  his  district.  His  proposition 
was  accepted  at  once  by  Mr.  Cameron,  and  Mr.  Vandever  speedily  returned 
to  Iowa,  and  went  energetically  to  work  in  the  matter.  Early  in  August 
the  first  company  went  into  rendezvous  at  Dubuque,  and  in  a  few  weeks 
the  regiment  was  fully  organized.  It  was  mustered  into  the  service  on  the 
24th  of  September,  with  the  following  organization :  William  Vandever, 
Colonel ;  Frank  J.  Herron,  Lieutenant-Colonel ;  William  H.  Coyle,  Major ; 
William  Scott,  Adjutant ;  F.  S.  Winslow,  Quartermaster ;  Benjamin 
McClure,  Surgeon ;  H.  W.  Hart,  Assistant  Surgeon ;  Rev.  A.  B.  Kendig, 
Chaplain ;  Company  A,  Jackson  county,  Captain  A.  W.  Drips ;  Company 
B,  Jones  county,  Captain  D.  A.  Carpenter ;  Company  C,  Buchanan  county, 
Captain  J.  M.  Hord ;  Company  D,  Jones  county,  Captain  David  Harper ; 
Company  E,  Clayton  county,  Captain  A.  Bevins;  Company  F,  Fayette 
county,  Captain  James  W.  Towner ;  Company  Gr,  Black  Hawk  county, 
Captain  F.  S.  Washburn ;  Company  H,  Winneshiek  county,  Captain  M. 
A.  Moore ;  Company  I,  from  Howard  and  adjoining  counties,  Captain  J. 
146 


NINTH     INFANTRY.  147 

H.  Powers;  Company  K,  Linn  county,  Captain  D.  Carskaddon.  Other 
counties  than  those  here  named,  chiefly  among  those  now  in  the  third  con 
gressional  district,  contributed  members  to  the  organization. 

The  regiment  remained  in  rendezvous  but  a  day  or  two  after  being  sworn 
into  the  service.  It  proceeded  to  St.  Louis,  and  there  went  into  camp  of 
instruction  at  Benton  Barracks.  Here  it  remained  till  near  the  middle  of  4 
October,  when  it  was  assigned  the  duty  of  guarding  the  southwestern 
branch  of  the  Pacific  railway,  from  Franklin  to  Holla.  Here  the  command 
remained  in  camps  of  instruction,  as  it  were,  for  more  than  three  months. 
During  this  period,  all  the  troops  composing  the  armies  of  the  West,  so 
called  here  by  way  of  geographical  and  not  official  designation,  were  pre 
paring  themselves  for  that  grand  forward  movement,  which,  commencing 
soon  afterwards,  swept  with  irresistible  force,  not  often  long  retarded,  over 
the  whole  domain  claimed  by  traitors,  and  at  last  hurled  them  to  destruction, 
many  of  the  Union  troops  engaged  in  the  glorious  work,  having,  in  aid  of 
its  complete  accomplishment,  marched,  skirmished,  fought  the  entire  circuit 
of  the  confederacy.  Among  these  was  the  Ninth  Iowa  Volunteers. 

On  the  22d  day  of  January,  1862,  the  various  companies  of  the  command 
left  their  camps  along  the  railroad,  and  joined  the  Army  of  the  Southwest, 
concentrating  at  Holla,  under  Brigadier-General  Samuel  R.  Curtis.  March 
ing  to  Lebanon,  some  sixty  miles  southwest  of  Holla,  a  week  was  there 
spent  in  organization  and  preparation.  The  army  was  composed  of  four 
divisions,  the  First,  commanded  by  General  F.  Sigel,  the  Second  by  General 
A.  Asboth,  the  Third  by  Colonel  Jefferson  C.  Davis,  and  the  Fourth  by 
Colonel  E.  A.  Carr.  The  troops  were  from  the  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Iowa,  and  Missouri.  Colonel  G.  M.  Dodge,  Fourth  Iowa,  com 
manded  the  First  Brigade,  Fourth  Division,  consisting  of  his  own  regiment, 
the  Thirty-fifth  Illinois,  and  the  First  Iowa  Battery.  Colonel  Vandever  was 
in  command  of  the  Second  Brigade,  consisting  of  the  Ninth  Iowa,  Twenty- 
fifth  Missouri,  Third  Illinois  Cavalry,  and  Third  Iowa  Battery.  Two  bat 
talions  of  the  Third  Iowa  Cavalry,  Colonel  Bussey,  were  also  in  the  army, 
but  not  assigned  to  any  particular  division.  So  that  all  the  Iowa  troops 
participating  in  the  campaign  were  in  Colonel  Carr's  division. 

The  army  marched  after  the  rebel  Price,  and  on  the  15th  of  February 
entered  Springfield  from  all  sides,  having  hoped  there  to  find  the  enemy. 
He  had  gone.  General  Curtis  marched  in  pursuit  the  next  morning.  Price 
moved  with  great  rapidity,  and  the  pursuit  was  for  several  days  equally 
rapid.  Carr's  division  had  the  advance,  and  skirmishing  daily  with  the 
enemy  was  the  rule,  to  which  there  was  no  exception.  It  was  in  one  of 
these  skirmishes,  at  Sugar  Creek,  near  where  it  crosses  the  line  separating 
Missouri  from  Arkansas,  that  the  Ninth  Iowa  was  first  under  fire.  The 
command  behaved  like  veterans  on  this,  to  them,  important  occasion, 


148  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

charging  and  driving  before  them  a  force  fully  three  times  as  strong  as  their 
own,  having  first  received  without  flinching  the  fire  of  a  battery  of  artillery 
and  its  infantry  supports. 

The  army  still  moved  on  in  pursuit.  At  Cross  Hollows,  eighteen  miles 
south  of  the  Arkansas  line,  Price  was  joined  by  McCulloch.  These  two 
traitors  counseled  together,  and  the  result  of  their  deliberations  was  a  de 
termination  to  move  still  further  south.  The  Union  army  pursued  no 
farther  than  Cross  Hollows.  Here  General  Curtis  determined  to  await 
attack,  and  accordingly  halted  his  army,  but  for  convenience  of  forage  and 
subsistence  posted  the  different  divisions  at  a  considerable  distance  from 
each  other,  but  not  beyond  the  capacity  of  mutual  support,  in  case  of  the 
approach  of  the  enemy.  The  First  Division,  now  under  the  command  of 
Colonel  Osterhaus,  and  the  Second,  were  near  Bentonville,  twelve  miles 
west  of  Cross  Hollows.  Both  were  under  command  of  General  Sigel.  The 
Third  Division,  Colonel  Davis,  was  at  Sugar  Creek.  The  Fourth,  Colonel 
Carr,  was  at  Cross  Hollows,  head-quarters  of  the  army. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  Colonel  Yandever,  with  a  picked  portion  of  his 
brigade,  consisting  of  a  battalion  of  cavalry,  a  section  of  the  Dubuque 
Battery,  and  a  large  detachment  of  his  own  regiment,  moved  from  the 
camp  of  the  division,  and  marched  fifteen  miles  in  the  direction  of  Hunts- 
ville.  The  command  reached  that  place  on  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day, 
and  found  it  to  be  a  dilapidated  southern  village  which  had  just  been  aban 
doned  by  a  body  of  rebel  cavalry.  The  ancient  citizens  were  greatly  be 
wildered  by  the  advent  into  the  midst  of  them  of  so  many  northern  barba 
rians.  Nevertheless,  some  of  them  imparted  the  astounding  intelligence 
that  the  rebel  army  under  Price  and  McCulloch,  after  retreating  twenty-five 
miles  below  Cross  Hollows,  had  been  heavily  reenforced,  and  that  an  army 
of  probably  forty  thousand  men  under  Major-General  Earl  Van  Dorn  was 
advancing  northward  on  General  Curtis.  Colonel  Vandever  received  this 
information  with  the  utmost  apparent  indifference,  and  allowed  his  com 
mand  to  remain  in  town  for  some  two  hours,  while  he  appeared  to  be 
attending  to  matters  which  would  naturally  have  fallen  under  his  attention 
as  an  Union  ofiicer.  Toward  evening  he  leisurely  marched  his  command 
out  of  town,  and  pitched  camp  some  miles  distant.  During  the  night  a 
courier  arrived  bearing  dispatches  from  General  Curtis,  confirming  the  in 
telligence  of  the  afternoon,  and  ordering  him  to  march  with  all  possible 
despatch  to  Pea  Ridge,  where  the  army  was  being  concentrated  for  battle. 

By  the  route  Colonel  Vandever  would  now  have  to  take,  in  order  to 
avoid  the  rebel  army,  he  could  not  reach  Pea  Ridge  without  a  march  of 
forty-one  miles.  Across  his  pathway,  too,  lay  White  River,  and  other 
streams  of  lesser  size,  which  had  to  be  forded.  To  add  to  his  difficulties, 
snow  fell  during  the  night,  and  made  the  marching  most  laborious  and 


NINTH      INFANTRY.  149 

disagreeable.  At  four  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  6th,  the  little  column 
was  in  motion.  There  was  no  confusion,  no  excitement.  Steadily  the 
march  continued — tramp,  tramp,  all  day  long,  was  the  only  sound  that  was 
heard,  and  that  was  heard  as  regularly  as  the  ticking  of  a  clock.  Not  a 
moment's  time  was  lost  throughout  the  day.  At  six  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
having  marched  for  fourteen  consecutive  hours,  the  command  reached  the 
army.  The  famous  march  to  Talavera  of  Wellington's  light  division^ *. 
sixty- two  miles  in  twenty- six  hours,  leaving  only  seventeen  stragglers 
behind— has  been  most  justly  eulogized  by  Napier,  the  most  accomplished 
historian  of  wars,  but  it  was  no  more  remarkable  than  this  which  I  have 
just  described.  Napier  enthusiastically  relates,  too,  how  that  division, 
which  had  been  trained  by  Sir  John  Moore  himself,  crossed  the  field  of 
battle,  after  its  great  march,  in  compact  order,  and  immediately  took 
charge  of  the  outposts.  The  column  under  Colonel  Vandever  fought 
throughout  a  pitched  battle  of  two  days'  continuance,  immediately  after  its 
great  march. 

THE  BATTLE  OF  PEA  RIDGE. 

The  army  under  General  Curtis  numbered  ten  thousand  five  hundred 
men,  cavalry  and  infantry,  with  forty-nine  pieces  of  artillery,  including  four 
mountain  howitzers.  At  the  same  time  that  he  sent  the  order  to  Colonel 
Vandever,  which  I  have  mentioned,  he  sent  a  similar  message  to  General 
Sigel  at  Bentonville.  The  main  portion  of  the  two  divisions  under  that 
general's  command  commenced  to  move  to  Pea  Ridge  early  on  the  morning 
of  the  6th,  and  at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  both  General  Asboth  and 
Colonel  Osterhaus  reported  the  arrival  of  their  divisions.  General  Sigel, 
however,  the  most  provoking  laggard  of  all  our  armies,  had  remained 
behind  with  a  small  detachment,  had  been  attacked  and  cut  off  by  the 
enemy's  advance  forces.  A  considerable  force  was  immediately  sent  to  his 
relief,  and  by  means  of  their  help  and  the  good  fighting  of  his  little  band 
he  was  extricated  from  the  perilous  situation  into  which  it  was  unpardon 
able  that  he  should  have  fallen.  The  losses  in  killed  and  wounded  result 
ing  from  this  misadventure  were  twenty-eight.  They  were  probably  greater 
to  the  enemy.  This  unnecessary  contest  was  all  that  composed  the  first 
day's  battle  of  Pea  Ridge.  It  delayed  the  posting  of  the  army  in  order 
of  battle  some  hours,  so  that  Colonel  Vandever' s  detachment,  though 
necessarily  arriving  late,  went  into  line  in  good  time,  and  no  more  fatigued 
than  a  large  part  of  the  army  which  but  for  the  unfortunate  delay  of  Sigel 
would  have  been  entirely  fresh,  and  unwearied. 

However,  the  line  was  formed.  In  front  was  the  deep,  broad  valley  of 
Sugar  Creek,  forming  the  probable  approaches  of  the  enemy.  The  Union 
troops  extended  for  miles,  generally  occupying  the  summits  of  the  head 
lands  on  the  creek.  In  their  rear  was  a  broken  plateau  called  Pea  Ridge, 


150  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

and  still  farther  in  rear  tlie  deep  valley  of  Cross  Timbers.  The  enemy, 
numbering  between  thirty  and  forty  thousand,  according  to  the  estimate  of 
General  Curtis,  and  certainly  outnumbering  our  forces  more  than  two  to 
one,2  in  approaching  by  the  Bentonville  road,  came  up  on  the  extreme 
right  of  the  Union  lines.  With  fine  strategy,  he  moved  round  our  flank, 
designing  to  attack  at  the  same  time  both  flank  and  rear  of  the  Union 
army,  and  roll  it  up  around  itself  in  an  inextricable  coil  of  confusion. 
General  Curtis  promptly  warded  off  this  danger,  by  abandoning  the  line  he 
had  formed  on  the  evening  of  the  6th,  and  changing  front  to  the  rear. 
For  the  purpose  of  performing  this  difficult  mano3uvre  in  the  face  of  the 
enemy,  a  detachment  of  cavalry  and  light  artillery,  supported  by  infantry, 
under  command  of  the  intrepid  and  rapid  Osterhaus,  was  directed  to  open 
the  battle  by  an  attack  upon  the  enemy's  centre.  By  this  manoeuvre, 
General  Curtis'  second  line  of  battle  was  the  reverse  of  his  first.  The 
First  and  Second  Divisions  were  on  the  left,  Osterhaus  and  the  Third 
Division  in  the  centre,  and  the  Fourth  Division  on  the  right. 

The  line  of  battle  formed  an  acute  angle  with  the  former  line,  the  left 
resting  on  a  small  streamlet  near  a  hamlet  called  Leetown,  and  extending  to 
and  across  Pea  Ridge,  with  the  right  near  a  country  tavern  called  the  Elk- 
Horn,  from  which  the  rebels  name  the  battle.  The  evolutions  required  by 
the  change  of  front  had  hardly  been  made,  or  the  deployments  into  line 
completed,  when  the  pickets  on  the  right  were  attacked  and  driven  in,  near 
Elk-Horn  Tavern.  This  was  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  the 
battle  immediately  thereafter  commenced.  The  firing  rapidly  increased  on 
the  right,  and  soon  extended  to  the  centre.  Nevertheless,  our  troops 
deployed  into  line  under  the  heavy  fire  with  nearly  the  same  precision  they 
would  have  performed  the  same  movements  on  a  parade.  The  rebels  had 
but  just  delivered  their  attack  on  our  right  when  Osterhaus  made  a  gallant 
dash  on  their  centre,  dividing  their  forces.  He  was  soon  pressed,  however, 
by  greatly  superior  numbers,  under  command  of  McCulloch  and  Mclntosh, 
who  drove  back  our  cavalry  and  captured  a  battery  of  flying  artillery  which 
had  been  sent  out  with  it.  Colonel  Davis  came  to  the  support  of  Osterhaus, 
and  the  rebel  advance  was  checked,  but  not  entirely  stayed.  The  battle  on 
that  part  of  the  field  raged  with  great  fury,  the  rebels  making  repeated 
attempts  to  break  through  our  lines,  aided  therein  by  a  large  force  of 
Indians  who  fought  with  savage  determination  and  war-whoops  whose  fear 
ful  yell  rang  loud  above  the  din  of  battle,  like  the  unearthly  scream  of 
horses  fatally  wounded.  The  steady  courage  of  our  troops  was  proof  against 
both  noise  and  numbers,  and,  from  falling  slowly,  sullenly  back,  inch  by 

2  Pollard,  the  rebel  historian,  admits  the  rebels  numbered  sixteen  thousand,  but  their  own  officers 
admitted  to  Captain  McKenney,  of  General  Curtis'  staff,  that  they  numbered  thirty  thousand. 


NINTH      INFANTRY. 


151 


BATTLE  OF  PEA  RIDGE. 


Woods 


Infantry 


o£8c 


0 


EXPLANATIONS. 

Cultivated  Lands 
Roa 

Artiliery-U^U 


c  o  O:  /^fi^  090,5  7#//»i^ 
SD  aol/JBw/0  »P?o  AlPy&Sg 


"      ChD  no1 
0<^^  Cb8ll 


>  /9W*//6'  ^ 

Ifefea^ 


0  o^O  <30o^b^^0°  0$/«//8§^ 

§  saaalss^0^®!^:^ 


o 


7/o2^S^afeii       \    ==«« 
w>ojj^^^3pl>^«     V5  " 

^ 


o= 


152  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

inch,  they  came  to  a  stand,  poured  volley  after  volley  into  the  rebel  lines, 
and  at  last  commenced  to  drive  them  in  turn. 

Meantime,  our  right  was  sorely  pressed.  Price  with  his  Missourians  was 
making  a  fierce  onslaught  on  the  little  division  under  Carr,  who  contended  hour 
after  hour  against  quadruple  his  numbers,  unable  to  hold  them  entirely  in 
check,  and  unwilling  to  abandon  a  foot  of  the  field  to  their  possession  till  it 
had  witnessed  the  unsurpassed  valor  of  his  troops.  On  this  part  of  the  line 
the  Dubuque  battery,  Captain  Hayden,  commenced  the  fight  in  earnest  on  our 
part,  by  throwing  a  number  of  well  directed  shells  plump  into  the  rebel 
lines,  doing  great  execution.  Within  fifteen  minutes  afterwards  the  whole 
line  of  the  division  was  engaged.  One  of  the  very  first  shots  from  the  rebel 
artillery  blew  up  one  of  Captain  Hayden' s  limber-chests,  and  within  ten 
minutes  another  was  exploded.  The  rebels  then  made  a  rush  upon  the 
battery  and  captured  one  of  the  guns,  but  were  driven  off  by  the  infantry, 
leaving  the  ground  piled  up  with  the  dead  who  had  fallen  before  the  rifles 
of  the  Iowa  Ninth.  Colonel  Dodge's  brigade,  on  the  extreme  right  of  the 
line,  was  attacked  nearly  as  soon  as  Yandever.  A  section  of  the  First  Iowa 
battery,  Lieutenant  V.  I.  David,  here  opened  the  ball,  and  the  contest 
became  at  once  severe.  The  brigade  held  its  position,  not  falling  back  a 
single  foot,  for  two  hours,  against  a  rebel  force  of  six  thousand  infantry, 
and  eight  pieces  of  artillery  playing  on  our  lines  at  short  range  with 
canister.  By  this  time  Colonel  Vandever,  hundreds  of  whose  brave  men 
had  fallen  in  wounds  and  death,  had  been  slowly  driven  from  his  position. 
Colonel  Dodge  now  also  deliberately  retired,  his  troops  having  nearly 
exhausted  their  ammunition.  His  line  moved  back  in  the  most  perfect 
order,  in  line  of  battle,  the  enemy  at  once  advancing  with  their  whole  force 
and  batteries.  Colonel  Dodge  halted,  turned  on  his  shouting  pursuer,  and 
with  his  last  rounds  of  ammunition  poured  so  hot  and  destructive  a  fire  into 
their  ranks,  that  the  survivors  fled  before  it  in  wild  confusion  as  from  a 
storm  of  flame.  General  Curtis  soon  came  up,  and  ordered  the  Fourth 
Iowa  to  make  a  charge.  Fixing  their  bayonets  they  advanced  rapidly 
across  the  field,  but  found  no  enemy.  The  rebels  had  by  this  time  become 
quite  willing  to  rest,  and  the  charge  of  the  gallant  Fourth  closed  the  battle 
for  the  day.  It  had  raged  from  ten  o'clock  till  nearly  dark  on  the  right 
and  centre,  Sigel  on  the  left  having  had  nothing  to  do.  The  Third  and  Fourth 
Divisions  and  Osterhaus'  detachment  had  stood  the  whole  brunt  of  the 
battle. 

"In  the  action  of  the  day,"  says  the  correspondent  of  the  New  York  He 
rald,  ' '  the  Iowa  regiments  had  suffered  fearfully.  Nearly  two  hundred  each 
had  been  the  loss  of  the  Iowa  Fourth  and  Ninth,  and  the  latter  had  not  a 
single  field  officer  fit  for  duty.  Its  Colonel  was  commanding  a  brigade,  its 
Lieutenant-Colonel  (Herron)  was  made  prisoner  while  gallantly  cheering  his 


NINTH     INFANTRY.  /  153 

men,  after  losing  a  horse  and  receiving  a  severe  wound,  and  its  Major  and 
Adjutant  were  disabled  and  in  the  hospital.  Still  none  of  the  men  were 
despondent,  but  were  all  ready  for  the  work  of  the  morrow.  From  the 
camp  of  a  German  regiment,  the  notes  of  some  plaintive  air,  possibly  a 
love-ditty,  were  wafted  on  the  breeze  in  words  unintelligible  to  my  ear.  It 
reminded  me  that  long  ago  in  the  Crimea,  on  the  night  before  the  storming 
of  the  Malakoff,  the  entire  British  Army  in  the  trenches  before  Sebastopol 
joined  in  singing  a  famous  Scottish  ballad,  one  of  the  sweetest  ever  known : 

'  They  sang  of  love  and  not  of  fame ; 

Forgot  was  Britain's  glory, 
Each  heart  recalled  a  different  name, 
But  all  sang  Annie  Laurie.' " 

The  night  was  spent  very  differently  by  the  general  officers  and  by  the 
men.  The  troops  slept  on  their  arms  on  the  field  of  battle,  details  having 
procured  food  and  blankets  from  the  camps.  Sigel's  men  moved  from  their 
position  of  the  day  to  the  vicinity  of  General  Curtis'  head-quarters,  where 
they  bivoucked  for  the  night,  ready  to  move  into  a  new  position  early  on 
the  morrow.  The  troops  all  were  in  good  spirits,  determined  to  fight  to 
the  last  man  rather  than  yield  to  the  enemy.  The  officers  were  deeply 
thoughtful,  hopeful,  but  not  without  fear  of  the  result.  They  passed  a 
sleepless  night,  seeing  that  the  wounded  were  cared  for,  the  well  supplied 
with  ammunition,  and  all  things  made  ready  for  the  coming  contest. 

There  was  much  for  the  commanding  general  and  his  general  officers  to 
do.  It  will  be  recollected  that  General  Curtis,  on  the  morning  of  the  7th, 
changed  front  to  rear  of  his  whole  army.  This  manoeuvre  was  made  neces 
sary  by  the  fact  that  Van  Dorn  had  moved  round  his  right  flank  to  attack 
him  there  and  in  rear.  The  Union  line  of  battle  on  that  day  was,  generally, 
in  a  north  and  south  direction,  but  bent  round  on  the  right  so  that  Carr's 
division  faced  to  the  north.  During  the  day,  the  progress  of  the  rebels, 
still  trying  to  outflank  us  and  get  into  our  rear,  caused  Colonel  Dodge  to 
change  front  to  the  right,  and  thus  continue  the  contest,  facing  the  east. 
"When  the  day's  battle  closed,  the  division  was  about  a  mile  south  of  its 
position  in  the  morning.  It  was  along  the  line  of  this  contest  that  the 
rebels  were  now  posted.  Consequently,  it  became  necessary  for  General 
Curtis  to  make  another  change  of  front.  The  general  course  of  his  line  of 
battle  was  the  same  as  that  of  the  previous  day,  but  it  faced  east  instead  of 
west.  General  Sigel,  therefore,  marched  from  the  left  of  the  old  line  to  the 
left  of  the  new,  and  there  took  position,  his  flank  protected  by  the  bluffs  of 
Pea  Ridge.  Davis  again  occupied  the  centre,  and  Carr  the  right. 

These  dispositions  were  not  all  made,  when  the  sun  rose  on  the  morning 
of  the  8th.  Carr  on  the  right,  and  Davis  in  the  centre  were,  indeed,  ready, 
but  Sigel's  divisions  had  not  deployed  into  line.  The  enemy  was  already 
20 


154  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

in  motion.  General  Curtis,  therefore,  ordered  Davis  to  commence  the  battle, 
which  he  did  in  fine  style.  The  enemy  replied  with  great  energy  from  new 
batteries  and  lines  which  had  been  prepared  during  the  night,  to  avoid  the 
raking  fire  of  which,  the  right  wing  fell  back,  in  good  order,  and  keeping 
up  a  continuous  fire.  Meanwhile,  the  First  and  Second  Divisions  moved 
into  line  and  opened  the  battle  on  our  left  with  fearful  energy.  Sigel 
conducted  the  contest  there  with  consummate  skill.  He  wheeled  battery 
after  battery  into  position,  until  thirty  pieces  of  artillery,  about  fifteen  or 
twenty  paces  apart,  were  in  a  continuous  line,  with  infantry  lying  down  in 
front.  Each  piece  opened  fire  as  it  came  into  position,  and  the  fire  of  the 
entire  line  was  directed  so  as  to  silence  battery  after  battery  of  the  enemy. 
"Such  a  terrible  fire,"  says  an  eye-witness,  "no  human  courage  could  with 
stand.  The  crowded  ranks  of  the  enemy  were  decimated,  their  horses 
shot  at  their  guns,  large  trees  literally  demolished.  For  two  hours  and  ten 
minutes  did  Sigel's  iron  hail  fall  thick  as  autumn  leaves,  furious  as  the 
avalanche,  deadly  as  the  simoon.  Onward  crept  our  infantry;  onward 
moved  Sigel  and  his  terrible  guns.  The  range  became  shorter  and  shorter. 
No  charge  of  the  enemy  could  face  that  iron  hail,  or  dare  to  venture  on 
that  compact  line  of  bayonets.  They  turned  and  fled.  Then  came  the 
order  to  charge  the  enemy  in  the  woods,  and  those  brave  boys  who  had 
lain  for  hours  with  the  shots  of  the  enemy  falling  upon  them  and  the  can 
non  of  Sigel  playing  over  them,  rose  up  and  dressed  their  ranks  as  if  it 
were  but  an  evening  parade,  and  as  the  'forward!'  was  given,  the  Twenty- 
fifth  Illinois  moved  in  compact  line,  supported  on  the  left  by  the  Twelfth 
Missouri,  acting  as  skirmishers,  and  on  the  right  by  the  Twenty-second 
Indiana,  As  they  passed  into  the  dense  brush  they  were  met  by  a  terrible 
volley,  which  was  answered  by  one  as  terrible  and  far  more  deadly.  Volley 
followed  volley ;  yet  on  and  on  went  that  line  of  determined  men.  Steadily 
they  pushed  the  rebel  force  until  they  gained  more  open  ground,  where  the 
confederate  forces  broke  in  confusion  and  fled.  The  day  was  ours,  and 
the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge  was  added  to  the  already  long  list  of  triumphs 
clustering  around  the  old  starry  flag." 

Sigel  pursued  the  flying  enemy  toward  Keitsville,  and  Bussey,  with  the 
cavalry,  toward  Bentonville ;  whilst  other  portions  of  the  army  made  a 
spirited  chase  for  some  distance  in  several  directions,  But,  though  many 
prisoners  were  captured;  the  main  portion  of  the  enemy  escaped  in  scat 
tered  bodies  by  the  ravines  and  canons  of  these  lofty  regions,  with  which 
so  many  of  them  were  familiar,  and  thus  found  their  way  in  a  disorganized 
mass  to  Huntsville,  and  thence  continued  their  retreat,  in  a  somewhat 
less  disorderly  manner,  to  the  secret  fastnesses  of  the  Boston  Mountains. 

The  battle  of  Pea  Ridge,  whether  considered  in  reference  to  the  skill 
with  which  the  troops  were  mano3uvred,  or  the  valor  with  which  they 


NINTH     INFANTRY.  155 

fought,  must  be  placed  among  the  most  memorable  and  honorable  victories 
of  the  war.  The  field  was  far  removed  from  General  Curtis'  base  of  sup 
plies  ;  in  a  country  much  better  known  to  the  enemy  than  to  him ;  that  enemy 
outnumbered  him,  I  think,  about  three  to  one.  Yet  he  defeated  him  so 
thoroughly  and  absolutely  that  his  scattered  squads  were  driven  in  panic 
for  leagues— far  away  to  the  south — like  leaves  before  a  tempest. 

It  is  impossible  to  state  the  rebel  losses  in  the  engagement,  but  it  is 
certain  they  must  have  been  very  heavy.  One  authority  of  general  care 
fulness,  the  American  Almanac  and  Annual  Kecord,  puts  it  at  one  thou 
sand  one  hundred  killed,  two  thousand  five  hundred  wounded,  and  one 
thousand  six  hundred  prisoners.  It  is  hardly  possible  that  it  could  have 
been  less  than  five  thousand.  And  among  the  killed  were  Mclntosh  and 
McCulloch,  two  of  the  most  noted  rebel  leaders  in  the  southwest,  and 
Rives  and  Churchill  Clark,  "gallant  embodiments  of  chivalry,"  as  they 
were  termed  by  rebel  writers.  Generals  Price  and  Slack  were  severely 
wounded. 

Our  own  loss,  in  killed,  wounded  and  missing,  numbered  one  thousand 
three  hundred  and  fifty-one.  First  Division,  General  Sigel,  one  hundred 
and  forty-four;  Second,  General  Asboth,  one  hundred  and  nineteen; 
Third,  Colonel  Davis,  three  hundred  and  twenty-nine;  Fourth,  Colonel 
Carr,  seven  hundred  and  one ;  Third  Iowa  Cavalry,  Colonel  Bussey,  fifty- 
two;  Bowen's  independent  battery,  six.  Colonel  Carr  was  severely 
wounded  on  the  7th,  Colonel  Dodge  on  the  8th,  a  number  of  field  officers 
fell  in  the  other  divisions,  whilst  in  the  Fourth  there  was  hardly  a  field 
officer  left  when  its  first  day's  terrible  fight  was  ended. 

General  Curtis,  in  his  despatch  of  the  9th,  very  justly  says  that  "Illinois, 
Indiana,  Iowa,  Ohio  and  Missouri,  may  proudly  share  the  honors  of  the 
victory  which  their  gallant  heroes  have  won  over  the  combined  forces  of 
Van  Dorn,  Price  and  McCulloch  at  Pea  Ridge,  in  the  Ozark  Mountains  of 
Arkansas."  And  in  his  detailed  report  of  the  battle  he  mentions,  in 
language  of  just  eulogium,  the  regiments  and  commanders  from  these 
States  entitled  to  praise ;  but  concludes,  with  no  mere  formal  compliment, 
"To  do  justice  to  all,  I  would  spread  before  you  the  most  of  the  rolls  of 
this  army,  for  I  can  bear  testimony  to  the  almost  universal  good  conduct  of 
officers  and  men,  who  have  shared  with  me  the  long  march,  the  many 
conflicts  by  the  way,  and  the  final  struggle  at  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge. 

The  part  borne  by  Iowa  in  the  battle  was  most  conspicuous.  The  com 
manding  general  was  from  our  State,  and  my  description  of  the  battle  must 
be  most  lame  if  it  does  not  show  him  to  have  been  a  consummate  tactician 
and  obstinate  fighter.  Colonel  Dodge  and  Colonel  Vandever  commanded 
the  two  brigades  which  stood  the  brunt  of  the  battle,  and  which  were 
handled  with  the  most  admirable  skill  and  coolness,  which  fought  with  a 


156  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

valor  never  surpassed  in  the  history  of  wars.  "The  Fourth  and  the  Ninth 
Iowa,"  says  General  Curtis,  "won  imperishable  honors."  There  were 
innumerable  acts  of  special  bravery  performed  by  Iowa  troops  during  the 
battle,  and  there  never  was  an  engagement,  perhaps,  in  which  the  good 
conduct  was  more  universal.  General  Curtis  especially  commends  Colonels 
Dodge  and  Vandever.  Colonel  Dodge,  in  his  official  report,  makes  special 
mention  of  Captain  J.  A.  Jones,  and  Lieutenant  Gamble  of  the  First  Iowa 
Battery,  and  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Galligan,  Captain  H.  H.  Griffiths,  act 
ing  Major,  Lieutenant  J.  A.  Williamson,  acting  Brigade  Adjutant,  Captain 
W.  H.  Kinsman,  Lieutenant  V.  I.  David,  and  Private  I.  W.  Bell,  of  the 
Fourth,  whilst  "all  did  well,"  he  says,  "and  fought  nobly."  Colonel 
Vandever  bestows  words  of  praise  upon  Lieutenant-Colonel  Herron,  Major 
Coyle,  Adjutant  William  Scott,  Captains  Drips,  (who  was  killed),  Car 
penter,  Turner,  Bull,  Bevins,  (also  killed),  Washburn,  Moore,  and  Car- 
skaddon,  and  upon  Lieutenants  Riley,  Kelsey,  Jones,  Neff,  Tisdale,  Rice, 
(killed),  Baker,  Beebe,  Leverich,  Crane,  McGee,  McKenzie,  Claflin,  Fellows, 
and  Inman,  and  Sergeant-Major  Foster,  of  the  Ninth.  He  also  mentions 
Lieutenants  McClure,  Wright,  and  Bradley,  of  the  Dubuque  Battery,  and 
closes  his  report  with  bearing  testimony  to  the  coolness,  steadiness,  and 
bravery  of  all  the  troops  under  his  command.  Colonel  Bussey,  and  his 
command,  were  also  distinguished  in  the  fight,  and  especially  in  the  charge 
which  broke  the  rebel  centre  on  the  morning  of  the  7th.  Here  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Trimble  was  severely  wounded.  In  fine,  all  the  Iowa  troops 
behaved  with  that  high  degree  of  valor  which  distinguished  their  conduct 
throughout  the  war,  and  their  losses  were  more  severe  than  those  of  any 
other  troops.8 

8  If  Lieutenant-Colonel  Herron  ever  made  a  report  of  the  part  taken  by  the  Ninth  in  this  battle,  I 
have  not  had  the  good  fortune  to  see  it.  The  following  list  of  casualties  is  probably  incomplete : 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Herron,  Major  William  H.  Coyle,  Adjutant  William  Scott,  wounded. 

Company  A — Kitted,  Captain  A.  W.  Drips ;  Corporals  0.  D.  Bancroft,  John  W.  Alexander ;  Privates 
Samuel  McComb,  David  B.  Patterson,  Jesse  Updegraft.  Wounded,  Lieutenant  F.  M.  Kelsey ;  Ser 
geant  B.  F.  Darling;  Privates  Henry  J..  Qrote,  John  W.  McMeans,  James  McNully,  Francis  P.  Nortar, 
(mortally),  George  C.  Pierce,  (mortally),  William  M.  Thompson,  George  Trout,  James  West,  Charles 
C.  Young. 

Company  B — Kitted,  Private  John  V.  Osborn.  Wounded,  Corporal  Benjamin  E.  Hull ;  Privates 
Morgan  Bumgardner,  Charles  Bates,  Charles  Eastburn. 

Company  C— Killed,  Lieutenant  Nathan  Rice ;  Private  Julius  Furcht.  Wounded,  Sergeant  Jacob 
P.  Sampson;  Corporal  Charles  G.  Curtis;  Wagoner  David  Greek;  Privates  Isaac  Arwine,  (mortally), 
George  M.  Abbott,  (mortally),  Jesse  Barnett,  L.  D.  Curtis,  John  Cartwright,  (mortally),  J.  E.  Elson, 
C.  A.  Hobert,  Stephen  Holman,  Orlando  F.  Luckey,  James  Leatherman,  Philip  Ritermau,  Russel 
Rouse,  Samuel  Robbins,  William  Wisennand,  (mortally),  Adonain  J.  Windsar,  (mortally). 

Company  D — Killed,  Private  James  B.  Scull.  Wounded,  Sergeants  Alfred  C.  Hines,  (mortally), 
John  Sutherland,  Thomas  Swasey,  (mortally) ;  Corporals  William  L.  Murphy,  (mortally),  John  A. 
Dreibelbis,  William  C.  M.  Glenn,  Andrew  J.  Carter,  (mortally),  Isaac  A.  Miller;  Privates  Michael 
Brun,  Alexander  Beatty,  Isaiah  C.  Boyer,  (mortally),  Joseph  A.  Burdick,  Eli  Broecher,  James 
Cassady,  Abraham  Drake,  (mortally),  Charles  Dockstaetter,  William  Fuller,  Charles  Fuller,  Hiram 
H.  Gibson.  Thomas  Irwin,  George  Harst,  James  C.  Kirkwood,  John  Moore,  Orlando  McDauiel,  Henry 


NINTH     INFANTRY.  157 

Having  buried  the  dead  and  cared  for  the  wounded,  the  army  moved 
from  Pea  Ilidge  a  few  days  after  the  battle,  and  encamping  in  the  vicinity 
of  Bentonville,  there  had  a  short  rest.  Our  regiment  took  up  line  of 
march  with  the  army,  and  moving  through  a  part  of  Missouri  and  across 
Arkansas,  arrived  at  Helena  about  the  middle  of  July,  after  a  campaign 
of  unparalleled  hardships.  At  Helena,  the  regiment  had  its  first  and  last 
permanent  encampment.  There  it  remained  in  quiet  for  a  period  of  five 
months.  The  history  of  the  regiment  up  to  its  arrival  ai,  ETelena  had  been 
one  of  activity,  of  movements  in  the  face  of  the  enemy,  of  severe  marches, 
of  battle.  It  had  been  impossible,  therefore,  to  give  that  attention  to 
drill  and  discipline  which  had  been  desired  by  the  officers.  Ti  ere  was  a 
fine  opportunity  now  to  make  up  for  any  deficiencies  in  these  respects,  and 
it  was  improved  to  the  utmost  by  both  officers  and  men,  so  that  vhen  the 
regiment  again  commenced  its  active  operations,  which  continued  with  but 
short  intermissions  of  rest,  it  was  one  of  the  best  drilled  and  best  disci 
plined  regiments  in  the  service. 

The  fame  of  the  army  which  won  the  victory  of  Pea  Ridge  soon  spread 
over  the  country  and  over  Christendom.  Our  regiment  had  a  most  grati- 

Overly,  Donalcl  Sutherland,  Morrison  Sutherland,  Emery  A.  Smith,  (mortally),  James  C.  Wright, 
Joseph  L.  White,  (mortally).  Missing,  Amos  S.  Tompkins. 

Company  E — Kitted,  Captain  Alva  Bevins;  Privates  Perry  Hall,  John  Reichart,  Timothy  Seeber, 
Charles  Weseman.  Wounded,  Sergeants  Charles  Herriman,  James  Flanagan;  Corporal  William 
McCabe ;  Privates  Louis  Bakeman,  Hezekiah  R.  Hughes,  Christian  Kaiser,  Noyes  Roseman,  Frederick 
Smith,  Henry  Stevens,  John  McCaffrey,  Robert  W.  Lockard,  Thomas  J.  Gragg,  Charles  Allen.  Miss 
ing,  Musician  Michael  Schlagel. 

Company  F— Killed,  Privates  William  Andrus,  William  H.  Carmichael,  David  German,  Titus 
Enjland.  Wounded,  Captain  James  W.  Towner,  Lieutenant  Abner  G.  M.  Neff,  (mortally) ;  Sergeants 
Alonzo  Abernethy,  James  W.  Gwin ;  Corporals  Marshal  House,  Absalom  C.  Smith,  Peter  W.  Oakly, 
John  Bradley ;  Privates  John  T.  Avery,  William  W.  Brewer,  Myron  R.  Benedict,  Joseph  I.  Gardiner, 
Edgar  G.  Hough,  George  Hales,  Joseph  B.  Hunkinger,  John  Knight,  Franklin  L.  Larabee,  (mortally), 
Martin  Lee,  William  H.  Munger,  Charles  Munger,  John  Oit,  Michael  O'Brien,  Charles  I.  Walsh. 

Company  G — Killed,  Privates  John  Barker,  Willard  Leverich,  John  M.  Myers,  Joseph  Parker, 
William  Robinson,  Joseph  Vincent,  Asa  Waters,  Charles  Walker.  Wounded,  Privates  James  B.  All- 
man,  Thomas  W.  Brown,  Amos  Buchman,  Francis  I.  Clark,  David  L.  Cupport,  Hiram  Estell, 
Franklin  H.  Heath,  Aaron  Michaels,  (mortally),  Samuel  Sharp. 

Company  H— Killed,  Privates  Hugh  Irwin,  Henry  P.  Ward.  Wounded,  Sergeant  Charles  E. 
Meader;  Corporals  Andrew  Hamilton,  (mortally),  William  G.  Sailer,  Edward  Ryan,  Edwin  Obrihan, 
Clark  H.  Davis :  Private?  George  Gordon  Aldam,  Daniel  M.  Barrett,  (mortally),  Edward  A.  Blake, 
Eli  Bunt,  Hiram  Clark,  Thompson  Dempsy,  Ambrose  H.  Gates,  Henry  E.  Hall,  Garrison  C.  Mann, 
Joel  C.  Maricle,  John  G.  Nelson,  Philip  Peddler,  Alvin  M.  Perry,  Martin  V.  Botner,  William  W. 
Smith,  (mortally),  Aufin  Thompson,  Jacob  P.  Supher,  (mortally),  Christian  Martinson,  (mortally). 

Company  I— Killed,  Private  John  Goodenough.  Wounded,  Sergeant  Martin  Gates,  (mortally); 
Corporals  Walter  Schofield,  Whitman  M.  Colbey,  Charles  Hemery;  Privates  George  S.  Briggs, 
(mortally),  Thomas  Johnson,  Benjamin  F.  Knight,  Charles  U.  Lockwood,  William  McCrea,  Horace  B. 
Rome,  Salisbury  Sherman,  John  W.  Stuart,  (mortally),  Adolphus  Strogher.  David  M.  Townsend, 
Hiram  M.  Townsend,  (mortally),  Nathan  A.  Walker,  (mortally),  Joseph  Yantz,  (mortally),  Levi  Yantz. 

Company  K— Killed,  Privates  William  C.  Aplet,  Daniel  A.  Darrow,  James  K.  McCoy,  Henry  A. 
Pass.  Wounded,  Corporals  Oliver  B.  Cone,  William  A.  Austin,  John  Cone,  Daniel  Horn ;  Privates 
Ezra  Dresser,  William  Greeley,  John  W.  Gray,  Daniel  Kerns,  John  S.  McKee,  Thomas  P.  Nicholson, 
(mortally),  Royal  H.  Pichmond,  James  K.  West,  Andrew  R.  Whitenack,  Alva  S.  Wing,  Aaron 
Hughes,  Marvin  Mills,  Amos  S.  Young. 


158  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

fying  evidence  of  their  own  good  name  and  fame,  whilst  at  Helena,  where 
was  presented  to  the  command,  sent  by  the  hands  of  Miss  Phrebe  Adams, 
in  behalf  of  a  committee  of  ladies  of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  a  stand  of 
beautiful  silk  colors,  elaborately  embroidered  in  gold.  Miss  Adams  pre 
sented  the  magnificent  gift  with  the  pleasing  assurance  that  it  was  a  testi 
monial  of  the  appreciation  on  the  part  of  many  of  the  ladies  of  Boston  of 
the  conduct  of  the  regiment  in  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge.  The  colors  were 
guarded  and  e\,>  Dished  by  the  command  with  religious  care  and  affection. 
Afterwards  Tyhen  they  had  been  borne  many  long  miles,  and  on  many  a 
proud  field,  riddled  and  torn  with  balls,  and  covered  with  a  thousand  scars 
of  battle,  jhey  were  presented  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  regiment, 
one,  to  the  original  donors,  and  the  other  to  Brevet  Major-General  Van- 
dever,  tl.e  old  commander  of  the  regiment,  whom  the  men  of  his  original 
command  never  ceased  to  hold  in  the  warmest  esteem. 

The  regiment,  being  assigned  to  Thayer's  Brigade  of  Steele's  Division, 
joined  the  army  under  Sherman,  which  moved  down  the  Mississippi  to 
attack  Vicksburg.  In  the  battle  of  Chickasaw  Bayou,  where  the  Fourth 
Iowa  gained  such  unfading  laurels,  and  where  many  other  Iowa  regiments 
were  engaged,  the  Ninth  was  under  fire  during  the  greater  part  of  the  28th 
and  29th  of  December,  but  was  not  itself  actively  engaged,  except  for 
about  half  an  hour  on  the  latter  day.  The  attempt  on  Vicksburg  by 
Chickasaw  Bayou  having  failed,  the  army  slowly  and  sorrowfully  reem- 
barked,  and  steamed  down  the  dark,  sluggish  waters  of  the  Yazoo  to  the 
Mississippi,  and  to  Milliken's  Bend,  where  Major-General  McClernand 
assumed  command.  During  the  year  just  closed,  our  regiment  had  lost, 
by  death,  discharge,  and  otherwise,  three  hundred  and  twenty-five  men, 
and  had  gained  during  the  same  period  fifty-six,  by  enlistment  and  appoint 
ment,  so  that  when  it  commenced  the  year  1863,  it  numbered  seven  hun 
dred  and  twenty-six,  rank  and  file. 

The  regiment  commenced  the  new  year  with  the  active  and  brilliant  cam 
paign  of  Arkansas  Post,  which  resulted  in  the  capture  of  a  large  number 
of  prisoners,  and  an  immense  quantity  of  supplies  and  arms.  It  was  not 
in  the  assault  on  this  post,  which  was  at  first  unsuccessful,  but  was  posted 
in  the  front  line,  and  ready  to  move  in  the  charge  which  was  about  to 
take  place,  when  the  works  surrendered.  Its  losses  here,  as  was  the 
case  with  all  commands  which  were  in  the  reserve  line  during  the  assault, 
were  but  slight. 

Remaining  a  few  days  at  Arkansas  Post  to  destroy  the  works,  the  troops 
embarked,  and  moving  down  the  Arkansas  and  the  Mississippi,  debarked 
at  Young's  Point,  Louisiana,  Steele's  division  moving  down  and  going  into 
camp  below  the  mouth  of  the  canal  which  had  been  dug  the  year  before. 
Here,  near  Young's  Point,  the  army  lay  encamped  many  weary  weeks, 


NINTH      INFANTRY.  159 

which  formed  the  darkest  era  of  the  whole  war  to  the  troops  who  endured 
it.  The  encampment  was  a  vast  swamp.  In  front  was  the  Mississippi, 
flowing  moodily  by,  ever  threatening  to  burst  from  its  banks  and  completely 
engulf  the  half  submerged  army.  Beyond,  and  in  plain  view,  were  the 
hills  of  Vicksburg,  with  their  frowning  batteries.  From  the  oozy  encamp 
ment  vapors  and  fogs  arose,  which  caused  the  light  of  the  sun  to  shine 
with  a  feeble,  sickly  power,  whilst  much  of  the  time  it  rained  day  in  and 
day  out  without  cessation.  The  army  was  like  an  army  of  drowning  rats. 
The  troops  sat  gloomily  within  their  tents  in  sullen  silence,  or  moved  about 
from  place  to  place  in  the  performance  of  necessary  duties  like  soulless, 
voiceless  animals.  Driven  from  one  encampment  to  another,  and  to 
another,  and  still  another,  till  the  army  at  last  "roosted  on  the  levee  of 
the  Mississippi,"  the  men  moved  with  a  listless  indifference,  plainly  show 
ing  they  cared  very  little  whether  their  camps  and  lives  were  saved  or 
swept  away  together  by  the  floods.  Death  was  holding  high  carnival  in 
every  encampment.  Acres  of  grave-yards  were  soon  visible  in  these  most 
dismal  swamps.  The  dying  increased  as  the  flood  increased,  till  at  length 
the  dead  were  buried  on  the  levee,  whither  the  army  had  been  driven. 
There  they  continued  to  be  buried  till,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say,  the  levee 
was  formed  near  its  outer  surface  of  dead  men's  bones,  like  the  layers  of 
stones  in  a  work  of  masonry.  When,  after  more  than  two  months'  stay 
in  this  vicinity  the  army  moved  away,  it  left  the  scene  of  its  encampments 
the  Golgotha  of  America.  Major  Abernethy,  in  speaking  of  this  period 
in  the  history  of  the  Ninth,  says  the  ordeal  of  these  unpropitious  months 
was  the  more  grievous,  because  it  had  all  the  evils  of  the  battle-field,  with 
none  of  its  honors.  And,  as  it  was  with  the  Ninth,  so  it  was  with  the 
large  army  of  which  it  formed  a  part. 

Meantime,  Colonel  Vandever  having  been  promoted  a  brigadier-general, 
Captain  David  Carskaddon  was  elected  and  commissioned  in  his  place.  The 
first  active  campaigning  in  which  the  regiment  was  engaged  after  Colonel 
Carskaddon  took  command  was  the  expedition  of  General  Steele  into  cen 
tral  Mississippi,  by  Greenville,  on  which  about  the  whole  of  April  was  con 
sumed.  Returning,  the  command  encamped  for  a  very  short  time  at 
Milliken's  Bend,  and  then  joined  in  the  grand  campaign  of  Vicksburg. 

Our  regiment  commenced  their  work  on  this  campaign  on  the  2dof  May; 
when,  leaving  their  tents  standing  at  Milliken's  Bend,  the  men  put  them 
selves  in  light  marching  order,  and  started  for  Grand  Gulf,  as  fully  inspired 
by  hope  and  enthusiasm  as  they  had  been  depressed  by  despondency  and 
sorrow  only  two  months  before.  Rapidly  marching  by  Richmond  to  the 
landing  opposite  Grand  Gulf,  and  there  crossing  the  river,  the  division 
joined  the  corps,  and  marching  on  Jackson,  took  part  in  the  capture  of  that 
capital.  Then  facing  about  it  moved  in  the  direction  of  Vicksburg,  and  on 


160  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

the  18th  took  position  on  the  right  of  our  lines  before  the  enemy's  works. 
On  the  19th  there  was  an  irregular  assault  in  which  our  regiment  lost  a 
number  of  killed  and  wounded.  It  was  on  the  front  line  in  the  unsuccess 
ful  assault  of  the  22d,  and  on  that  day  alone  lost  nearly  an  hundred  men,  in 
killed  and  wounded,  among  them  Captains  Kelsey  and  Washburn,  and 
Lieutenants  Jones,  Wilbur,  and  Terrell,  killed.  The  position  of  the  regi 
ment  during  the  siege  was  a  good  one,  well  covered  by  the  crest  of  a  hill, 
strengthened  by  works,  but  the  rebel  s^arp-shooters  occasionally  picked  off 
a  man  nevertheless.  The  regiment  lost  during  the  siege — that  is  to  say, 
from  the  18th  of  May  to  the  4th  of  July — one  hundred  and  twenty-one,  in 
killed  and  wounded. 

But  there  was  no  rest  yet  for  the  weary  troops.  Before  daylight  of  the 
morning  after  the  capitulation,  the  expeditionary  army  under  Sherman 
moved  after  Joe  Johnston,  and  following  him  to  Jackson  found  him  there 
strongly  entrenched  behind  heavy  works.  In  this  campaign  the  Ninth  fully 
participated,  and  after  its  successful  termination  went  into  camp  in  a  beau 
tiful  grove  near  Big  Black  River,  not  far  from  the  railroad  crossing,  and 
here,  only  a  short  distance  from  where  for  so  many  months  nothing  but  the 
wrinkled  front  of  grim-visaged  war  had  been  seen,  had  a  long  period  of  rest. 
But  it  was  not  one  of  enjoyment,  for  besides  the  discomforts  of  the  hot 
weather,  the  effects  of  the  confined  life  during  the  siege  began  now  to  be 
visible  on  the  troops,  many  of  whom  became  sick  outright  and  others  unfit 
for  service.  During  this  period  General  Steele,  commanding  division,  and 
General  Thayer,  commanding  brigade,  were  ordered  to  take  commands  in 
another  army,  whereupon  General  Osterhaus  assumed  command  of  the 
division,  and  Colonel  J.  A.  Williamson,  Fourth  Iowa,  of  the  brigade,  which 
was  composed  of  Iowa  troops,  and  remained  under  the  command  of  that 
accomplished  officer  throughout  the  campaigns  of  Chattanooga,  Atlanta, 
and  Savannah,  at  the  close  of  which  last,  being  appointed  to  the  rank  which 
he  had  so  long  and  so  honorably  actually  filled,  he  received  orders  which 
called  him  into  another  field  of  usefulness. 

On  the  22d  of  September  orders  to  move  were  received,  and  before  night 
the  regiment  was  on  cars  moving  to  Vicksburg.  Moving  by  steamer  to 
Memphis,  and  by  train  thence  to  Corinth ;  after  some  delay,  occupied  in 
the  repair  of  the  railway,  and  some  skirmishing  with  the  enemy  under 
Forrest,  the  march  to  Chattanooga  was  commenced,  and  on  November 
23d,  after  a  march  of  three  hundred  miles,  the  regiment  pitched  its  tents 
at  the  foot  of  Lookout  Mountain.  Twenty-four  hours  later  it  was  taking 
gallant  part  in  the  ' '  battle  above  the  clouds, ' '  under  the  dashing  General 
Hooker.  The  enemy  evacuated  Lookout  Mountain  on  the  night  of  the 
24th,  and  on  the  following  day  the  battle  of  Missionary  Ridge  took  place. 
So  far  as  our  regiment  was  concerned,  this  was  rather  a  contest  of  legs  than 


NINTH     INFANTRY.  161 

of  arras,  the  enemy  running  to  escape,  our  troops  running  to  catch  them. 
And  thus  they  had  a  running  fight  for  miles  on  the  summit  of  the  moun 
tain,  which  closed  with  the  enemy  being  captured  in  large  numbers,  and 
the  rest  fleeing  from  the  field.  The  regiment  continued  in  the  pursuit 
under  Hooker  to  Hinggold,  where  the  enemy  made  a  stand,  and  for  some 
time  contended  with  no  little  success  against  our  arms.  The  Ninth  joined 
in  the  charge  up  the  hill-sides  on  the  27th,  but  the  enemy  had  now  become 
exhausted  and  discouraged,  and  retired  without  serious  opposition,  leaving 
us  in  full  possession  of  the  position.  The  loss  of  the  regiment  in  these 
three  engagements  was  three  killed,  and  sixteen  wounded.  From  Ring- 
gold,  General  Osterhaus  marched  to  rejoin  Sherman,  from  whom  he  had 
been  separated  during  these  contests,  by  reason  of  the  accidental  breaking 
of  a  pontoon  bridge  over  the  Tennessee,  and  the  junction  having  been 
made,  marched  by  Chattanooga,  Bridgeport  and  Stevenson,  to  "Woodville, 
Alabama,  and  went  into  winter  quarters  but  a  few  days  before  the  close  of 
the  year. 

New  Year's  day  was  spent  by  the  regiment  in  reenlisting.  By  this  time 
the  number  of  men  had  been  reduced  to  about  five  hundred,  of  whom  all 
were  not  eligible  as  veterans  under  the  rules  of  the  War  Department. 
Nearly  three  hundred  reenlisted,  and  the  Ninth  became  a  veteran  regiment. 
The  consequent  privilege  of  a  furlough  home  was  granted,  in  accordance 
with  which  the  veterans  returned  to  Iowa  early  in  the  following  month. 
On  arriving  at  Dubuque  they  were  met  by  the  citizens  of  that  hospitable 
city  en  masse,  and  welcomed  home  with  a  cordiality  which  must  have  been 
in  the  highest  degree  gratifying.  Their  reception  here  was  a  magnificent 
ovation,  worthy  of  Dubuque  and  of  them ;  and,  best  of  all,  it  did  not  end 
with  speechifying,  but  with  a  supper  in  comparison  of  the  luxuries  of 
which  the  luxuries  of  the  Georgia  promenade  were  flat,  stale,  and  unprofit 
able.  Moreover,  fair  hands  which  would  not  have  condescended  to  wait 
upon  the  princes  of  the  best  blood  of  Europe,  gladly  waited  on  these  war 
worn  heroes,  and  realities  of  happiness  danced  o'er  their  minds.  As  the 
men  went  to  their  homes  in  northern  Iowa,  they  were  everywhere  met  with 
as  warm  and  cheerful  reception  as  is  within  the  heart  of  man  to  conceive, 
or  his  hands  to  bestow.  And  thus  the  prescribed  thirty  days  passed 
merrily  by. 

The  men,  with  many  recruits,  then  went  to  the  rendezvous  at  Davenport, 
and,  under  command  of  Major  George  Granger,  who  had  been  promoted 
from  captain  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of  Major  Carpenter, 
moved  to  Nashville,  whence  they  marched  to  Woodville,  arriving  on  the 
10th  of  April.  Here  twenty  days  were  spent  in  procuring  supplies  of 
clothing,  equipage,  anus.  The  old  Dresden  rifles  which  had  done  so  much 
execution  from  the  beginning  were  returned  to  the  government,  and  new 
21 


162  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Springfield  rifled  muskets  drawn  in  their  stead.  Though  the  regiment  had 
been  presented  by  the  ladies  of  Boston  with  another  magnificent  stand  of 
colors,  to  replace  those  worn  out  in  the  service,  these  were  now  kept  rather 
for  ornament  than  use,  and  a  stand  of  regulation-colors  drawn  from  govern 
ment,  were  carried  in  the  line  throughout  the  subsequent  career  of  the 
regiment. 

On  the  first  of  May,  Colonel  Carskaddon,  just  returned  from  sick-leave, 
in  command,  took  up  line  of  march  for  Chattanooga,  and  at  once  entered 
on  the  campaign  of  Atlanta.  For  the  next  four  months,  the  regiment  par 
ticipated  in  all  the  labors,  marches,  skirmishes,  battles,  sieges  of  this  great 
campaign  in  which  the  Fifteenth  Corps  took  part.  It  marched  during  that 
campaign  a  distance  of  four  hundred  miles,  much  of  it  by  night;  built 
forty  different  lines  of  works ;  crossed  three  large  rivers  and  many  streams 
in  the  face  of  the  enemy;  and  took  honorable  part  in  the  engagements, 
many  of  them  heavy  battles,  of  Resaca,  Dallas,  New  Hope,  Big  Shanty, 
Kenesaw  Mountain,  Chattahoochee  River,  Decatur,  Atlanta,  Jonesboro', 
and  Lovejoy.  In  two  of  the  severest  of  these  conflicts,  it  had  the  rare 
pleasure  of  fighting  behind  entrenchments,  suffering  but  little  loss  itself 
while  inflicting  terrible  punishment  upon  the  enemy.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  the  regiment  in  the  course  of  the  campaign  placed  many  more  rebels 
Jiors  de  combat  than  the  command  itself  numbered.  The  losses  of  the 
regiment  were  fourteen  killed,  seventy  wounded,  and  six  captured.4 

4 1  have  been  unable  to  procure  lists  of  casualties  of  this  regiment,  after  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge. 
The  following  list  of  those  who  were  slain,  or  mortally  wounded,  will  have  a  mournful  interest : 

VICKSBURG.  May  18th  to  July  ith,  1863. — Company  A — Captain  F.  S.  Washburn,  Lieutenants  Jacob 
Jones,  H.  C.  Wilbur,  Edward  Terrell,  L.  L.  Martin  ;  Privates  A.  McMeans,  M.  Sweet.  Company  B— 
Sergeant  T.  W.  Blizzard ;  Corporals  G.  M.  Bowers,  J.  Walker :  Privates  C.  Eastburn,  I.  Jrwine,  E. 
C.  Mattison.  Company  C— Corporal  L.  A.  Pearsall;  Privates  J.  M.  Hard,  George  Frebethizer. 
Company  D — Sergeant  F.  D.  Gilbert.  Company  E — Corporal  J.  Lampert;  Privates  J.  M.  Barnhouse, 
T.  B.  Berkine,  F.  M.  Hughes,  I.  Lovesey,  John  Walter.  Company  F—  Corporal  Jas.  Smith ;  Private 
W.  H.  Finney.  Company  G — W.  H.  McGuigan,  T.  W.  Brown.  Company  H—  Corporal  Chas.  Anway ; 
Privates  H.  E.  Hall,  A.  Van  Leuven,  A.  G.  Nelson.  Company  I—  Sergeant  A.  Miller,  Corporal  G.  W. 
Johnston ;  Privates  Wm.  M.  Crea,  R.  Hurley,  G.  A.  Owens,  B.  F.  Knight,  J.  H.  Riddle.  Company  K 
— Privates  R.  Evans,  II.  White.  Corporal  II.  N.  Bridenthal  was  killed  at  Brandon,  Mississippi, 
July  19th,  1863 ;  private  T.  C.  Hyde,  at  battle  of  Missionary  Ridge,  November  25th. 

RINGGOLD,  GA.,  November  27^,  1863— Sergeant  William  Bishop,  Corporal  H.  Evans. 

RESACA.  May  13th  to  15th,  1864— Sergeant  N.  Lines,  Corporal  D.  Steele;  Privates  D.  Games,  L.  R. 
Wait. 

DALLAS.  May  27tt  to  SQth— Lieutenant  J.  L.  Wragg,  Sergeant  II.  II.  P.  Mulhausen,  Corporal  J.  M. 
Barnhouse  (there  was  a  John  M.  as  well  as  a  James  M.  Barnhouse  in  company  E — one  killed  during 
the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  the  other  at  Dallas) ;  Privates  G.  W.  Long,  J.  B.  Robinson,  S.  M.  Bump. 

KENESAW  MOUNTAIN — Corporal  H.  Robinson ;  Privates  F.  J.  Clark,  James  Blain. 

ATLANTA — Privates  L.  M.  Corbin,  J.  Hagemon,  P.  B.  Myers. 

JONESBORO— Private  S.  A.  Converse. 

I  am  indebted  to  Lieutenant-Colonel  Abernethy  for  the  above  names,  as  well  as  for  a  tabular 
statement  of  the  casualties  in  the  regiment  during  its  term  of  service.  From  this  it  is  shown  that 
in  its  various  engagements,  numbering  more  than  a  score  of  battles,  the  Ninth  Iowa  lost  eighty- 
seven  officers  and  men  slain,  forty-six  wounded  mortally,  three  hundred  and  sixty-four  wounded, 
and  ten  captured  by  the  enemy,  making  a  total  loss  during  the  war,  on  the  field  of  battle,  of  five 
hundred  and  seven. 


NINTH     INFANTRY.  163 

With  the  termination  of  the  campaign  the  regiment  went  into  regular 
encampment,  with  the  expectation  of  having  a  considerable  period  of  rest. 
The  same  expectation  was  shared  by  the  whole  army,  and  doubtless,  by  the 
generals,  for  an  order  was  issued  whereby  it  was  permitted  five  per  cent,  of 
the  men  to  be  furloughed.  The  rebel  commanding  general,  however,  inter 
fered  with  this  arrangement  by  interfering  with  our  communications,  and 
the  order  allowing  furloughs  was  countermanded.  Hood  soon  began  to  re 
quire  serious  attention.  Our  regiment  joined  in  his  pursuit,  breaking  camp 
for  that  purpose  early  in  October,  and  in  one  month  making  a  march  and 
countermarch  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  without  having  seen  any 
thing  of  the  rebel  forces  but  their  heels.  But  before  this  march  was  made, 
the  original  term  for  which  the  regiment  entered  the  service  expired,  and 
the  non-veterans,  numbering  more  than  an  hundred,  were  honorably  dis 
charged. 

During  the  march  on  Savannah,  the  regiment  was  commanded  by  Cap 
tain  M.  Sweeney,  Company  B,  who  conducted  it  through  that  excursion 
without  the  loss  of  a  single  man.  It  destroyed  of  itself  several  miles  of  the 
Georgia  Central  Railroad,  and  performed  other  labors  during  the  march, 
but  it  was  with  the  Ninth  as  with  the  army  generally  a  period  of  pleasure 
rather  than  of  serious  campaigning. 

After  a  few  weeks'  halt  at  Savannah  the  regiment  sailed  to  Beaufort. 
South  Carolina,  where  it  remained  a  short  time,  awaiting  the  complete 
readiness  of  General  Sherman  to  march  through  the  Carolinas.  Here 
Colonel  Carskaddon  returned  to  the  regiment  and  was  honorably  mustered 
out  of  service  by  reason  of  expiration  of  term.  He  had  faithfully  served 
his  country  for  more  than  three  years,  first  as  captain  of  one  of  the  com 
panies,  and  afterwards  as  commanding  officer  of  the  Ninth,  and  departed 
from  the  regiment  bearing  with  him  the  kind  esteem  of  his  old  comrades. 
The  command  of  the  regiment  now  devolved  upon  Major  Alonzo  Abernethy, 
one  of  the  most  modest  and  one  of  the  most  meritorious  of  Iowa's  field 
officers,  promoted  from  Captain  of  Company  F,  in  place  of  Major  Granger, 
who  had  died  in  hospital  at  Nashville,  Tennessee. 

The  march  northward  began  on  the  26th  of  January,  and  on  the  19th  of 
May  our  regiment  pitched  its  tents  on  the  heights  of  Alexandria,  in  plain 
view  of  the  dome  of  the  National  Capital.  It  had  on  this  its  last  campaign 
marched  through  many  miles  of  swamps,  builded  many  miles  of  road,  and 
many  lines  of  intrenchments,  especially  near  Bentonville ;  participated  in 
the  dangerous  movement  which  resulted  in  the  capture  of  Columbia,  for 
which  achievement  the  Iowa  Brigade  under  Colonel  Stone  received  the 
personal  compliments  of  General  Howard ;  fought  with  bravery  wherever 
there  was  fighting  to  do.  At  Columbia,  the  regiment  drew  rations  for  the 
twenty  days'  march  to  Fayetteville,  North  Carolina.  They  consisted  of  one 


164  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

half  pound  hard  bread  per  man— neither  more  nor  less.  Nevertheless,  the 
command  found  plenty  of  food  and  fared  sumptuously  every  day.  This 
was  different  indeed  from  the  parched-corn  era  of  Arkansas,  or  the  week 
of  rice  diet  in  the  swamps  near  Savannah. 

Taking  part  in  the  great  review  of  the  26th,  the  regiment  moved  into 
camp  near  "Crystal  Springs,"  a  short  distance  north  of  Washington, 
whence  early  in  June  it  proceeded  to  Louisville,  where  it  was  mustered  out 
of  service  on  the  18th  of  July,  then  numbering  five  hundred  and  ninety-five, 
officers  and  men.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Coyle,  who  had  been  absent  from 
the  regiment  most  of  the  time  for  two  years,  was  mustered  out  of  service 
as  a  field  oflicer,  about  the  middle  of  July — then  being  Judge  Advocate  in 
the  army  for  the  Department  of  Kentucky,  on  the  staff  of  the  brave  and 
independent  Major-General  John  M.  Palmer.  Major  Abernethy  was 
thereupon  promoted  Lieutenant-Colonel,  and  Captain  Inman,  Company  I, 
Major. 

From  Louisville,  the  regiment  moved  by  rail  to  Clinton,  Iowa,  for  final 
payment.  At  Chicago,  a  member  of  the  regiment,  Edward  Keogh,  of 
Company  D,  was  killed  in  a  saloon  by  some  person  unknown,  which  caused 
great  excitement  among  his  comrades  and  came  near  resulting  in  a  general 
riot.  The  excitement  was  allayed,  however,  without  further  bloodshed. 
Keogh  was  a  man  much  respected  at  his  home — Monticello,  Jones  county — 
and  when  his  body  was  taken  to  that  place  for  burial  it  was  attended  to  the 
grave  by  the  citizens  generally.  This  sad  occurrence  did  not  delay  the 
journey  of  the  regiment,  which  reached  Clinton  in  due  time,  and  was  there 
disbanded  on  the  24th  day  of  July. 

The  regiment  brought  from  the  field  four  flags,  of  which  two — the  na 
tional  colors  and  the  regimental  blue — were  placed  in  the  office  of  the 
Adjutant-General  of  the  State.  One,  bearing  the  names  of  the  principal 
engagements  in  which  the  regiment  had  taken  part — Pea  Ridge,  Chickasaw 
Bayou,  Arkansas  Post,  Jackson,  Assault  and  Siege  of  Vicksburg,  Siege  of 
Jackson,  Brandon,  Cherokee,  Lookout  Mountain,  Missionary  Ridge,  Ring- 
gold,  Resaca,  Dallas,  New  Hope,  Big  Shanty,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Chatta- 
hoochee  River,  Atlanta,  July  22d,  and  28th,  Jonesboro,  Lovejoy,  Savannah, 
Columbia,  Bentonville — was  deposited  with  the  State  Historical  Society.  The 
fourth,  voted  to  the  regiment  at  the  Northern  Iowa  Sanitary  Fair  held  at 
Dubuque  in  May,  1864,  was  retained  by  the  regiment  to  be  disposed  of 
as  the  regimental  association,  formed  at  the  disbandment  of  the  command, 
may  direct. 

And  thus  ended  the  history  of  the  Ninth  Iowa  Volunteers,  who  had 
marched  during  their  term  of  service  more  than  four  thousand  miles; 
been  transported  by  rail  and  steamer  more  than  six  thousand ;  traversed 
every  State  ever  claimed  by  the  Confederacy  except  Texas  and  Florida ; 


NINTH     INFANTRY.  165 

been  engaged  prominently  in  many  of  the  decisive  battles  of  the  war ;  and 
had  never,  throughout  their  four  years'  career,  done  a  single  deed  of  dis 
credit.  When,  therefore,  their  distinguished  career  was  closed,  and  their 
banners  furled,  they  returned  to  their  homes  with  the  grateful  homage  of 
the  State  upon  which  they  had  reflected  so  much  honor,  and  which  will 
ever  and  anon  unfurl  those  banners,  to  read  the  proud  blazonry,  in  colors 
of  living  light,  of  their  unsurpassed  achievements  in  the  War  for  Unfon 
and  Liberty. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

TENTH    INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZATION  AT  IOWA  CITY— MOVE  TO  ST.  LOUIS-TO  CAPE  GIRARDEAU— WINTER 
QUARTERS  AT  BIRD'S  POINT  —  SKIRMISH  NEAR  CHARLESTON,  MISSOURI— CAM 
PAIGN  OF  NEW  MADRID— OF  ISLAND  NO.  TEN— MOVE  TO  VICINITY  OF  FORT  PIL 
LOW—SIEGE  OF  CORINTH— BATTLE  OF  IUKA— BATTLE  OF  CORINTH— CAMPAIGN 
IN  MISSISSIPPI— YAZOO  PASS  EXPEDITION— VICKSBURG  CAMPAIGN  —  BATTLE 
OF  CHAMPION  HILLS— SIEGE— THE  JACKSON  CAMPAIGN— MARCH  TO  TENN 
ESSEE—BATTLE  OF  MISSIONARY  RIDGE— HOME  ON  VETERAN  FURLOUGH— RETURN 
TO  THE  FRONT— MARCH  ON  SAVANNAH— THROUGH  THE  CAROLINAS— MOVE  TO 
ARKANSAS— HOME 

THE  Tenth  Iowa  Infantry  Volunteers,  recruited  under  the  President's 
proclamation  of  July  23d,  1861,  were  enlisted  from  quite  a  large  number 
of  counties,  but  chiefly  resided  in  Polk,  Warren,  Boone,  Tama,  Washing 
ton,  Poweshiek,  Green,  Jasper,  Madison,  and  some  of  the  counties  con 
tiguous  to  these  in  what  we  roughly  call  the  central  part  of  the.  State. 
The  regiment  was  organized  at  "Camp  Fre'mont,"  near  Iowa  City,  whither 
the  most  of  the  companies  proceeded  in  the  latter  part  of  August,  and 
where  eight  of  them  were  mustered  into  the  service  by  Captain  Alexander 
Chambers,  United  States  Army,  on  the  6th  and  Tth  of  September.  One 
company  was  not  mustered  till  the  28th,  and  the  last  till  the  13th  of 
October.  When  thus  completely  organized,  the  regiment  had  upon  its 
rolls  an  aggregate  of  nine  hundred  and  thirteen  men.1 

1  ROSTER  OF  FIELD,  STAFF,  AXD  LIVE  OFFICERS  : — Colonel  Nicholas  Perczel,  of  Davenport ;  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  William  E.  Small,  Iowa  City;  Major  John  C.Bennett;  T.W.Jackson,  Adjutant; 
James  Trusdell,  Quartermaster;  William  P.  Davis,  Surgoon;  Reverend  D.  W.  Tolford,  Chaplain. 

Company  officers  were:  Company  A — Captain  Nathaniel  McCalla;  Lieutenants  Charles  J.  Clark, 
Josiah  Hopkins.  Company  B — Captain  Martin  C.  Randleman;  Lieutenants  George  M.  Bentley, 
Oren  Adkins.  Company  C—  Captain  Albert  Stoddard  ;  Lieutenants  Thomas  B.  Martin,  T.  W.  Jack 
son,  (appointed  Adjutant,  and  George  H.  Conant  made  Lieutenant).  Company  D — Captain  William 
P.  Berry;  Lieutenants  William  J.  Wheeler,  James  Trusdell.  Company  E— Captain  Nathan  A.  Hoi- 
son  ;  Lieutenants  Richard  J.  Mohr,  Walter  W.  Purcell.  Company  F— Captain  Albert  Head ;  Lieu 
tenants  David  H.  Emry,  John  W,  Carr.  Company  G — Captain  P.  P.  Henderson ;  Lieutenants 
Albert  J.  Kuhn,  Robert  Longshore.  Company  H— Captain  Jackson  Orr ;  Lieutenants  Solomon 

166 


TENTH     INFANTRY.  167 

Having  remained  only  a  very  short  time  in  rendezvous  after  organization, 
the  regiment  moved  by  rail  and  steamer  to  St.  Louis,  where  it  was  sup 
plied  with  arms,  clothing,  and  equipage,  upon  the  receipt  of  which  it  at 
once  proceeded  down  the  river  to  Cape  Girardeau.  There  it  went  into 
camp,  and  the  men  were  for  the  first  time  exercised  in  the  battalion  'drill 
and  the  manual  of  arms.  And  this  was  their  principal  employment  during 
the  winter,  whether  at  Cape  Girardeau  or  Bird's  Point.  In  the  early  part 
of  November,  however,  they  had  their  first  campaigning  in  the  field.  Th£ 
notorious  Jen0.  Thompson  was  about  this  time  creating  a  considerable 
sensation,  and  with  his  band  of  "butternuts,"  as  they  were  called,  was 
doing  no  little  damage  and  causing  much  annoyance  to  Union  citizens  in 
southeastern  Missouri.  He  had  his  head-quarters  at  Bloomfield,  distant 
nearly  forty  miles,  in  a  southwestern  direction,  from  Cape  Girardeau.  The 
Tenth  Iowa  was  ordered  to  march  on  Bloomfield,  and  disperse  Thompson's 
band.  The  command  marched  rapidly  thither,  but  the  bird  had  flown. 
The  regiment  captured  a  large  quantity  of  property  which  the  marauder 
had  acquired  on  his  plundering  expeditions,  but  found  no  armed  opposi 
tion.  It  accordingly  countermarched  to  Cape  Girardeau. 

On  the  13th  of  December  the  regiment  moved  down  to  Bird's  Point,  and 
there  went  into  winter  quarters.  On  the  8th  of  January,  Colonel  Perczel 
received  orders  to  march  with  his  command,  by  night,  to  Charleston, 
twelve  miles  distant  from  Bird's  Point,  and  surprise  and  capture  a  body  of 
rebels  understood  to  be  posted  there.  Colonel  Perczel  immediately  pro 
ceeded  to  the  execution  of  these  orders,  and  as  soon  as  it  was  dark  had  his 
regiment  on  the  march.  The  night  was  excessively  stormy,  and  dark  as 
Tartarus.  The  rain  fell  down  in  torrents,  and  the  road,  passing  through 
swamps,  was  at  this  time  perfectly  horrible.  Nevertheless,  the  command 
groped  its  away  along  as  best  it  could,  the  men  being  in  that  peculiar  kind 
of  spirits,  which,  we  frequently  observe,  seems  to  be  the  effect  of  commo 
tion  among  the  elements.  While  they  were  thus  feeling  their  way,  and  as 
they  were  passing  through  a  dense  forest,  they  were  suddenly  fired  upon 
by  the  enemy  in  ambush.  In  the  darkness,  the  command  was  thrown  into 
momentary  confusion,  or  rather,  it  was  momentarily  paralyzed  by  the 
suddenness  of  the  attack.  Officers  and  men,  however,  immediately 
recovered  their  presence  of  mind,  and  fought  as  well  as  it  was  possible  to 
do  at  that  time  and  at  that  place.  They  could  only  know  the  enemy's 
position  by  the  flashes  of  his  guns,  into  which  they  fired,  and  no  doubt 
inflicted  loss  upon  the  men  behind  the  flashes,  who,  at  any  rate,  were 
entirely  dispersed.  The  regiment  marched  on  to  Charleston  and  beyond, 

Shepherd,  Andrew  Perteuch.  Company  7— Captain  John  A.  Garrett;  Lieutenants  William  H. 
Silsby,  Stephen  W.  Poag.  Company  K— Captain  Robert  Luaby;  Lieutenants  David  S.  Smith, 
Julian  Bailsman. 


168  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

and  returned  next  day  to  Bird's  Point,  having  lost  eight  killed  and  sixteen 
wounded  in  this  its  first  rencontre  with  the  enemy." 

With  the  exception  of  this  affair,  nothing  of  note  occurred  to  disturb  the 
monotony  of  life  in  winter  quarters  until  the  commencement  of  the  cam 
paign  of  New  Madrid,  under  Brigadier-General  John  Pope.  That  com 
mander  moved  from  St.  Louis  on  the  22d  of  February,  1862,  with  a  con 
siderable  army — small,  indeed,  when  compared  to  the  vast  aggregation  of 
men  composing  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  which  had  been  spending  a 
beautiful  winter  in  inglorious  quiet  behind  the  works  of  Washington ;  but 
composed  of  men  of  fine  physical  and  moral  constitution,  already  enured  to 
hardship,  and  not  slightly  disciplined  in  the  service.  Disembarking  at 
Commerce,  a  few  miles  above  Bird's  Point,  General  Pope  was  there  con 
siderably  reenforced,  and  by  the  Tenth  Iowa  among  other  regiments.  The 
march  commenced  on  the  28th,  and  after  surmounting  the  difficulties  of 
mud,  swamps,  felled  trees,  and  small  bodies  of  rebel  troops,  who  harassed 
the  column  on  every  opportunity,  the  army  set  itself  down  around  New 
Madrid  on  the  3d  of  March.  The  place  was  occupied  by  five  regiments  of 
infantry  and  several  companies  of  artillery.  One  bastioned  earthwork, 
mounting  fourteen  heavy  guns,  a  short  distance  below  the  town,  and 
another  irregular  work,  at  a  less  distance  above,  mounting  seven  pieces  of 
heavy  artillery,  with  lines  of  intrenchments  between,  constituted  the  defen 
sive  works.  Six  gun-boats,  carrying  from  four  to  eight  heavy  guns  each, 
were  anchored  along  the  shore,  between  the  upper  and  the  lower  redoubts. 
The  country  about  New  Madrid  is  perfectly  level,  and  as  the  river  at  this 
time  was  so  high  that  the  guns  of  the  gun-boats  looked  directly  over  the 
banks,  the  approaches  to  the  town  were  commanded  by  direct  and  cross-fire 
from  at  least  sixty  guns  of  heavy  calibre.  General  Pope  accordingly  sent 
to  Cairo  for  heavy  artillery,  for  the  purpose  of  regularly  besieging  the 
place.  Meanwhile,  Colonel  Plummer,  Eleventh  Missouri,  with  a  consider 
able  force  of  infantry,  and  a  field  battery  of  Parrott  guns,  took  forcible 
possession  of  Point  Pleasant,  twelve  miles  below  on  the  river,  and  there 
instituted  a  strict  blockade.  The  enemy  reenforced  New  Madrid  from 
Island  Number  Ten,  until  by  the  time  of  the  bombardment,  they  had 
nearly  nine  thousand  infantry,  a  proportionate  force  of  artillery,  and  nine 
gun-boats.  Our  forces,  meantime,  were  on  the  qui  vive,  as  near  the  enemy 

*  The  number  is  so  stated  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Small,  in  his  brief  account  of  the  regiment.  The 
following  list  is  taken  from  the  Adjutant-General's  report: 

Killed,  Thomas  J.  Parsons,  Abram  Phillips,  Corporal  Oliver  P.  Lewin ;  Willis  Cook,  John  M.  Sar- 
chett  and  John  Larchet.  Wounded,  Corporal  Angelo  Myers,  Amos  II.  Kellog,  Cyrus  Maholm, 
Aaron  Tice,  Corporal  Abraham  Dawson,  Samuel  Curry  (mortally),  Benjamin  J.  Godlove,  William 
Lutz,  William  G.  Parker,  Milton  0.  Evans  (mortally),  John  S.  Hodges,  Mahlon  N.  Boardman,  John 
A.  Goodin,  John  0.  Johnson  and  Nathan  S.  Lympus. 

The  discrepancy  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  mortally  wounded  being  counted  among  the  killed, 
and  the  slightly  wounded  not  reported. 


TENTH     INFANTRY.  169 

as  was  proper,  and  making  frequent  forced  reconnoissances  near  the  town, 
and  sometimes  entering  its  suburbs.  The  siege  guns  reached  the  army  at 
sunset  on  the  12th.  That  night  they  were  placed  in  battery,  within  eight 
hundred  yards  of  the  enemy's  main  work,  and  early  on  the  morning  of  the 
13th — that  is  to  say,  within  thirty-four  hours  from  the  time  they  were 
received  at  Cairo — they  were  bombarding  New  Madrid.  The  artillery  was 
well  supported  by  infantry,  and  the  bombardment  was  continued  with  great 
vigor  and  effect  throughout  the  day.  The  enemy  also  maintained  a  cou^ ' 
tinuous  fire  from  their  batteries  and  gun-boats,  but  with  little  effect.  Our 
trenches  were  all  the  while  being  extended  and  advanced,  so  that  when 
night  came  the  army  was  close  up  to  the  town,  completely  investing  it.  A 
furious  thunder  storm  began  to  rage  about  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  and 
continued  till  daylight.  Whether  frightened  by  the  storm,  or  the  evidences 
of  General  Pope's  terrible  energy,  the  enemy  evacuated  the  town.  At 
dawn  of  the  14th,  this  fact  became  apparent.  The  Tenth  Iowa  first 
entered  the  place,  and  its  officers  and  men  were  the  first  to  see  that  the 
rebels  must  have  quitted  their  works  in  a  panic,  leaving  everything  behind 
them  as  trophies  to  our  arms.  It  appeared  that  the  men  only  had  escaped. 
They  had  left  their  suppers  untouched,  their  candles  burning  in  their  tents. 
They  could  not  have  fled  more  precipitately  had  they  been  warned  of  a 
coming  shower  of  ashes,  such  as  overtook  Sodom  and  Gomorrah.  They 
left  all  their  artillery,  field  batteries  and  siege  guns  amounting  to  thirty- 
three  pieces,  immense  quantities  of  ammunition,  tents  for  an  army  of  ten 
thousand  men,  horses,  mules,  wagons — all  had  been  left  to  fall  into  our 
possession,  and  make  the  victory  most  complete  and  wonderful.  During 
all  the  operations,  our  whole  army  had  lost  but  fifty-one  men  in  killed  and 
wounded.  Happily,  none  of  even  this  small  loss  fell  upon  the  Tenth  Iowa, 
for  which  it  should  have  been  grateful  to  fortune,  seeing  that  its  position 
was  no  less  exposed  than  that  of  the  most  exposed  regiment  of  the  com 
mand. 

After  this  great  victory  of  General  Pope,  our  regiment,  together  with 
the  whole  army,  immediately  commenced  the  campaign  of  Island  No.  Ten, 
which  turned  out  to  be  the  chef  cCceuvre  of  the  commanding  general,  but 
which  was  remarkable  for  the  skill,  strategy,  and  terrible  energy  of  Pope, 
and  the  hard  manual  labor  of  his  troops,  rather  than  for  any  direct  fighting 
qualities  displayed  by  either.  In  fact,  the  most  brilliant  and  important 
results  were  accomplished  with  the  least  possible  fighting,  and  that  almost 
entirely  by  the  gun-boats  which  in  the  course  of  the  operations  ran  by 
Island  No.  Ten.  Brilliant  and  important  though  these  operations  were,  I 
need  not  dwell  upon  them  here.  Suffice  it,  that  General  Pope,  by  the 
accomplishment  of  achievements  in  engineering  which  astonished  the  world, 
and  which  must  remain  forever  remarkable  in  history,  and  by  the  most 
22 


170  IOWA    AND     THE     KEBELLION. 

skilful  adaptation  of  the  means  within  his  power  to  the  end  in  view,  com 
pelled  the  evacuation  of  the  Island,  after  twenty-three  days  of  constant, 
vigorous,  but  ineffectual  bombardment  by  the  navy  under  Flag-Officer 
Foote,  on  the  very  day  on  which  General  Grant  drove  Beauregard  from  the 
field  of  Shiloh.  One  hundred  and  twenty-three  pieces  of  heavy  artillery ; 
between  six  and  seven  thousand  prisoners,  embracing  three  generals,  and 
two  hundred  and  seventy- three  field  and  company  ofiicers ;  seven  thousand 
stand  of  small  arms;  several  steamboats,  and  wharf-boats,  filled  with 
stores;  an  immense  quantity  of  ammunition  of  all  kinds;  two  thousand 
horses  and  mules,  and  a  thousand  wagons,  were  among  the  principal 
fruits  which  fell  into  our  hands  as  the  result  of  this  great  but  bloodless 
victory. 

The  regiments  from  Iowa  which  participated  in  this  singular  campaign 
were  the  Fifth  and  Tenth  Infantry,  and  the  Second  Cavalry. 

The  rebels  who  had  been  dispersed  in  the  swamps  which  abound  in  that 
region,  were  hunted  a  few  days  by  both  cavalry  and  infantry,  when  the 
army  embarked  on  steamers  and  proceeded  down  the  river  with  the  object 
of  attacking  Fort  Pillow.  A  disembarkation  was  made  seven  miles  above 
the  fort,  and  Flag-Ofiicer  Foote  bombarded  the  work  with  the  guns  of  his 
mortar  fleet,  but  the  army  was  withdrawn,  under  orders  to  reenforce  Major- 
General  Halleck  then  operating,  in  a  manner  peculiar  to  himself,  against 
Beauregard,  behind  the  works  of  Corinth.  The  command  arrived  at 
Pittsburg  Landing  on  the  22d  of  April,  and  there  disembarking  marched 
to  the  front.  It  is  well  known  that  the  army  under  General  Pope  imme 
diately  after  joining  the  forces  before  Corinth  took  a  leading  part  in  the 
operations  of  the  siege,  having  several  heavy  skirmishes  with  the  enemy 
in  the  course  of  its  numerous  reconnoissances  in  force,  one  of  which,  on 
the  9th  of  May,  and  another  on  the  26th,  amounted  to  sharp  engagements. 
In  the  engagement  on  the  9th  the  Second  Iowa  Cavalry,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Edward  Hatch,  was  more  prominent  than  any  other  regiment;  but  through 
out  the  siege  the  Tenth  Infantry  held  a  conspicuous  place,  and  performed 
most  valuable  services,  but  without  any  losses  save  those  which  resulted 
from  sickness  and  exposure.  After  the  evacuation  of  the  stronghold  by 
the  rebels,  and  their  pursuit  by  the  army  of  the  Mississippi,  our  regiment 
returned  to  the  vicinity  of  Corinth  and  went  into  camp.3 

There  it  remained,  in  monotonous  quiet,  during  the  summer.  Many  of 
the  men  became  sick ;  some  were  discharged  on  account  of  physical  disa- 

3  It  is  familiar  to  the  country  that  we  had  flaming  telegrams  from  General  Halleck  touching  the 
great  success  of  General  Pope's  pursuit,  informing  the  world  how  he  had  captured  thirty  thousand 
prisoners,  innumerable  small  arms,  etc.,  etc.  These  monstrous  lies,  which  out  Falstaffed  Falstaff, 
were  generally  fathered  on  to  Pope ;  hut  it  has  come  to  my  knowledge,  as  this  work  is  passing 
through  the  press,  that  Major-General  Halleck  alone  was  responsible  for  the-n.  General  Pope 
wrote  a  most  indignant  letter  to  Halleck  on  the  subject,  which  ought  to  be  published.  Meantime, 
I  aver  that  Halleck,  and  not  Pope,  is  the  greatest  Gascon  the  war  produced. 


TENTH     INFANTRY.  171 

bility ;  other|  died,  and  were  buried  on  the  banks  of  a  brook  which  flowed 
by  the  encampment.  The  first  autumnal  month  had  more  than  half  gone 
by,  before  the  command  was  brought  again  into  active  operations.  It  then 
moved  with  the  army  under  General  Rosecrans  to  attack  Price  at  luka.  In 
the  short  but  terrible  battle  which  took  place  near  that  place  on  the  eve 
ning  of  September  19th,  it  bore  honorable  part;  and  won  the  special  men 
tion  of  the  commanding  general,  for  its  gallant  repulse  of  two  separate 
charges  of  Texas  troops. 

The  victory  of  luka  having  been  gained,  the  troops  of  the  Union  were 
concentrated  at  Corinth  for  the  purpose  of  there  confronting  the  rebels  un 
der  Van  Dorn  and  Price,  who  were  known  to  be  concentrating  for  the 
purpose  of  attacking  our  comparatively  small  army,  and  regaining  a  posi 
tion  whose  loss  had  been  ever  deplored  by  them.  In  the  battle  of  Corinth, 
continuing  throughout  the  3d  and  4th  days  of  October,  our  regiment  fought 
with  the  brigade  of  General  Sullivan,  distinguished  among  the  distinguished 
commands  of  that  engagement.  It  was  under  the  command  of  Major 
Nathaniel  McCalla  on  this  occasion,  and  fought  and  manoeuvred  with  great 
coolness  and  gallantry,  as  well  when  the  tide  of  battle  seemed  to  be  against 
us,  as  when  we  drove  the  enemy  from  the  field  in  rout  and  panic.4 

The  regiment  again  had  a  period  of  rest  after  the  battle  of  Corinth,  in 
camp  near  that  place,  which  continued  about  one  month,  at  the  end  of 
which  time  it  joined  in  the  movement  under  General  Grant  into  central 
Mississippi,  whereby  it  was  intended  to  attack  Vicksburg  in  rear,  but  which 
design  was  thwarted  and  the  campaign  rendered  futile  by  Van  Dora's 
success  in  cutting  General  Grant's  communications  and  destroying  his  prin 
cipal  depot  of  supplies,  at  Holly  Springs.  Having  on  this  expedition 
marched  as  far  as  Oxford,  our  regiment  there  turned  about  face,  and 


*  Major  McCalla,  in  his  official  report  of  this  action  states  the  loss  of  the  regiment,  during  the  two 
days'  contest,  as  three  killed  and  thirty-seven  wounded.  The  names  are  not  given  in  his  report,  and 
I  find  the  following  only  in  the  Adjutant-General's  Report: — Killed,  Corporal  Thomas  H.  Reed, 
Sergeant  John  M.  Stebbing,  and  Andrew  J.  Stallsworth.  Wounded — Wesley  Randall  (died  from 
effects  of  wound),  Corporal  Chas.  Page  (mortally),  August  Hemmenn  (mortally),  William  Cox 
(mortally),  Oscar  Gray  (mortally),  George  C.  Walker  (mortally),  Richard  Stock.  Perhaps  only  the 
killed  and  severely  wounded  were  reported. 

"  During  both  days,"  says  Major  McCalla,  "  I  was  assisted  in  the  field  by  Captain  N.  A.  Holson, 
acting  lieutenant-colonel,  and  Captain  Jackson  Orr,  acting  major ;  also  Lieutenant  Wm.  Manning, 
adjutant,  who  acted  throughout  with  great  coolness  and  courage,  and  to  whom  great  credit  is  due. 
The  line  officers,  without  an  exception,  deported  themselves  with  the  greatest  gallantry,  and  did 
much  to  accomplish  our  successful  movements  on  the  field  in  the  presence  of  danger.  To  the  men 
of  my  command  too  much  praise  cannot  be  given  for  their  endurance,  courage,  and  strict  obedience 
of  orders  under  all  circumstances." 

The  Major  speaks  of  one  commissioned  officer  wounded.  This  refers,  no  doubt,  to  Captain  Albert 
Head,  of  Company  F,  who  was  struck  in  the  head  with  a  minio  ball,  and  severely  wounded.  Why 
he  was  not  so  reported  specifically  I  cannot  tell.  Perhaps  he  was,  but  they  could  not  find  him  at 
the  Adjutant-General's  Office,  seeing  his  name  is  there  put  down  "  Hard." 


172  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

marched  to  Memphis.  At  that  city  and  near  by  the  regimen^  remained  in 
camp  and  winter  quarters  till  the  campaign  of  the  following  spring. 

It  may  be  well  enough  here  to  remark,  taking  up  the  personal  thread  of 
the  regiment's  history,  that  up  to  this  time  there  had  been  many  changes 
in  the  officers  of  the  regiment — more,  I  think,  without,  however,  stopping 
to  make  special  examination,  than  was  usual  with  our  regiments.  There 
had  been  a  number  of  resignations  of  line  officers,  whose  places  had  been 
filled  by  promotions.  Major  Bennett  had  resigned  even  a  short  time  before 
the  close  of  1861,  and  his  place  had  been  filled,  early  in  1862,  by  the  pro 
motion  of  Captain  McCalla,  whose  duty  it  became,  as  we  have  seen,  to 
command  the  regiment  through  the  most  important  action  in  which  it  was 
engaged  during  the  year.  Dr.  Davis  had  also  been  compelled  by  bad  health 
to  resign  in  the  Spring  of  1862,  whereupon  Dr.  Mohr  was  made  surgeon. 
Before  the  regiment  entered  upon  its  active  campaigning  of  1863,  the  Rev. 
William  G.  Kephart,  of  Kossuth,  had  been  appointed  chaplain — an  ap 
pointment  to  which  all  who  have  read  the  Burlington  Hawk-Eye  newspaper 
are  indebted  for  a  great  deal  of  intellectual  pleasure,  seeing  that  during  all 
the  rest  of  the  war  the  chaplain  wrote  for  that  journal,  contributing  thereto 
a  series  of  letters  of  very  high  and  peculiar  merits.  Colonel  Perczel  had 
resigned  before  the  march  into  Mississippi,  but  his  place  was  not  filled  till 
August,  1863.  when  Captain  P.  P.  Henderson  was  appointed  thereto. 
Major  McCalla  was  then  also  made  lieutenant-colonel  in  place  of  Colonel 
Small,  some  time  before  resigned,  and  Captain  Robert  Lusby  made  major. 
Much  of  this,  however,  is  anticipating. 

The  regiment,  as  has  been  stated,  remained  during  the  winter,  after  the 
return  from  the  fruitless  attempt  on  Vicksburg,  in  the  vicinity  of  Memphis. 
General  Grant  was  not  capable  of  being  discouraged  by  any  obstacle  not 
absolutely  insurmountable,  and  his  rebuff  of  the  close  of  1862,  though  it 
involved  also  the  severe  reverse  of  General  Sherman  at  Chickasaw  Bayou, 
only  had  the  effect  of  arousing  him  to  the  full  exertion  of  his  military 
powers  when  the  spring  of  1863  came  on.  His  next  attempt  on  Yicksburg 
was  also  a  failure,  though  it  resulted  in  very  little  loss  of  life.  This  was 
the  Yazoo  Pass  Expedition,  a  full  account  of  which  I  may  have  occasion 
hereafter  in  this  work  to  relate.  Brigadier-General  I.  F.  Quinby  left 
Memphis  to  join  in  this  expedition  in  the  early  part  of  March,  1863,  and 
came  in  sight  of  Fort  Pemberton,  the  capture  of  which  had  just  been 
abandoned  by  General  Ross,  on  the  21st.  The  two  divisions  continued  to 
bombard  the  works  for  a  few  days,  but  under  orders  from  General  Grant 
abandoned  the  enterprise  and  returned  to  the  Mississippi,  to  take  part  in 
the  general  movement  against  Vicksburg.  Our  regiment  was  with  General 
Quinby  on  this  singular  and  exciting  campaign. 

The  scare-crow  fleet  did  not  long  remain  near  the  head  of  the  Yazoo 


TENTH     INFANTRY.  173 

Pass.  Moving  with  it  down  the  Mississippi,  our  regiment  stopped  a  nay 
at  Lake  Providence,  and  then  proceeded  to  Milliken's  Bend,  where  it 
disembarked  about  the  middle  of  April.  Here  the  grand  campaign  of 
Vicksburg  was  inaugurated  in  earnest.  In  this  campaign  the  Tenth  Iowa 
bore  as  honorable  a  part,  doing  as  valiant  service  and  suffering  as  severe 
loss,  as  any  regiment  among  ah1  the  hosts  who  achieved  the  crowning 
victory,  thus  far,  of  the  war.  General  Quinby  being  absent,  sick,  General 
M.  M.  Crocker  had  command  of  the  division.  Colonel  Boomer,  Twenty- 
Sixth  Missouri,  commanded  the  brigade  to  which  the  Tenth  was  attached. 
It  was  in  McPherson's  corps. 

With  this  corps  the  regiment  left  Milliken's  Bend,  and  marched  and 
fought  with  it  throughout  the  campaign.  It  was  engaged  in  the  battle  of 
Kayinond,  on  the  12th  of  May,  of  Jackson  on  the  14th,  being  with  that 
division  which  bore  the  brunt  of  that  stormy  fight ;  but  it  became  its  duty 
to  fight  more  desperately,  and  to  suffer  more  heavily  than  elsewhere  at  the 
bloodiest  encounter  of  the  campaign,  namely : 

THE  BATTLE  OF  CHAMPION  HILLS. 

Having  now  gained  three  considerable  battles  since  placing  his  army  in 
Mississippi  south  of  Vicksburg,  General  Grant  had  absolutely  shamed  the 
rebel  General  Pemberton  into  moving  his  main  body  from  behind  the  works 
of  the  stronghold  under  cover  of  which  he  had  taken  refuge,  with  the  view 
of  returning  some  of  the  sturdy  blows  which  the  Union  army  had  been 
dealing  the  Confederacy.  Accordingly,  about  the  time  the  gallant  McPher- 
son  was  whipping  Johnston,  at  Jackson,  Pemberton  put  his  army  in  mo 
tion,  and  marched  from  Vicksburg  to  deliver  attack,  as  he  supposed,  upon 
our  rear.  He  did  not  succeed  in  catching  Grant  napping,  but  succeeded  in 
bringing  on  the  severest  battle,  both  to  the  Unionists  and  rebels,  of  all  the 
engagements  of  the  campaign  in  the  open  field.  This  was  the  battle  of 
Champion  Hills,  fought  on  the  16th  of  May,  about  midway  between  Jack 
son  and  Vicksburg. 

When  McPherson  fought  the  battle  of  Jackson,  on  the  14th,  Sherman's 
Corps,  with  the  exception  of  Blair's  division  thereof,  supported  him  in  the 
fight  from  a  position  south  of  the  city,  and  justly  took  part  in  the  triumph 
of  the  capture  of  the  capital.  Just  at  this  time,  which  was  just  when 
Pemberton  moved  from  Vicksburg  with  the  object  of  attacking  our  rear, 
General  Grant  ordered  that  portion  of  his  army  which  had  been  in  sup 
porting  distance  of  the  troops  engaged  at  Jackson,  but  not  cooperating 
with  them,  to  face  to  the  west,  to  meet  Pemberton's  movement,  of  which 
the  Union  general  had  learned  by  intercepted  dispatches.  McClernand, 
commanding  Thirteenth  Corps,  now  had  one  of  his  divisions,  Hovey's,  at 
Clinton,  on  the  direct  road  from  Jackson  to  Vicksburg,  another,  at  Missis 


174  IOWA    AND     THE     EEBELLION. 

sippi  Springs,  a  few  miles  south,  another  at  Raymond  further  west,  and 
still  another,  with  Blair's  division  of  Sherman's  corps,  still  further  west, 
near  Auburn.  It  was  General  Grant's  design,  and  his  order,  that  these 
troops,  marching  on  different  roads  converging  near  Bolton,  half  way  be 
tween  Clinton  and  Champion  Hills,  should  there  join,  ready  to  move  upon 
the  enemy  at  any  moment. 

Unfortunately,  McClernand  did  not  come  to  time,  with  the  main  portion 
of  his  command,  and  the  battle  was  fought  mainly  by  Hovey's  division  of 
the  Thirteenth  Corps,  and  Logan's  and  Crocker's  divisions  of  McPherson's 
corps,  which  Grant  had  sent  out  from  Jackson  to  join  in  this  movement 
toward  Vicksburg.  Early  on  the  morning  of  the  16th,  General  Grant 
learned  that  Pemberton,  with  a  force  of  twenty-five  thousand  men,  with 
ten  batteries  of  artillery,  was  moving  eastward,  and  indications  of  coming 
battle  soon  became  so  clear  that  Grant  sent  word  to  Sherman  to  abandon 
his  work  of  destruction  at  Jackson  and  move  with  all  possible  speed  to 
join  the  main  army  near  Bolton.  McClernand  was  ordered  to  hasten  up 
with  his  command.  Meantime,  General  Hovey  moved  on  along  the  main 
road,  and  deployed  into  line,  with  considerable  firing  between  his  .and  the 
enemy's  skirmishers,  which  grew  into  a  battle  about  one  hour  before 
noon. 

Pemberton  had  taken  a  strong  position  on  a  narrow  ridge,  his  left  resting 
on  a  height,  known  as  Champion  Hill,  where  the  road  makes  a  sharp  turn 
to  the  left  approaching  Vicksburg.  The  top  of  the  ridge  and  the  preci 
pitous  hill-side  to  the  left  of  the  road  were  covered  by  a  dense  forest  and 
undergrowth.  To  the  right  of  the  road  the  forest  extended  but  a  short 
distance  down  the  hill,  opening  into  cultivated  fields  on  a  gentle  slope,  and 
a  slightly  undulating  valley  extending  to  a  considerable  distance.  It  was 
the  strongest  position  taken  by  the  rebels  during  the  campaign.  Hovey 
delivered  attack  along  his  whole  line,  when  the  time  came  for  that  purpose, 
with  great  impetuosity  and  effect.  Logan's  division  soon  went  to  work  on 
the  enemy's  left  and  rear,  weakening  his  front  attack  wonderfully.  Our 
left  centre  and  left  were  retarded  in  their  progress  by  the  nature  of  the 
ground  and  by  the  artillery  of  the  enemy,  which  making  much  noise  and 
fury  very  naturally  persuaded  a  commander  of  McClernand' s  peculiar 
genius,  who  was  on  this  part  of  the  field,  that  the  enemy  was  there  deliver 
ing  his  main  attack.  While,  therefore,  Osterhaus  and  Smith  were  merely 
having  heavy  skirmishing  on  their  front,  Hovey  and  Logan  on  the  right 
were  fighting  a  bloody  battle. 

The  troops  under  Hovey, '  a  large  proportion  of  whom  were  from  the 
State  of  Indiana,  fought  with  great  bravery,  and  with  those  shouts  for 
which  the  Hoosier  soldiers  were  noted.  The  ground  upon  which  this 
general  had  to  manoeuvre  was  such  that  his  lines  were  necessarily  much 


TENTH     INFANTRY.  175 

contracted,  and  thus  received  the  full  fire  of  the  enemy,  who  was  pouring 
in  reenforceinents  to  this  part  of  his  lines  from  troops  who  had  been 
amusing  McClernand,  and  concentrating  them  on  our  exposed  position 
from  a  cover  of  heavy  timber.  The  firing  became  terrible.  Such  an  awful 
rattle  of  musketry  as  was  now  kept  up  for  an  hour  and  a  half  was  hardly 
heard  during  the  war,  or  if  heard  anywhere,  only  at  Shiloh  or  Fair  Oaks. 
Hovey  held  his  ground  with  the  most  unyielding  tenacity  during  these 
fearful  ninety  minutes,  when  he  was  compelled  to  give  way.  Driven  by 
twice  his  numbers  he  fell  back  slowly,  in  good  order,  fighting  all  the  time, 
for  the  distance  of  half  a  mile.  Here  Crocker's  division  reenforced  him, 
and,  reforming,  he  again  moved  forward  his  decimated  division  in  support, 
now,  of  Crocker,  who  pressed  into  the  fight  with  his  accustomed  dash  and 
bravery,  and  by  desperate  fighting,  in  which  he  lost  heavily,  soon  turned 
the  rebels  to  the  right  about,  and  sent  them  whirling  down  the  road  to 
Vioksburg,  with  the  gallant  Logan  so  close  upon  their  heels  that  much  of 
their  artillery  and  many  prisoners  fell  into  our  hands.  It  was  as  clean  and 
complete  a  victory  as  General  Grant  ever  gained. 

But  it  was  a  triumph  which  cost  us  dearly.  Our  losses,  in  killed, 
wounded,  and  missing,  were  two  thousand  four  hundred  and  fifty-seven,  of 
which  Hovey' s  division  lost  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  two,  and  the 
divisions  of  Crocker  and  Logan  one  thousand  and  sixty,  of  which  latter  loss 
by  far  the  greater  proportion  fell  to  the  division  under  Crocker.  The 
enemy,  probably,  did  not  suffer  so  much  in  killed  and  wounded  as  we  did, 
because  they  fought  under  cover,  whilst  we  for  the  most  part  fought  on  an 
open  field.  Their  losses  in  materiel,  however,  and  in  prisoners  far  out 
numbered  ours,  for  we  lost  no  materiel,  and  very  few  prisoners,  whilst  their 
captured  were  fully  equal  to  our  total  casualties.  When  the  tide  of  battle 
turned  against  them,  they  fled  in  the  greatest  confusion,  but  one  of  their 
divisions,  Loring's,  was  entirely  cut  off.  It  was  in  this  battle  that  the  rebel 
General  Tilghman  was  killed.  "  Pemberton  retired  from  the  battle-field," 
says  Pollard,  the  rebel  historian,  so  called,  "with  a  demoralized  army. 
It  had  lost  nearly  all  of  its  artillery ;  it  was  weakened  by  the  absence  of 
General  Loring's  division ;  it  had  already  shown  the  fatal  sign  of  straggling ; 
and,  worse  than  all,  it  had  conceived  a  distrust  of  its  commander,  who  had 
carried  his  troops  by  a  vague  and  wandering  march  on  the  very  front  of  the 
concentrated  forces  of  the  enemy." 

Along  the  whole  line  of  battle  and  in  Carr's  division,  in  reserve,  there 
were  many  Iowa  regiments,  which  behaved  with  good  conduct  equal  to  that 
of  the  best  troops  with  whom  they  were  directly  associated.  But  there 
were  no  regiments  which  ever  fought  with  more  distinguished  gallantry 
than  the  Fifth,  the  Tenth,  the  Seventeenth,  the  Twenty-fourth,  and  the 
Twenty-eighth  at  the  battle  of  Champion  Hills.  The  Twenty-fourth  was 


176  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

in  Slack's  brigade  of  Hovey's  division,  and  bore  the  brunt  of  battle  for  two 
hours  with  a  persistent  gallantry  not  surpassed  by  any  of  their  comrades 
whose  united  heroism  caused  the  Vicksburg  campaign  at  this  decisive  battle 
to  turn  in  our  favor,  and  make  the  destruction  of  the  stronghold  a  mere 
question  of  time.  "The  Twenty-fourth  Iowa,"  says  a  correspondent  of 
the  Cincinnati  Commercial,  writing  from  the  field  of  battle,  uis  called  a 
Methodist  regiment.  The  colonel  and  several  of  the  captains  are  Methodist 
preachers,  and  a  majority  of  the  soldiers  are  members  of  the  Methodist 
church.  They  did  some  of  the  best  fighting  of  the  day,  yesterday.  They 
went  into  the  battle  full  of  enthusiasm,  and  not  one  of  them  flinched  dur 
ing  the  engagement.  Their  major  was  wounded  late  in  the  day.  He  walked 
from  the  field,  and  on  his  way  to  the  hospital  captured  a  stalwart  confeder 
ate,  and  compelled  him  to  carry  him  on  his  back  to  the  Provost-Marshal's 
head-quarters.  It  was  a  laughable  sight  to  see  Major  Wright  riding  his 
captive  into  camp.  The  casualty  list  of  the  Methodists  is  very  large,  and 
shows  they  stood  up  to  the  work  like  true  soldiers.  On  returning  from  the 
battle-field  in  the  evening  they  held  a  religious  meeting,  at  which  the  exer 
cises  were  very  impressive.  As  I  write  they  are  filling  the  woods  with  '  Old 
Hundred.'  "  The  Seventeenth  was  in  Holmes'  brigade,  and  on  this  event 
ful  day  performed  prodigies  of  valor,  entitling  all  its  officers  and  men  en 
gaged  to  the  highest  meed  of  praise.  The  Fifth  was  in  the  same  brigade 
as  the  Tenth — that  of  the  heroic  Colonel  Boomer,  who  was  soon  afterwards 
killed  before  the  works  of  Vicksburg.  It  fought  most  manfully,  and  suffered 
heavily.  The  Twenty-eighth  fought  splendidly  near  the  Twenty-fourth. 

As  for  the  regiment  with  which  we  now  have  particularly  to  do,  it  found 
at  Champion  Hills  the  bloodiest  ordeal  through  which  it  was  ever  called  to 
pass,  suffering  a  loss,  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  of  nearly  fifty  per 
cent  of  those  engaged.  The  regiment,  with  the  brigade,  rushed  into  the 
fight  when  the  rebels  had  succeeded  in  forcing  back  Hovey  and  in  throwing 
him  into  temporary  confusion  where  a  rout  must  have  entailed  a  terrible 
disaster  upon  our  arms,  and  succeeded  by  as  desperate  fighting  as  was  ever 
witnessed  in  holding  the  enemy  in  check  until  Crocker  threw  in  other 
troops,  who,  animated  by  his  intrepid  spirit,  and  sustained  by  his  splendid 
nerve,  snatched  glorious  victory  out  of  the  defeat  which  seemed  so  immi 
nent.  Here  the  tide  of  battle  turned  and  swept  the  rebel  army  from  the 
field.  But  Boomer's  brigade  was  immolated.  The  losses  in  the  Tenth 
regiment  were  fearful.  Captain  Poag,  Lieutenant  Brown,  and  Lieutenant 
Terry  were  killed  on  the  field,  Captains  Lusby,  Hobson,  Kuhn,  and  Head, 
and  Lieutenants  Meekins  and  Gregory  were  wounded,  whilst  the  scene  of 
their  conflict  was  strewn  with  the  dead  and  wounded.5 

» I  regret  exceedingly  that  I  hare  been  unable  to  procure  a  list  of  the  casualties  sustained  by  the 
regiment  in  this  its  severest  battle. 


TENTH     INFANTRY.  177 

The  regiment  remained  on  the  battle-field  while  the  main  army  pressed 
on  by  Black  River  Bridge  and  Bridgeport,  and  speedily  sat  down  around 
the  works  of  Vicksburg.  Here  the  Tenth  soon  joined  the  army  and  took 
position  on  the  front  line.  In  the  sadly  memorable  assault  of  the  22d  of 
May,  the  regiment  took  an  active  part,  making  two  distinct  charges  on  two 
different  parts  of  the  enemy's  works,  and  losing  many  brave  men  in  killed 
and  wounded.  Here  Captain  Head  was  again  wounded,  and  this  time  so 
severely  that  he  was  disabled  for  many  months.  On  this  day  Colonei 
Boomer,  commanding  the  brigade,  one  of  the  most  gallant  officers  in  the 
Union  Army,  was  shot  through  the  head  and  immediately  expired. 
General  Mathies  succeeded  him  in  the  command.  After  the  capitulation 
of  Vicksburg,  the  regiment  moved  with  the  Expeditionary  Army  under 
Sherman,  against  the  rebel  Johnston,  and  fully  participated  in  the  cam 
paign  of  Jackson,  whereby  that  city  and  all  central  Mississippi  were  brought 
into  the  possession  of  the  Union  forces. 

This  campaign,  the  military  corollary  of  the  campaign  of  Vicksburg, 
being  closed,  our  regiment  returned  to  the  vicinity  of  the  stronghold,  and 
went  into  an  encampment  where  it  had  more  than  two  months  of  rest  from 
labors  which  had  been  as  arduous  and  as  full  of  danger  and  death  as  were 
those  of  any  regiment  in  the  grand  army. 

This  needed  repose  was  broken  in  the  latter  part  of  September.  It  then 
moved  by  steamer  to  Memphis,  and  being  now  transferred  to  the  Fifteenth 
Corps,  General  Sherman,  accompanied  that  commander's  army  across  the 
State  of  Tennessee  to  Chattanooga,  and  took  part  in  the  series  of  battles 
which  immediately  followed  their  arrival  near  that  place.  The  battle  of 
Chattanooga,  as  this  series  of  engagements  is  properly  called,  continued 
with  less  or  more  general  fighting  throughout  the  23d,  24th,  and  25th  of 
November.  It  was  on  the  last  of  these  days  that  General  Mathies'  brigade, 
to  which  our  regiment  still  belonged,  was  again  called  upon  to  sustain  a 
most  terrible  and  unequal  conflict.  I  shall  hereafter  in  the  course  of  this 
work  have  occasion  to  speak  with  considerable  detail  of  the  battle  of  Chat 
tanooga,  in  some  respects  the  most  remarkable  contest  of  the  war,  or, 
indeed,  of  history.  Let  it  suffice  now,  as  carrying  on  the  thread  of  my 
narrative  of  a  single  regiment,  that  the  Tenth  Iowa  here  fought  upon  the 
left  of  our  lines,  where  Sherman  showed  the  sublime  qualities  both  of  a 
hero  and  a  martyr,  with  that  terrible  tenacity  against  fearful  odds  which 
had  characterized  its  conduct  on  the  field  of  Champion  Hills.  Here  many 
of  its  best  officers  and  men  gave  up  their  lives,  and  others  their  blood  upon 
the  red  altar  of  battle,  and  when  the  victory  was  gained,  many  of  their  dead 
bodies  were  found  lying  up  against  the  rebel  breastwork  which  they  had 
reached  under  an  awful  fire  from  ten  times  their  number. 

The  campaigns  of  1863  for  our  regiment  closed  with  the  victory  of  Chat- 
23 


178  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

tanooga.  It  joined  in  the  pursuit  of  the  rebels,  but  soon  after  the  battle 
inarched  into  Alabama,  and  went  into  winter  quarters  at  Huntsville. 
During  the  months  of  January  and  February,  1864,  the  regiment  reenlisted 
and  became  a  veteran  organization,  and  entered  the  service  as  such  on  the 
first  of  February.  Notwithstanding  the  regiment  had  been  so  greatly 
reduced  by  its  active  campaigns,  nearly  three  hundred  reentered  the  ser 
vice.  So  the  first  two  months  of  winter  were  most  profitably,  though 
quietly  spent.  Shortly  after  reenlistment,  the  regiment  made  a  campaign 
into  East  Tennessee.  Sherman  was  now  moving  on  his  famous  raid  across 
the  Mississippi,  with  the  reverend  rebel  General  Polk  in  his  front.  Johnston 
with  his  main  body  occupied  Dalton  and  Buzzard  Roost,  in  Georgia, 
General  Thomas  moved  to  Cleveland,  a  considerable  distance  east  of  Chat 
tanooga,  with  the  object  of  creating  a  diversion  in  favor  of  Sherman — of 
preventing  Johnston  from  reenforcing  Polk.  General  Mathies  accompanied 
Thomas  on  this  expedition  with  a  detachment  of  his  command,  of  which 
the  Tenth  Iowa  formed  a  part.  The  expedition  having  in  fact  ' '  accom 
plished  all  that  was  intended, ' '  returned  in  about  two  weeks,  after  which 
life  in  winter  quarters  went  on  with  our  regiment  just  the  same  as  before. 

Toward  the  last  of  April  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  Decatur,  and  there 
relieved  General  Dodge's  division,  which  proceeded  to  join  the  army  col 
lecting  together  for  the  Atlanta  campaign.  In  that  campaign  the  regiment 
did  not  directly  participate.  When  it  had  reenlisted,  the  exigencies  of  the 
service  forbade  its  taking,  at  the  time,  that  furlough  to  which,  by  general 
rule,  it  would  have  been  entitled,  and,  like  the  Seventeenth  regiment,  it 
was  sent  home  on  veteran  furlough  in  the  midst  of  the  summer.  The  regi 
ment  went  to  Iowa  in  June,  and,  having  enjoyed  a  month  there  in  which 
they  were  most  handsomely  treated  by  the  people,  officers  and  men  returned 
to  their  field  of  duty  in  the  latter  part  of  July,  Colonel  Henderson  bringing 
with  him  a  splendid  sword,  the  gift  of  his  friends  in  Warren  County. 

Upon  its  return  to  the  theatre  of  war,  the  regiment  w?s  stationed  along 
the  Chattanooga  and  Atlanta  Railroad  near  Kingston,  Georgia,  head-quar 
ters  at  that  place.  This  was  the  time  when  the  rebel  trooper,  Wheeler, 
was  raiding  in  rear  of  Sherman,  and  doing  much  mischief  to  his  communi 
cations.  The  Tenth  took  part  in  two  expeditions  against  the  trooper.  The 
first  was  abandoned  soon  after  its  inception  for  the  reason  that  it  was  dis 
covered  Wheeler  was  already  beyond  reach.  The  second  was  of  much 
more  importance.  This  expedition,  under  Generals  Steadman  and  Rous 
seau,  moved  after  Wheeler  cotemporaneously  with  Sherman's  last  grand 
flanking  movement,  which  resulted  in  the  battle  of  Jonesboro  and  the 
evacuation  of  Atlanta,  and  pursued  the  fugitive  through  East  and  Middle 
Tennessee,  and  Northern  Alabama  to  the  Tennessee  river  near  Florence. 
The  regiment  returned  to  Kingston  after  a  rapid,  laborious  march  of  nearly 


TENTH      INFANTRY.  179 

a  thousand  miles.  And  when,  in  October,  Hood  tore  up  the  railroad 
between  Resaca  and  Dalton,  and  attacked  the  former  place  with  a  large 
force,  the  regiment  reenforced  the  garrison,  and  aided  to  hold  the  place  till 
Sherman  came  up.  Shortly  afterwards  the  regiment  moved  to  Atlanta, 
and  there  rejoined  the  main  army  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  march  thence 
to  Savannah.  In  the  demolition  of  railways,  which  was  one  of  the  impor 
tant  duties  of  this  remarkable  campaign,  and  in  the  good  health,  and  good 
cheer  which  characterized  it,  the  regiment  had  its  full  share.  It  also  toofc 
part  in  the  attack  on  Savannah  which  took  place  before  that  which  resulted 
in  the  capture  of  Fort  McAllister,  and  then  remained  in  quiet  till  the 
triumphal  entry  into  the  city  a  few  days  before  merry  Christmas. 

In  the  campaign  of  the  Carolinas,  the  regiment  distinguished  itself  at 
the  passage  of  the  Salkahatchie  River,  crossing  the  stream,  which  was 
waist  deep,  in  front  of  the  enemy  posted  behind  considerable  earthworks, 
and  with  the  Fifty-sixth  Illinois  charging  and  driving  the  rebels  like  scared 
sheep  before  them.  It  was  with  the  column  which  brought  Columbia  into 
our  possession,  and  warmly  engaged,  at  Cox's  Bridge,  on  the  Neuse  River, 
North  Carolina,  in  one  of  the  skirmishes  preliminary  to  the  Battle  of  Ben- 
tonville,  and  which  was  the  last  engagement  with  the  enemy  in  which  the 
Tenth  took  part.  This  affair  of  Cox's  Bridge  occurred  on  the  19th  day  of 
March,  1865,  a  few  days  more  than  three  years  from  the  triumphal  march 
of  the  regiment,  at  the  head  of  Pope's  Army  of  the  Mississippi  into  New 
Madrid,  on  the  bank  of  the  Father  of  Waters. 

From  Bentonville  the  regiment  moved  to  Goldsboro,  thence  to  Raleigh, 
where  Johnston  soon  capitulated,  and  thence  to  Washington  city,  where  it 
participated  in  the  famous  review.  From  Washington  it  moved  to  Louis 
ville,  where  the  men  supposed  they  would  be  mustered  out  of  service.  In 
this  they  were  mistaken.  The  fighting  days  of  the  regiment  were  over,  but 
not  its  journeyings.  Having  remained  at  Louisville  a  few  weeks,  it  was 
ordered  to  Little  Rock,  Arkansas,  whither  it  proceeded  without  visible  dis 
content,  but  certainly,  one  should  suppose,  not  without  mental  execrations 
upon  the  heads  of  the  authorities  promulgating  the  order.  Nor  did  events 
show  that  there  was  any  the  least  necessity  for  it.  No  speck  of  war 
appeared  in  that  dark  quarter  of  the  national  horizon,  and  the  next  order 
the  regiment  received  was  an  order  for  muster-out.  In  obedience  to  which, 
it  was  mustered  out  at  Little  Rock,  on  the  15th  of  August,  then  numbering 
but  little  more  than  three  hundred  men,  all  told,  with  the  following  roster 
of  ofiicers : 

Lieutenant-Colonel  William  H.  Silsby ;  Adjutant  H.  S.  Bowman ;  Sur 
geon  R.  J.  Mohr;  Chaplain  Reverend  William  Gr.  Kephart.  Company 
A — Lieutenant  E.  E.  Howe.  Company  B— Lieutenant  S.  Kenworthy. 
Company  C — Captain  William  H.  Stoddard ;  Lieutenant  J.  H.  Larimer. 


180  IOWA    AND     THE     KEBELLION. 

Company  D — Lieutenant  A.  C.  Eberhart.  Company  E — Captain  M.  G. 
Cooper,  Lieutenant  J.  M.  Haley.  Company  F— Captain  C.  Dryden ; 
Lieutenant  L.  C.  Ela.  Company  G — Captain  J.  M.  Cochran ;  Lieutenant 
J.  H.  Miller.  Company  H — Lieutenant  M.  Custer.  Company  I — Cap 
tain  A.  W.  Drew ;  Lieutenant  William  P.  Wilson.  Company  K — Captain 
William  Rahm ;  Lieutenant  William  C.  Bayles. 

The  command  moved  thence  to  Davenport,  Iowa,  where  it  was  finally 
disbanded  on  the  last  day  of  August.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the 
regiment  numbered  more  than  nine  hundred  men  upon  its  organization. 
During  its  four  years  of  varied  and  remarkable  service  it  received  about 
three  hundred  recruits,  and  when  its  history  closed,. it  had  about  this  latter 
number  on  its  rolls.  In  wounds,  and  disease,  and  deatfr,  therefore,  the 
proud  old  Tenth  made  a  sacrifice  tantamount  to  its  original  strength. 
Such  was  its  sublime  offering  to  the  Union.  The  bones  of  the  sons  of 
Iowa  belonging  to  this  regiment,  fallen  in  the  great  struggle  for  liberty, 
now  lie  mingled  with  the  soil  of  every  State  from  Missouri  to  Georgia,  and 
one  of  its  Majors,  the  brave,  accomplished,  genial  Robert  Lusby,  found  an 
untimely  grave  near  Fort  Sumner,  New  Mexico,  where  he  was  serving  on 
the  staff  of  General  Crocker. 

Notwithstanding  the  honorable  record  which  this  regiment  made  for 
itself;  notwithstanding  it  had  borne  an  active  part  in  nearly  thirty  skir 
mishes,  sieges,  battles,  and  had  traveled  a  distance  more  than  half  the  dis 
tance  around  the  globe,  it  gave  over  its  colors  to  the  State  with  the  simple 
inscription,  "Tenth  Iowa  Veteran  Volunteers."  Having  faithfully  per 
formed  its  duty  to  the  country,  the  regiment  was  content  to  leave  it  to 
others  to  make  up  its  record.  But  when  the  visitor  to  our  archives  and 
relics  shall  behold  the  honored  emblem,  he  will  with  the  mind's  eye  see 
Charleston,  Missouri,  New  Madrid,  Island  No.  Ten,  Farmington,  luka, 
Corinth,  Raymond,  Jackson,  Champion  Hills,  Assault  and  Siege  of  Vicks- 
burg,  Missionary  Ridge,  Decatur,  Salkahatchie,  Columbia,  Bentonville ;  he 
will  think  of  the  four  years,  crowded  full  of  big  events,  during  which  the 
banner  became  so  torn  and  bloody,  and  he  will  turn  away  with  the  reflec 
tion  that  the  "  Tenth  Iowa  Veteran  Volunteers"  is  as  proud  an  inscription 
as  flag  ever  unfurled  to  the  breeze  of  heaven. 


CHAPTEE   X. 

TWELFTH    INFANTRY. 

RENDEZVOUS  AT  DUBUQUE— SICKNESS  AT  BENTON  BARRACKS-FORT  HENRY- 
FORT  DONELSON— SHILOH— THE  REGIMENT  CAPTURED— BRIEF  ACCOUNT  OF 
ITS  HISTORY  IN  CAPTIVITY— EXCHANGED— REORGANIZATION— MOVE  TO  ROLLA, 
MISSOURI— JOIN  THE  ARMY  UNDER  GRANT  OPERATING  AGAINST  VICKSBURG 
—THEN,  THE  ARMY  OF  OBSERVATION,  UNDER  SHERMAN— SIEGE  OF  JACKSON— 
IN  CAMP  NEAR  VICKSBURG— VETERAN  FURLOUGH— RETURN  TO  THE  THEATRE 
OF  WAR— ACTIVE  OPERATIONS  — BATTLE  NEAR  TUPELO,  MISSISSIPPI— TWO 
COMPANIES  OF  THE  REGIMENT  DEFEAT  FOUR  HUNDRED  REBELS  AT  MOUTH 
OF  WHITE  RIVER,  ARKANSAS  — REGIMENT  POSTED  AT  HOLLY  SPRINGS- 
SEVERE  MARCH  THROUGH  ARKANSAS— CAMPAIGN  IN  MISSOURI— MOVE  TO 
NASHVILLE— SIEGE  AND  BATTLE— THE  MOBILE  CAMPAIGN  UNDER  CANBY— 
SUBSEQUENT  HISTORY. 

VERY  soon  after  the  disaster  to  the  Union  arms  at  Bull  Run,  in  Virginia, 
the  President  issued  a  proclamation  calling  for  additional  volunteers,  under 
which  several  regiments  were  recruited  in  Iowa,  and  among  them  was  the 
Twelfth  Infantry.  The  companies  which  formed  the  regiment  were  enrolled 
in  the  counties  of  Hardin,  Allamakee,  Fayette,  Linn,  Black  Hawk,  Dela 
ware,  Winneshiek,  Dubuque,  and  Jackson,  many  recruits  joining  the  orga 
nization,  however,  from  other  counties,  during  the  summer  and  fall  of 
1861,  and  went  into  rendezvous  at  Dubuque,  where  they  were  mustered 
into  the  service  at  different  times  during  the  months  of  October  and 
November.  The  organization  was  completed  near  the  close  of  the  latter 
month,  the  last  company  being  sworn  in  on  the  25th,  at  which  time  the 
regiment  numbered,  rank  and  file,  nine  hundred  and  twenty-six  men.  J. 
J.  Woods,  of  Jackson  County,  was  commissioned  Colonel ;  John  P.  Coulter, 
of  Linn,  Lieutenant-Colonel;  and  Samuel  D.  Brodtbeck,  of  Dubuque, 
Major.1 

*  Nathaniel  E.  Duncan,  of  Dubuque,  was  appointed  Adjutant;  Joseph  B.  Dorr,  of  the  same  county, 
Quartermaster;  Dr.  C.  C.  Parker,  of  Fayette,  Surgeon;  Dr.  W.  H.  Finley,  of  Delaware,  Assistant 
Surgeon ;  and  Rev.  Albert  G.  Eberhart,  of  Linn,  Chaplain. 

The  line  officers  of  the  regiment  were:  Company  A— Captain  Samuel  R.  Edgington  ;  Lieutenants 

181 


182  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

A  very  few  days  after  organization,  the  regiment  moved  by  rail  to  St. 
Louis,  and  went  into  quarters  there  for  drill  and  discipline,  at  Benton 
Barracks.  The  men  composing  this  fine  command  were  in  robust  health 
when  they  left  their  rendezvous  at  Dubuque,  and  were  remarkable  for  their 
vigorous,  manly  appearance.  It  was  simply  impossible,  however,  for  men 
of  women  born  to  "experience"  Benton  Barracks,  during  the  winter  of 
1861-2  without  taking  some  contagious  disease  or  epidemic.  During  the 
months  of  December  and  January,  the  regiment  was  sorely,  most  sadly 
afflicted  with  sickness,  being  scourged  at  the  same  time  by  two  dreadful 
diseases — measles  and  pneumonia.  At  one  time  half  the  men  were  sick, 
and  during  this  mournful  period  about  seventy-five  members  of  the  regi 
ment  died,  among  them  Captain  Tupper,  of  Company  G,  an  officer  of  great 
popularity  and  promise. 

Having  endured  the  discomforts  and  ailments  of  these  notorious  Barracks 
about  two  months,  the  regiment  moved  by  rail  to  Cairo,  and  thence  by 
steamer  to  Smithland,  Kentucky,  where  it  remained  a  short  time,  and  then 
joined  the  army  under  General  Grant,  which  was  about  to  move  upon  the 
enemy's  works  in  Tennessee.  The  regiment  witnessed  the  capture  of  Fort 
Henry,  February  6,  1862,  by  the  gallant  western  sailors  under  Flag-Officer 
Foote,  participating  in  that  famous  achievement  in  so  far  as  any  part  of  the 
army  participated  therein,  and  suffering  in  common  with  all  the  troops  the 
hardships  of  the  severe  weather. 

On  the  12th,  the  regiment  marched  from  Fort  Henry  to  the  neighbor 
hood  of  Fort  Donelson,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  next  day  took  position 
on  the  left  wing  of  the  investing  army,  being  on  the  left  flank  of  the  second 
brigade  on  the  left  of  the  Union  lines ;  a  position  which,  in  the  course  of 
the  brilliant  operations  which  followed,  turned  out  to  be  one  both  of  danger 
and  of  honor.  In  the  sufferings,  and  contests,  and  final  glorious  success  of 
the  wonderful  victory  of  Fort  Donelson,  our  regiment  bore  its  part  man 
fully,  bravely,  joyfully,  and  at  once  won  a  high  reputation  among  the 
citizens  of  Iowa  and  others,  who  read  the  thrilling  details  of  General 
Grant's  first  great  success.2  The  regiment  remained  on  the  field  of  their 


A.  E.  Webb,  George  W.  Moir.  Company  B— -Captain  Willard  C.  Earlo ;  Lieutenants  Lyman  H. 
Merrill,  John  H.  Borger.  Company  C—  Captain  William  W.  Warner;  Lieutenants  David  B.  Hen 
derson,  Aaron  M.  Smith.  Company  D — Captain  John  H.  Stibbs;  Lieutenants  J  D.  Fergusson, 
Hiel  Hale;  Company  E— Captain  William  Haddock;  Lieutenants  John  Elwell,  Robert  Williams ; 
Company  F— Captain  James  E.  Ainsworth ;  Lieutenants  J.  W.  Gift,  William  A.  Morse.  Company 
G — Captain  Charles  C.  Tupper;  Lieutenants  Lloyd  D.  Townsley,  Joseph  F.  Nickerson.  Company 
H—  Captain  Henry  J.  Playter;  Lieutenants  Robert  Fishel,  Luther  W.  Jackson.  Company  I— 
Captain  Edward  W.  Van  Du/ee ;  Lieutenants  John  J.  Marks,  Alfred  M.  Palmer.  Company  K— 
Captain  John  G.  Fowler ;  Lieutenants  Lawrence  Webb,  and  John  J.  Brown. 

2  In  my  account  of  the  Second  Infantry  I  have  given  a  description  of  the  battle  of  Fort  Donelson, 
there  narrating  the  part  taken  by  the  Twelfth  regiment  also.  The  killed  and  wounded  of  the  regi 
ment  numbered  thirty-one,  two  only  being  killed  outright.  They  were : 


TWELFTH     INFANTRY.  183 

glory  with  the  army  about  two  weeks,  taking  needed  rest,  and  recuperating 
from  the  effects  of  the  short  but  arduous  campaign. 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  period  of  rest,  the  campaign  of  Shiloh  was 
opened.  Our  regiment,  taking  part  therein,  marched  to  a  landing  on  the 
Tennessee  River,  and  there  taking  steamers  proceeded  to  Pittsburg  Land 
ing.  In  their  encampment  about  one  mile  from  the  hamlet,  the  men 
enjoyed  the  quiet  which  was  begotten  from  no  thoughts  of  danger,  and 
which  negative  state  of  mind  on  the  part  of  the  general  commanding  came* 
near  resulting  in  the  destruction  of  the  army.  About  the  only  event  of 
noteworthy  importance  which  took  place  during  this  period  of  quiet,  when 
the  troops  ought  all  to  have  been  engaged  in  entrenching  their  positions, 
was  the  resignation  of  Major  Brodtbeck,  on  account  of  poor  health.  Captain 
Edgington,  of  Company  A,  was  designated  to  act  in  his  place  by  Colonel 
Woods,  and  was  in  due  time  fully  commissioned  major. 

Of  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  which  took  place  on  the  6th  and  7th  days  of 
April,  of  this  year,  I  have  written  many  details,  especially  such  as  had  a 
bearing  on  the  part  taken  in  that  contest  by  Iowa  troops,  in  my  account  of 
the  Third  Infantry.  But  it  will  bear  repeating  here  that  the  Eighth,  the 
Twelfth,  and  the  Fourteenth  Iowa  Volunteers,  composed  four-fifths  of  that 
little  band  which  held  back  ten  times  their  force  of  rebels,  long  after  all 
support  had  fallen  away  from  their  right  and  their  left,  fighting  after  the 
last  hope  of  saving  themselves  had  gone,  and  by  sacrificing  themselves, 
saving  the  army  of  the  Union  till  Buell  and  night  had  come.  As  the  sun 
was  setting  on  the  army  they  had  saved,  these  gallant  men  threw  down 
their  arms  and  surrendered  themselves  prisoners  of  war.  They  had  fought 
without  flinching  all  day,  but  it  made  the  blood  run  cold  in  the  veins  of  the 
stoutest  hearted  to  see  many  of  their  comrades  shot  down  after  they  had 
surrendered,  and  some  of  them  so  long  after  the  surrender  that  ignorance 
of  the  fact  could  not  have  been  pleaded  in  excuse  of  the  foul  atrocity.3 

Killed,  Privates  E.  C.  Buckner,  and  J.  J.  Stillman.  Wounded,  Lieutenant  D.  B.  Henderson ;  Pri 
vates  F.  B.  Reed,  Joseph  Starts,  Henry  S.  Fry,  Jesse  Thayer,  E.  W.  Wood,  W.  B.  Bort,  W.  B.  War 
ner,  W.  W.  Davery,  John  W.  Rowan,  E.  A.  King,  Charles  R.  Switzer,  S.  J.  Crowhurst,  Reuben  C. 
Palmer,  George  Kent,  James  M.  Taylor,  Michael  Kirchner,  Christian  Christopheson,  A.  J.  Price, 
John  B.  Flenniken,  T.  Eaton,  Patrick  McMannis,  Thomas  Wilson,  J.  H.  Johnson ;  Sergeants  J.  P. 
Jackson,  R.  W.  Tirril,  and  E.  W.  Calder;  and  Corporal  William  Mathias. 

8  Besides  the  prisoners,  the  losses  in  killed  and  wounded  of  the  regiment  were  very  heavy.  I  am 
•well  assured  that  no  full  report  of  these  losses  has  ever  been  made.  Colonel  Woods  himself  was 
severely  wounded  and  taken  prisoner ;  and,  though  he  was  soon  afterwards  recaptured  by  our  forces,  his 
wound,  and  the  inevitable  difficulty  of  making  up  returns  with  the  command  nearly  all  in  captivity, 
prevented,  of  course,  full  and  accurate  returns.  I  give  below,  therefore,  only  a  list  of  the  killed  and 
wounded,  as  taken  from  the  Adjutant-General's  Report. 

Company  A— Killed,  Lieutenant  George  W.  Moir;  Privates  Wbitcom  Fairbanks,  Barton  H. 
Johnson,  William  Stotser.  Company  C—  Corporal  Thomas  Henderson;  Privates  Charles  Larson, 
Charles  Pendleton.  Company  D— Lieutenant  Jason  D.  Fergusson ;  Privates  James  P.  Ayers,  Daniel 
Luther.  Company  E—  Privates  Israel  W.  Fuller,  William  L.  Pauley.  Company  F—  Corporal 
Abern  D.  Campbell.  Company  7— Private  Thomas  H.  Wilson.  Wounded,  Colonel  Jackson  J.  Wood. 


184  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

By  the  time  the  prisoners  were  collected  and  ready  to  march  to  the  rear, 
it  was  dark.  A  few  stray  shots  were  still  fired,  and  the  heavy  boom  of  the 
cannon  on  the  gun-boats  was  borne  on  the  evening  air ;  but  the  battle  was 
closed  for  the  day.  The  prisoners  marched  five  miles  to  the  rear,  and 
spent  the  stormy  night  in  a  corn-field.  The  next  day  they  marched  to 
Corinth,  and  thence  went  by  rail  to  Memphis,  and  from  there,  soon  after 
wards,  to  Mobile,  Alabama,  by  Grenada,  Jackson  and  Meridian.  From 
Mobile,  the  oflicers,  of  the  rank  of  Captain  and  above,  were  sent  by  steamer 
to  Selma,  and  thence  to  Taladega,4  where  they  remained  a  short  time,  and 
returned  to  Selma.  The  Lieutenants  and  men  were  taken  to  various 
places  in  Alabama,  and  confined  in  loathsome  prisons.  About  half  the 
men  of  the  Twelfth  were  released  during  the  month  of  May,  and  sent  to 
parole  camp,  Benton  Barracks,  Missouri.  The  rest  suffered  the  hardships 
and  privations  of  imprisonment  during  the  summer  and  fall.  The  officers 
remained  at  Selma  nearly  three  months,  when  they  were  taken  to  Atlanta, 
Georgia,  but  stopped  there,  at  the  scene  of  so  much  glory  afterwards  to 
many  of  them,  only  a  short  time,  and  then  proceeded  to  Madison,  where 
they  were  joined  by  the  officers  who  had  been  separated  from  them,  and 
where  they  all  remained  till  the  7th  of  November.  They  then  went  by  rail 
through  South  Carolina  and  North  Carolina  to  Libby  Prison,  Richmond, 
and  were  paroled  on  the  13th,  at  Aiken's  Landing.  The  enlisted  men 
were  paroled  on  the  20th,  at  the  same  place,  and  all  went  to  the  parole 
camp  at  Annapolis,  Md.,  and  thence  to  St.  Louis.  During  this  period, 
officers  and  men  suffered  worse  than  had  been  known  up  to  that  time  among 
civilized  people,  from  the  effects  of  harsh  treatment.  Many  died  in  pri 
son  ;  many  others  afterwards  died  from  the  effects  of  their  prison  life ;  and 

Company  A — Corporal  Ezekiel  S.  Sawin;  Private  Kendricks  S.  Sprague.  Company  B — Privates 
Orison  F.  Adams,  Cornelius  Denny,  Henry  S.  Fry,  Henry  Jones,  Charles  King,  William  Maynard, 
Joseph  Starts,  Robert  Wampler,  Stephen  Wood.  Company  C— Corporal  Phineas  R.  Ketchum ;  Pri 
vates  Henry  George,  Wilson  King,  Frank  W.  Moine,  Albert  P.  Munger,  David  W.  Reed.  Company 
D — Sergeant  John  M.  Clark ;  Corporals  Joseph  Stibbs,  Homer  C.  Morehead,  Howard  Pangborn ; 
Privates  Edwin  H.  Bailey,  Thomas  Barr,  Isaac  G.  Clark,  Robert  C.  Cowell,  Frank  Renchin.  Com- 
pany  E—  Musician  Benjamin  E.  Eberhart;  Privates  Anthony  Biller,  Jacob  Howrey,  Charles  John 
son,  Samuel  J.  Lichty,  Thomas  Porter,  John  P.  Thompson.  Company  F—  Sergeants  Henry  J.  F. 
Small,  Rodney  W.  Tirrill;  Corporal  Thomas  C.  Nelson;  Privates  Aborn  Crippen,  George  Kent, 
Samuel  Plattenburg,  Joseph  Plate.  Company  G — Private  Alfred  S.  Fuller.  Company  IT— Corporal 
Joseph  Evans;  Privates  Alexander  Presho,  Edgar  A.  Ward.  Company  7— Private  Theophilus  Eaton. 
Company  K—  Sergeant  Benjamin  Hayhurst;  Corporal  Lewellyn  Larrabee;  Privates  Sylvester 
Griffin,  Frank  Kerzer,  John  Moulton,  (mortally). 

*  Whilst  the  prisoners  were  at  Taladega,  (Captain  J.  M.  Hedrick,  Fifteenth  Iowa,  afterwards, 
Brevet  Brigadier-General,  being  of  the  number),  a  rebel  guard  was  killed  by  order  of  the  officer  of 
the  guard,  for  declining  to  be  relieved,  the  poor  fellow  ignorantly  thinking  he  was  doing  his  duty, 
and  that  he  must  stay  on  guard  all  night.  He  died  in  great  agony  in  the  presence  of  our  officers. 
More  than  a  year  afterwards,  when  moving  up  on  the  works  of  Vicksburg,  the  Fifteenth  drove  a 
rebel  regiment  out  of  its  camp,  and  among  the  captures  was  a  roll,  giving  an  account  of  the  killing 
of  this  man.  Hedrick,  then  Major,  kept  the  roll,  and  still  keeps  it,  to  show  that  tables  may  some 
times  be  turned,  for  his  men  here  killed  and  wounded  many  of  his  former  guard  at  Taladega. 


TWELFTH     INFANTRY.  185 

many  others  still  were  compelled  to  quit  the  service,  because  they  had  been 
rendered  unfit  ever  to  perform  its  duties. 

Whilst  the  principal  part  of  the  regiment  was  thus,  with  others  who  sur 
rendered  at  the  same  time,  passing  a  gloomy,  most  unhappy  period  of 
nearly  eight  months'  duration,  there  were  a  few  members  of  the  organiza 
tion  performing  active  duties  in  the  field,  in  the  "Union  Brigade,"  which 
was  much  of  the  time  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Coulter. 
There  were  in  this  "  Brigade"  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  members  of  the 
Twelfth  regiment — men  who  had  been  in  hospital,  or  for  other  cause  were 
not  present  at  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  or  had  escaped  from  imprisonment. 

The  Union  Brigade — which  was,  in  fact,  rather  a  consolidated  regiment 
than  a  brigade — was  disbanded,  resolved  into  its  original  elements,  so  to 
say,  not  long  after  the  prisoners  of  the  regiments  from  detachments  of 
which  it  was  composed  returned  to  St.  Louis.  Those  parts  of  it  belonging 
to  Iowa  regiments  went  to  Davenport,  and  remained  there  during  the  winter 
of  1862-3,  the  members  of  the  Twelfth  rejoining  the  regiment  about  the 
1st  of  April,  when  it  was  reorganized.  The  paroled  men  had  been  declared 
exchanged  on  the  1st  of  January,  1863,  and  about  a  week  afterwards  went 
to  Holla  to  protect  that  place  against  a  threatened  raid  by  Marmaduke, 
returning  to  camp,  without  having  a  fight,  on  the  15th.  The  period 
elapsing  between  this  time  and  the  opening  of  the  spring  campaign  was 
spent  at  St.  Louis.  Here  Lieutenant-Colonel  Coulter  resigned.  Shortly 
afterwards,  Major  Edgington  was  promoted  to  the  Lieutenant-Colonelcy, 
and  Captain  John  H.  Stibbs,  of  Company  D,  to  the  Majority.  But  the 
regiment  was  in  the  field,  fully  reorganized,  armed,  and  equipped,  with  the 
army  operating  against  Vicksburg,  before  these  deserved  promotions  were 
received. 

In  this  campaign,  the  Eighth,  Twelfth  and  Thirty-fifth  Iowa  regiments 
formed  the  Third  Brigade,  Third  Division,  Fifteenth  Army  Corps,  and 
moved  from  Duckport,  Louisiana,  on  the  2d  of  May,  with  the  column 
marching  by  Richmond,  and  Hard  Times,  La.,  and  Grand  Gulf,  Miss., 
to  take  Jackson  and  then  Vicksburg  in  rear.  The  regiment  participated 
in  the  marches  and  combats  under  General  Sherman  throughout  the  cam 
paign  which  resulted  in  placing  our  army  around  Vicksburg  in  regular 
siege.  In  the  assault  of  the  22d  of  May,  the  brigade  to  which  our  regi 
ment  was  attached  was  in  the  line  of  reserves,  and  suffered  no  loss.  On 
the  next  day,  the  regiment  took  position  in  the  front  line  about  half  of  a 
mile  to  the  right  of  Fort  Hill,  and  there  remained,  taking  full  part  in  the 
siege  about  one  month,  when  it  marched  sixteen  miles  to  the  rear  of  Vicks 
burg,  with  the  Army  of  Observation  under  General  Sherman.  When, 
Vicksburg  having  fallen,  the  Expeditionary  Army  on  the  next  day  moved 
out  after  the  rebel  General  Johnston,  the  Twelfth  Iowa  marched  with  it, 
24 


186  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

and  took  part  in  all  its  operations.  Its  stalwart  men  did  their  share  of 
destroying  the  enemy's  property,  after  the  evacuation  of  the  City  of  Jack 
son  by  Johnston,  and  participated  in  the  skirmish  at,  and  capture  of  Bran 
don  which  followed  the  evacuation.  On  the  20th  of  July  they  again  turned 
their  faces  toward  Vicksburg,  and  three  days  afterwards  went  into  camp  on 
Bear  Creek,  fifteen  miles  east  of  the  city. 

In  this  double  campaign  of  nearly  three  months'  duration,  whose  results 
were  so  glorious  to  the  Union  arms,  our  regiment  performed  its  part,  fron? 
first  to  last,  with  cheerfulness,  skill,  courage,  and  great  honor,  often  re 
ceiving  the  compliments  of  general  officers,  and  bringing  to  the  State  of 
Iowa  much  of  the  credit  which  her  many  regiments  engaged  in  the  same 
operations  made  so  large  an  aggregate.  The  losses  of  the  regiment  during 
this  important  period  were  not  so  heavy  as  the  losses  of  some  of  our  regi 
ments — of  those  especially  which  participated  in  the  severe  battle  of  Cham 
pion  Hills  and  took  part  in  the  unsuccessful  assault  of  the  22d  of  May— 
but  they  were  sufficient  to  attest  the  dangers  through  which  the  command 
had  passed,  and  to  entitle  its  survivors  to  rest  and  quiet.  Accordingly, 
they  remained  encamped  on  a  fine  plantation  on  Bear  Creek  until  the  10th 
of  the  following  October,  having  only  light  picket  duties  to  perform,  which 
were  rather  formal  than  real,  the  enemy  not  being  near.  Shortly  after  this 
period  of  rest  commenced,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Edgington  resigned,  and 
Major  Stibbs  assumed  command  of  the  regiment,  which,  it  may  be  here 
remarked,  he  retained  with  but  a  few  days'  exception,  until  near  the  close 
of  January,  1865,  when  he  was  ordered  to  the  National  Capital,  and  re 
mained  there  upon  an  important  Court-martial — which,  among  other  noto 
rious  criminals,  tried  Captain  "Wertz,  of  Andersonville  prison  infamy — 
until  long  after  the  cessation  of  actual  hostilities  in  the  field.  He  received 
his  commission  as  Lieutenant-Colonel  in  September,  and  Captain  E.  M. 
Van  Duzee,  of  Company  I,  was  at  the  same  time  made  Major. 

The  quiet  of  the  regiment  was  temporarily  broken  about  the  10th  of 
(October,  when  it  moved  with  other  troops  in  the  direction  of  Canton.  At 
Brownsville  there  was  a  slight  skirmish,  resulting  in  no  material  loss  to 
Cither  side,  after  which  the  command,  obliqued  to  the  right  on  Clinton,  and 
thence  returned  along  the  line  of  the  railway  to  the  Big  Black  River.  The 
expedition  ended,  the  regiment  pitched  tents  eight  miles  in  rear  of  Vicks 
burg,  and  remained  in  encampment  there  till  the  10th  of  November. 

Having  been  ordered  to  report  to  General  Hurlbut,  the  regiment  marched 
to  Vicksburg,  and  proceeding  thence  by  steamer  reached  Memphis  about 
the  middle  of  the  month.  Halting  here  but  two  or  three  days,  it  marched 
to  La  Grange,  and  moved  thence  by  cars  to  Chewalla.  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Stibbs  took  command  of  the  post,  and  his  regiment  had  charge  of  the  rail 
way,  as  guard,  for  about  eight  miles — four  miles  east,  and  the  same  distance 


TWELFTH     INFANTRY.  187 

west  of  Chewalla.  Here  the  regiment  remained  until  near  the  close  of 
January,  1864.  It  was  a  period  of  great  activity  for  the  command,  but  its 
services,  though  highly  important  and  valuable,  as  well  as  honorable  to  the 
officers  and  men  engaged,  were  not  of  the  kind  to  attract  the  public  atten 
tion,  and  give  to  the  regiment  that  eclat  which  would  have  naturally  been 
given  to  it,  had  services  no  more  important,  or  daring,  been  performed  in  a 
grand  campaign  to  which  all  eyes  were  directed.  Besides  guarding  the 
railway,  the  regiment  during  these  two  months  built  a  formidable  fort  nea*r 
Chewalla,  and  its  scouting  parties  captured  and  killed,  under  difficulties  and 
dangers,  more  than  fifty  guerrilla-men,  whose  bands  were  effectually  routed 
and  destroyed.  For  all  of  which  the  command  received  the  high  compli 
ments  of  the  general  commanding. 

When,  on  the  28th  of  January,  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  Railway 
was  ordered  evacuated,  our  regiment  moved  thereon  to  its  western  terminus, 
and  was  there  assigned,  again  with  its  comrade  regiments  of  the  Vicksburg 
campaign — the  Eighth  and  Thirty-fifth  Iowa — as  the  Third  Brigade,  First 
Division,  Sixteenth  Army  Corps,  and  ordered  to  Vicksburg,  to  go  with 
General  Sherman  on  the  expedition  which  was  afterwards  called  the  great 
Meridian  raid.  The  division  was  unfortunately  delayed  on  the  river,  and 
when  it  reached  Yicksburg,  General  Sherman's  column  had  been  some  time 
on  the  forward  march.  On  this  account  the  division  was  ordered  to  en 
camp  near  the  Big  Black  River,  and  go  forward  with  supplies  when  they 
should  be  ordered.  The  supplies  were  not  ordered,  for  General  Sherman 
returned  from  the  raid  early  in  March,  having  levied  upon  the  country 
through  which  he  passed,  and  which  he  devastated,  for  all  the  supplies  he 
needed. 

On  the  4th  of  January,  while  at  Chewalla,  the  regiment  had  mustered 
as  a  veteran  organization,  all  the  men  present  with  the  command,  except 
about  twenty,  though  there  were  others,  not  present,  who  did  not  reenlist, 
having  reenlisted — "a  larger  proportion,"  says  Lieutenant-Colonel  Stibbs, 
' '  than  in  any  other  regiment  from  the  State. ' '  There  being  now,  after  the 
return  of  General  Sherman's  expedition,  no  pressing  need  of  troops  in  the 
field,  our  regiment  had  advantage  of  the  fact,  and  was  ordered  home  on 
veteran  furlough.  It  moved  by  steamer  to  Davenport,  reaching  that  city 
on  the  22d  of  March,  and  going  thence  by  rail  in  a  round-about  way  to 
Dubuque  where  the  men  received  furloughs  for  thirty  days.  As  they 
sought  their  homes  by  companies  and  squads  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
State,  they  were  received  with  that  hospitable,  enthusiastic  welcome  which 
characterized  the  greetings  of  our  people  toward  the  many  regiments  of 
gallant  men  which  returned  on  similar  visits  about  this  time.  The  regiment 
reported  at  Davenport  on  the  25th  of  April,  and  moving  by  rail  to  Cairo, 


188  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

and  thence  by  steamer  down  the  Mississippi  River,  disembarked  at  Mem 
phis  on  the  2d  of  May. 

When  the  veterans  started  home  on  furlough,  the  non- veterans,  number 
ing  about  seventy,  were  temporarily  attached  to  the  Thirty-fifth  Iowa,  and 
with  that  regiment  went  on  the  Red  River  campaign  with  the  forces  under 
command  of  General  A.  J.  Smith,  and  took  part  with  those  forces  in  that 
entire  expedition,  and  in  the  battle  of  Point  Chicot,  or  Old  River  Lake, 
where  the  rebels  blockading  the  river  were  so  handsomely  whipped  by 
General  Smith.  The  non-veterans  lost  quite  a  number  in  killed  and 
wounded  on  this  campaign.  The  detachment  rejoined  the  regiment  at 
Memphis  near  the  middle  of  June. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  the  regiment  at  that  city,  on  the  afternoon  of  May 
2d,  arms,  accoutrements,  and  camp  equipage  were  immediately  drawn,  and 
five  companies  marched  out  on  picket  the  same  night.  The  regiment 
pitched  tents  just  outside  the  limits  of  the  city.  On  the  15th,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Stibbs,  with  six  companies  of  the  regiment,  went  by  steamer  to  the 
mouth  of  White  River,  Arkansas,  with  orders  to  establish  a  military  post 
at  that  point,  and  take  charge  thereof  for  the  time  being.  He  performed 
the  duty  assigned  him,  and  returned  to  Memphis  on  the  1st  of  June, 
leaving  Companies  A  and  F  at  the  post  he  had  established,  under  command 
of  Captain  Joseph  R.  C.  Hunter,  Company  A. 

The  troops  under  Generals  A.  J.  Smith  and  Mower  having  returned 
from  the  Red  River  campaign,  the  army  at  Memphis  was  to  some  extent 
reorganized.  The  brigade  to  which  our  regiment  was  attached,  embraced 
now  only  one  other  Iowa  regiment,  the  Thirty-fifth;  the  Eighth  being 
ordered  to  remain  at  Memphis,  as  provost  guard  of  the  city ;  the  Seventh 
Minnesota  taking  its  place  in  the  brigade,  Colonel  Woods  commanding. 
Early  in  June  the  command  moved  by  short  marches  to  La  Grange,  Tenn 
essee,  repairing  the  railroad  on  the  way,  so  that  it  might  be  useful  as  a  line 
of  communications  to  General  Smith,  about  to  commence  offensive  opera 
tions  against  the  rebel  troopers,  Forrest  and  Lee,  in  central  Mississippi. 
On  the  day  after  the  National  Anniversary,  the  army  right-wheeled  from 
the  railroad,  and  marching  by  Ripley  and  Pontotoc  reached  the  vicinity  of 
Tupelo  in  about  one  week,  where  there  was  fighting  much  of  the  time,  day 
and  night,  on  the  12th,  13th,  and  14th  of  July.  On  the  12th,  our  regi 
ment,  being  at  the  time  guard  of  the  train,  was  attacked  by  a  brigade  of 
rebels,  eager  for  victory  and  plunder,  and  thinking  both  could  be  easily 
gained  from  the  inferior  force  opposed  to  them.  But  never  were  men  more 
mistaken.  The  regiment  stood  like  a  wall,  from  which  the  charge  of  the 
troopers  rebounded  as  though  springing  from  a  consuming  conflagration. 
No  small  force  repelled  a  large  force  more  bravely  or  more  completely 
during  the  whole  war.  In  the  subsequent  fighting  of  this  brilliant  cam- 


TWELFTH     INFANTRY.  189 

paign,  wherein  the  rebels  were  thoroughly  defeated  and  routed,  the  regi 
ment  bore  a  prominent  part,  fighting  all  the  time  with  marked  gallantry 
and  efficiency,  losing  heavily  in  killed  and  wounded,  and  at  the  close  of  the 
extended  contest,  receiving  the  special  commendations  of  the  general  com 
manding  the  army." 

Keturning  by  New  Albany,  Spring  Hill,  and  La  Grange,  the  regiment 
reached  Memphis  on  the  24th  of  July,  and  there  had  a  week's  rest  after 
active  operations  in  the  field  which  might  have  entitled  it  to  more,  had  tjie* 
men  wanted  it.  On  the  1st  of  August,  the  command  started  on  another 
raid,  moving  by  rail  to  La  Grange,  and  thence  to  Lumpkin's  Mills,  Missis- 

8  I  have  been  unable  to  procure  any  general  report  or  authoritative  account  of  the  battle  of  Tu 
pelo,  from  which  to  gather  sufficient  information  to  enable  me  to  give  a  correct  description  of  the 
engagement.  From  what  has  been  published  it  may  be  gathered  that  General  Smith  here  most 
completely  outgeneralled  Forrest,  enticing  him,  by  a  stratagem,  from  a  strong  position,  -which 
Smith  at  once  occupied  in  force,  compelling  his  antagonist  to  attack  at  a  great  disadvantage,  result 
ing  in  his  repeated  repulse  and  final  acknowledged  defeat,  with  remarkably  heavy  losses.  It  was  a 
severely  contested  battle,  bravely  fought  on  both  sides.  Iowa  was  represented  in  the  fight  by  the 
Twelfth,  the  Fourteenth,  Captain  Campbell  commanding,  the  Twenty-seventh,  Captain  Haslip,  the 
Thirty-second,  and  the  Thirty-fifth  regiments  of  Infantry,  and  by  the  Second,  Third,  and  Fourth 
regiments  of  Cavalry,  the  troopers  being  engaged  in  protecting  the  flanks  of  the  army  rather  than 
in  actual  fighting.  But  it  is  unquestionably.true,  according  to  all  trustworthy  accounts,  that  our 
Twelfth  Infantry  was  here  specially  distinguished  among  all  the  troops  which  helped  to  gain  the 
victory.  The  universal  expression  is,  that  it  occupied  the  post  of  danger  and  of  honor,  bearing  the 
brunt  of  the  battle,  and  most  gloriously  and  triumphantly  sustained  the  Union  arms  on  this  bloody 
field.  It  is  not  more  certain  that  the  Second  Iowa  was  first  at  Donelson,  the  Fourth  at  Chickasaw 
Bayou,  the  Fifth  at  luka,  than  that  the  Twelfth  won  the  brightest  laurels  at  Tupelo.  Wherefore,  I 
exceedingly  regret  the  want  of  sufficient  materials  from  which  to  compile  a  full  account  of  the 
victory. 

The  regiment  lost,  during  the  three  engagements  near  Tupelo  in  which  it  took  part,  sixty-four 
men,  killed,  wounded,  and  missing.  The  following  is  the  official  list,  as  given  by  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Stibbs,  in  his  report  of  the  campaign : 

JULY  13TH.     Company  D — Killed,  Private  John  Nichola. 

Company  I—Wowided,  Captain  Charles  L.  Sumbardo.  Company  D — Corporal  James  L.  Cowell ;  Pri 
vates  Dennis  Conley,  Henry  W.  Bailey/.Wencil  Doleshall.  Company  G — Sorah  A.  Sernson.  Company  H — 
Corporals  John  W.  Benedict,  George  W.  Horner;  Privates  Edward  Beckett,  Philip  Henry.  Com 
pany  I— Corporal  John  F.  Wilson ;  Private  John  Devine. 

Company  D — Missing,  Private  Edwin  A.  Butolph. 

JULY  14TH.  Company  G — Killed,  First  Lieutenant  Augustus  A.  Burdick,  A.  R.  Q.  M.  Company  B — 
Private  Francis  A.  Winter.  Company  .&— Corporal  George  R.  Holden.  Company  /—Private  Phile- 
tus  S.  Butters.  Company  K—  Sergeant  Robert  Fowler ;  Corporal  Jeremiah  J.  Myers ;  Private  Philip 
H.  Rutter. 

Company  B — Wounded,  Privates  John  Bowling,  James  W.  Patterson,  Frank  Klees,  Bryant  Ma- 
guire,  Wesley  B.  Bort,  Isaac  Woodmansee,  Marcellus  Pratt,  Hugh  McCabe.  Company  C—  Sergeant 
Emry  Clark,  James  Stewart ;  Private  John  W.  McCall.  Company  D — First  Sergeant  Judson  L. 
Boughton ;  Privates  William  W.  Whitenack,  Samuel  Bumgardner,  Daniel  Sivets.  Company  E — 
Sergeant  Harvey  Smith;  Corporal  Allen  E.  Talbot;  Privates  Nathaniel  Surfus,  Henry  W.  Crow- 
hurst.  Company  H—  First  Sergeant  Valma  V.  Price ;  Sergeant  Ralph  M.  Grimes ;  Corporals  John 
B,  Flenniken,  John  S.  Mason;  Privates  John  G.  Currie,  Patrick  Hannan.  Company  7— Sergeant 
J.  Warren  Coats;  Corporals  William  Kohler,  Michael  D.  Nagle;  Privates  Napoleon  C.  Austin,  Alex 
ander  F.  Jenkins,  Samuel  S.  Kenedy,  Van  Meter  Suyder,  John  F.  Butters.  Company  K—  Sergeant 
William  H.  H.  Blanchard ;  Corporals  Charles  E.  Merriam,  Alvin  Mosher;  Privates  James  Dillon, 
William  B.  Keith,  Stephen  N.  Bugbee. 

JULY  15iH.    Company  B— Killed,  Private  August  Leue. 

Company  B — Wounded,  Private  Thomas  Dowling.  Company  D — Private  Jeremiah  Williams. 
Company  I—  Private  James  C.  Buchanan. 


190  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

sippi,  whence  it  marched  to  Holly  Springs,  of  which  post  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Stibbs  took  command  with  the  Twelfth  regiment  on  duty  there. 
The  constant  rains  interfered  with  general  operations,  and  our  regiment 
remained  at  Holly  Springs  for  some  time. 

Here,  Companies  A  and  F,  which  had  been  on  detached  service  at  the 
military  post  at  the  mouth  of  White  River,  rejoined  the  regiment  on  the 
10th.  The  services  of  this  little  detachment  at  this  post  during  the  entire 
period  of  nearly  three  months  had  been  most  valuable  to  numbers  of  Union 
men  from  the  North,  and  loyal  blacks  of  the  neighborhood,  who  were 
endeavoring  to  reclaim  and  cultivate  the  waste  places  in  that  part  of 
Arkansas.  They  had  also  been  valuable  to  the  cause  of  the  Union  at  large 
in  several  respects  which  will  be  apparent  to  the  reader,  and  need  not  be 
here  set  forth.  In  consequence  of  which,  the  rebels  determined  to  attack 
the  post,  and  defeat  and  capture  the  garrison.  Captain  Hunter,  in  com 
mand,  being  a  most  vigilant  officer,  had  ordered  the  building  of  a  strong 
stockade  at  the  post,  but  it  was  not  completed  when  he  received  intelligence 
which  led  him  to  believe  he  would  soon  be  attacked.  The  whole  force, 
therefore,  was  put  to  work  on  the  stockade,  on  the  4th  of  June,  and  kept 
at  w(5rk  thereon  till  midnight.  At  three  o'clock  of  the  next  morning  they 
were  attacked  by  Marmaduke's  men,  numbering  nearly  four  hundred, 
under  command  of  a  colonel.  The  two  companies  of  our  regiment,  consti 
tuting  the  whole  of  the  garrison,  numbered  just  forty-seven  muskets.  So 
sudden  was  the  attack,  that  the  men  did  not  have  time  to  dress  themselves 
after  the  alarm  was  given,  before  the  enemy  was  upon  them.  They  sprang 
at  once  to  arms  and  fought  in  uniform  which  the  wags  called  "shirt-tail 
regalia. ' '  The  enemy  delivered  attack  with  great  spirit  and  determination, 
and  a  number  of  them  by  a  bold  dash  gained  the  stockade  on  one  side. 
Their  success  here  would  have  resulted  in  the  complete  defeat  of  the  gar 
rison,  but  for  one  of  those  splendid  acts  of  heroism  for  which  brave  men  in 
the  olden  times  were  apotheosized.  Sergeant  Isaac  Cottle  and  Corporal 
George  D.  Hunter,  of  Company  F,  armed  with  revolvers,  rushed  out  of 
the  stockade,  and  boldly  attacked  the  rebels  who  had  gained  the  work, 
firing  rapidly,  and  making  every  shot  tell.  The  enemy,  no  doubt  thinking 
the  sallying  party  embraced  a  considerable  force,  fled  in  confusion,  but  a 
random  shot  killed  Corporal  Hunter  on  the  spot,  and  another  wounded 
Sergeant  Cottle,  so  that  he  died  three  weeks  afterwards.  In  three-quarters 
of  an  hour  after  the  attack  commenced,  the  rebels  were  repulsed  in  indis 
criminate  rout,  with  a  loss  of  over  fifty  in  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners, 
the  commanding  officer  being  among  the  killed.  Their  dead  and  wounded 
were  left  on  the  field.  Besides  Hunter  and  Cottle,  the  loss  of  the  garrison 
was  four  wounded.  For  this  gallant  defence  of  their  post  Captain  Hunter 
and  command  were  highly  complimented  by  General  Buford,  commanding 


TWELFTH     INFANTRY.  191 

District  of  Helena.  And  we  may  be  sure  that  officers  and  men  of  the 
detachment  were  right  joyously  welcomed  back  to  the  regiment,  as  they 
marched  through  the  rain  to  its  camp  at  Holly  Springs. 

Notwithstanding  the  storms,  the  regiment  had  much  to  do,  in  the  way 
of  building  roads  and  bridges.  It  moved  as  far  south  as  Oxford,  skirmish 
ing  with  the  enemy  at  the  Tallahatchee  River  and  beyond,  but  suffered  no 
loss.  It  returned  to  Memphis  by  the  same  route  over  which  it  had  passed 
going  out,  near  the  close  of  August,  but  had  hardly  become  settled  in  camp 
when  it  was  ordered  away  on  a  campaign  which  turned  out  to  be  one  of  the 
most  active  in  which  the  regiment  had  participated,  though  it  resulted  in 
no  casualties  of  battles. 

On  the  1st  of  September  intelligence  was  received  that  the  rebels  were 
blockading  White  River,  in  Arkansas,  and  threatening  communications 
with  Little  Rock  and  other  posts  held  by  our  forces.  General  Mower  was 
ordered  to  raise  the  blockade  with  his  division  of  troops.  He  embarked  on 
steamers  the  same  day,  and  sailing  down  the  Mississippi  and  up  the  White 
River  to  Duvall's  Bluff,  without  meeting  the  enemy,  marched  to  Browns 
ville  not  many  miles  from  Little  Rock.  And  here  he  learned  that  Price 
had  gone  north.  He  was  ordered  to  pursue.  Leaving  Brownsville 
on  the  17th,  with  ten  days'  damaged  rations,  he  marched  by  Searcy, 
Jacksonport,  and  Pocahontas,  Arkansas,  and  Poplar  Bluff,  Greenville,  and 
Jackson,  Missouri,  to  Cape  Girardeau,  a  distance  of  three  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  in  nineteen  days,  reaching  the  Cape  on  the  5th  of  October. 
Rain,  mud,  swamps,  rivers,  and  short  rations — these  were  the  obstructions 
in  the  way  of  this  remarkable  march.  As  an  evidence  of  its  severity,  it 
may  be  stated  that  when  the  Twelfth  Iowa,  numbering  two  hundred  and 
fifty,  rank  and  file,  reached  Cape  Girardeau,  five  officers  and  one  hundred 
and  one  men  were  in  their  bare  feet.  Other  regiments  were  in  similar  con 
dition,  and  perhaps  there  was  not  an  officer  or  man  in  the  column  who 
could  have  made  a  respectable  appearance  on  dress  parade. 

On  the  6th,  the  command  embarked  on  steamers  and  went  to  St.  Louis. 
Remaining  there  only  long  enough  to  be  supplied  with  clothing  and  necessary 
equipage,  the  troops  were  ordered  to  join  General  A.  J.  Smith  in  the  pur 
suit  of  Price.  Our  regiment  accordingly  went  by  steamer  to  Jefferson  City, 
arriving  there  October  19th,  and  going  by  rail  same  day  to  Smithton. 
From  this  time  until  the  27th,  it  was  with  the  army  in  hot  pursuit  of  Price, 
and  marched  by  Sedalia,  Lexington,  Independence,  into  Kansas,  and  to 
Harrisonville,  Missouri,  most  of  the  time  near  the  enemy,  but  unable  to 
overtake  him,  as  he  would  not,  or  could  not,  stand  long  enough  against  our 
cavalry  for  the  infantry  to  come  up.  On  the  30th,  the  countermarch  was 
commenced,  and  on  the  15th  of  November  the  regiment  reached  St.  Louis, 


192  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

after  one  of  the  most  exciting  and  exhaustive  campaigns  of  the  war,  and 
quite  as  barren  of  results  as  any. 

The  command  halted  at  St.  Louis  ten  days,  getting  much  needed  rest. 
During  this  period  Colonel  Woods,  who  had  long  commanded  the  brigade 
to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  troops  under  his  charge  and  his  superior 
officers,  was  mustered  out  of  service,  his  term  of  service  having  expired. 
About  the  same  time  the  non-veterans  of  the  regiment  were  also  mustered 
out  for  the  same  reason,  and  with  them  all  officers  of  the  regiment,  now 
reduced  after  its  long  and  honorable  service,  to  less  than  two  hundred  men 
present  for  duty,  except  Lieutenant-Colonel  Stibbs,  Captain  S.  Gr.  Knee, 
Company  H;  Lieutenant  D.  W.  Reed,  Company  C,  and  acting  adjutant; 
Lieutenant  H.  C.  Moorehead,  Company  D,  acting  quartermaster;  Lieu 
tenant  0.  T.  Fuller,  Company  K,  on  duty  with  Pioneer  Corps ;  and  the 
surgeon,  Dr.  Underwood;  and  chaplain,  Rev.  F.  Humphrey.  So  that  all 
the  companies  left  were  commanded  by  non-commissioned  officers. 

Having  been  ordered  to  join  General  Thomas  at  Nashville,  the  regiment 
went  thither  by  steamer,  arriving  on  the  ]  st  of  December,  and  at  once  go 
ing  into  position  two  miles  south  of  the  city.  It  performed  its  due  share 
in  the  defence  of  the  capital  during  the  siege,  from  the  2d  to  the  14th,  and 
in  the  battle  which  continued  through  the  two  following  days,  it  fought 
with  a  gallantry  which  was  specially  marked  on  a  field  where  all  the  Union 
forces  fought  with  special  valor  and  effectiveness.  The  good  behaviour  of 
the  men  on  this  glorious  field  received  warm  commendations  in  the  official 
reports  of  both  brigade  and  division  commanders,  which  were  all  the  more 
valuable  from  the  fact  that  there  was  not  a  commissioned  officer  in  the  line. 
The  companies  were  commanded  by  sergeants  and  corporals.  During  the 
fight  the  regiment  captured  two  flags  from  the  enemy,  for  which  Corporal 
Luther  Kaltenbach,  Company  F,  and  private  Andrew  J.  Sloan,  Company 
H,  were  presented  with  medals  by  the  Secretary  of  War.7 

In  the  pursuit  of  Hood  our  regiment  marched  with  the  army  by  Frank 
lin,  Columbia,  and  Pulaski,  to  Clinton  on  the  Tennessee  River.  Thence  it 
proceeded  by  steamer  to  Eastport,  Mississippi,  arriving  there  on  the  7th 
of  January,  1865.  Here  it  assisted  in  building  quarters  and  extensive  for 
tifications  for  many  days,  and  then  betook  itself  to  vigorous  rest  for  a  short 
time.  It  had  a  right  to  rest;  for  almost  all  the  time  during  the  past  seven 
months  it  had  been  actively  campaigning.  Its  skirmishes  and  battles  dur 
ing  that  period  had  been  numerous,  some  of  them  severe,  and  in  one  gen 
eral  engagement — the  battle  of  Tupelo — the  regiment  had  borne  off  the 

7  The  killed  and  wounded  of  the  regiment  numbered  twenty,  to  wit : — Killed,  Privates  James  T. 
Loring,  and  Gustavus  Helgerson.  Wounded,  Knud  Iverson,  Edwin  W.  Wood,  Benjamin  Delzeane, 
Isadore  L.  Jordon,  David  Connor,  George  A.  Burroughs,  W.  Doleschall,  James  Lanagan,  James  D. 
Farner,  Joseph  D.  Eldridge,  Russell  H.  Peaslie,  Peter  Larson,  J.  B.  Flennekin,  William  II.  Cock,  Ed 
ward  Wells,  Michael  McDermot,  John  A.  Decker  (musician),  Edward  Winch. 


TWELFTH     INFANTRY.  193 

highest  honors  of  the  day,  whilst  in  all  its  combats  it  had  fought  with  great 
valor.  It  had  marched  on  foot  more  than  sixteen  hundred  miles,  and  by 
rail  and  steamer  more  than  fifteen  hundred.  Had  its  services  here  ended, 
they  would  have  been  enough  to  have  brought  upon  its  name — the  names 
of  its  officers  and  men — the  grateful  encomiums  of  the  people  of  the  State 
which  it  had  so  highly  honored. 

But  its  good  fortune  was  to  add  still  more  laurels  to  its  wreath  of  honor. 
Whilst  the  regiment  was  at  Eastport,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Stibbs  went  to 
Washington  City.  Major  Samuel  Gr.  Knee,  who  had  recently  been  pro 
moted  to  that  rank  from  captain  of  Company  H  assumed  command  of  the 
regiment,  and  retained  it  during  the  remaining  period  of  its  service  in  the 
army.  About  the  middle  of  February  the  Twelfth  left  Eastport  with  the 
anny,  and  moving  by  steamer  first  to  Cairo  and  thence  to  New  Orleans, 
there  embarked  with  the  forces  under  Major-General  Canby  on  the  expedi 
tion  against  Mobile  which  resulted  so  triumphantly  to  our  arms.  The  regi 
ment  was  in  the  front  line  of  battle,  on  the  morning  of  the  27th  of  March, 
when  the  army  advanced  against  Spanish  Fort.  During  most  of  the  time 
of  the  siege — a  period  of  thirteen  days  and  nights— it  was  exposed  to  all 
kinds  of  missiles,  from  the  ininie  ball  and  hand  grenade  up  to  the  hundred- 
pound  shell.  "Notwithstanding  the  tremendous  cannonading  by  guns  of 
both  light  and  heavy  caliber,"  says  a  correspondent  from  the  regiment  to 
the  Dubuque  Times,  "and  the  exposed  position  of  our  command  on  the 
front  line,  not  a  man  was  killed,  and  only  eight  wounded,  namely,  Marion 
Austin,  Michael  McDermot,  J.  C.  Davis,  Henry  S.  Fry,  Louis  L.  Low, 
Robert  Gr.  Boon,  Joseph  Cameron,  and  Robert  Wampler. ' '  The  regiment 
did  not  participate  in  the  assault,  where  the  Eighth  and  other  Iowa  regi 
ments  took  such  conspicuous  and  honorable  part.  The  enemy  evacuated 
on  the  night  of  the  8th  of  April,  and  our  army  entered  Mobile  in  triumph 
on  the  following  day.  Greneral  Smith  did  not  halt  here,  however,  but 
marched  on  Montgomery,  distant  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  miles  from 
Mobile,  where  his  corps  remained  one  week,  and  then  marched  to  Selma, 
where  intelligence  was  received  of  the  collapse  of  the  rebellion  by  the  sur 
render  of  Lee,  and  of  the  assassination  of  the  President  in  the  hour  of  the 
nation's  triumph  and  gladness.  Intelligence  of  the  surrender  of  Johnston 
was  also  soon  received,  which  event  having  practically  closed  the  war,  the 
active  operations  of  our  regiment  were  thereby  forever  ended.  It  had  com 
menced  its  battle  career  with  Fort  Donelson,  the  first  great  triumph  of  the 
war,  and  it  closed  it  in  shouts  of  gladness  more  than  four  years  afterwards, 
on  the  works  of  Mobile,  where  our  victorious  legions  planted  the  symbols 
of  a  restored  and  regenerated  Union. 

The  regiment,  early  in  1866,  continues  in  the  service.  It  has  been  en 
gaged  in  guard  and  garrison  duty  in  Alabama  since  the  campaign  of  Mobile 
25 


194  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

—a  fact  which  has  caused  no  little  dissatisfaction  among  the  men  of  the 
command,  who  have  not  unnaturally  thought  they  were  entitled  to  honora 
ble  discharge.  By  special  order  of  the  War  Department,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Stibbs,  one  of  the  pluckiest  and  best  as  well  as  wittiest  officers  in 
the  service,  was  not  long  ago  mustered  as  colonel,  to  which  rank  he  had 
some  time  before  been  commissioned  by  Governor  Stone.  The  Twelfth 
Infantry  has  labored,  marched,  fought,  and  suffered  enough  to  be  entitled 
to  discharge,  the  rebellion  against  which  it  took  up  arms  being  entirely  con 
quered.  It  is  believed  it  will  not  be  much  longer  continued  in  the  service. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

FOURTEENTH    INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZATION  IN  THE  FALL  OF  1861— DETACHMENT  SENT  ON  FRONTIER  SER 
VICE—WINTER  QUARTERS— MOVE  TO  THE  THEATRE  OF  WAR— FORT  HENRY- 
BATTLE  OF  FORT  DONELSON— BATTLE  OF  SHILOH— THE  REGIMENT  CAPTURED— 
REORGANIZATION— A  LONG  PERIOD  OF  QUIET,  AT  COLUMBUS,  KENTUCKY- 
DOWN  THE  MISSISSIPPI— THE  MERIDIAN  RAID— SENT  TO  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF 
THE  GULF— THE  RED  RIVER  EXPEDITION—  CAPTURE  OF  FORT  J)E  RUSSEY 
—BATTLE  OF  PLEASANT  HILL— RETREAT— BATTLE  OF  BAYOU  DE  GLAIZE— 
AFFAIR  OF  LAKE  CHICOT— CAMPAIGNING  EAST  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI— BATTLE 
OF  TUPELO— OF  OLD  TOWN— THE  OXFORD  RAID— MOVE  TO  MISSOURI— SUR 
ROUNDED  AT  PILOT  KNOB— REMARKABLE  RETREAT  ON  ROLLA— PURSUIT  OP 
PRICE— RETURN  TO  IOWA  FOR  DISCHARGE— MUSTERED  OUT— THE  "RESIDUARY 
BATTALION  "—COLONEL  WILLIAM  T.  SHAW. 

THE  Fourteenth  Infantry,  Colonel  William  T.  Shaw,  was  organized, 
under  somewhat  peculiar  circumstances,  in  the  fall  of  1861,  being  enrolled 
under  the  President's  proclamation  of  October  3d,  of  that  year.  For, 
before  the  regiment  was  organized,  three  companies  recruited  therefor,  and 
which  were  designated  as  Companies  A,  B,  and  C  therein,  were  sent  to  the 
western  frontier  on  special  service,  and  remained  ever  afterwards  detached 
from  the  regiment.  Though  these  companies  continued,  pro  forma,  to 
constitute  a  part  of  the  Fourteenth  regiment  for  a  considerable  period,  they 
were  never  under  the  command  of  the  commanding  officer  of  the  regiment, 
and  never  did,  except  by  the  merest  technicality,  make  a  part  of  it.  They 
were  at  Fort  Randall,  Dacotah  Territory.  They  were  afterwards,  by  order 
of  the  War  Department,  permanently  detached  from  the  regiment,  and  for 
a  time  constituted  the  First  Battalion  of  the  Forty-first  Infantry.  But  the 
formation  of  that  regiment  not  being  completed,  they  were  left  out  in  the 
cold  again,  till  they  became,  at  last,  an  integral  part  of  one  of  our  Cavalry 
regiments.  It  will  suffice  here  to  state  that,  until  they  were  thus  assigned, 
they  were  in  the  performance  of  garrison  duty  at  the  fort  which  has  been 
named. 

195 


196  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  therefore,  as  contradistinguished  from  a  mere  matter 
of  record,  or  of  law,  the  Fourteenth  Iowa  during  the  first  year  of  its  ser 
vice,  consisted  of  but  seven  companies,  from  D  to  K  inclusive.  These 
companies  were  enlisted  in  different  parts  of  the  State,  but  Henry  County 
contributed  much  more  largely  than  any  other  to  the  number  of  the  regiment. 
Des  Moines,  Lee,  Van  Buren,  Jasper,  Tama,  Jones,  Linn,  Dubuque, 
Johnson,  also  contributed  largely,  and  quite  a  number  of  other  counties 
were  not  ungenerously  represented  in  the  command.  The  regimental  ren 
dezvous  was  at  Camp  McClellan,  near  Davenport,  where  the  regiment  was 
organized,  November  6,  1861,  with  the  following  officers,  field,  staff,  and 
line :  William  T.  Shaw,  Colonel ;  Edward  W.  Lucas,  Lieutenant- Colonel ; 
Hiram  Leonard,  Major;  Noah  N.  Tyner,  Adjutant;  C.  C.  Buell,  Quarter 
master;  George  M.  Staples,  Surgeon;  S.  N.  Pierce,  Assistant;  Company 
D,  Captain  R.  D.  Emerson;  Lieutenants  R  J.  Harrison,  William  M. 
Gordon ;  Company  E,  Captain  Joseph  0.  Shannon ;  Lieutenants  John  W. 
Horine,  Neal  Murray;  Company  F,  Captain  Joseph  H.  Newbold;  Lieu 
tenants  William  H.  Shuey,  Cyrus  Bitner ;  Company  G,  Captain  William 
H.  Stivers ;  Lieutenants  George  Peniberton,  William  Gallighar ;  Company 
H,  Captain  Edgar  A.  Warner;  Lieutenants  William  H.  Calkins,  Leroy  A. 
Crane;  Company  I,  Captain  Warren  C.  Jones;  Lieutenants  John  M. 
Moorehead,  George  H.  Logan ;  Company  K,  Captain  William  J.  Camp 
bell  ;  Lieutenants  William  H.  Kirkwood,  Charles  P.  King.  At  this  time, 
not  counting  those  who  formed  the  companies  which  never  served  with  the 
main  body,  there  were  more  than  six  hundred,  officers  and  enlisted  men, 
in  the  regiment. 

They  remained  a  few  weeks  in  Camp  McClellan  for  the  purpose  of  learn 
ing  the  institutes  of  the  military  art,  but  had  not  made  any  very  great  pro 
gress  therein,  when  Colonel  Shaw  received  an  order  commanding  him  to 
report  at  St.  Louis.  The  regiment  accordingly  moved  thither  by  steamers, 
part  of  the  command  leaving  Camp  McClellan  on  the  28th,  and  the  remain 
ing  portion  on  the  next  day.  The  port  of  destination  was  made  in  due 
time.  The  regiment  marched  from  the  landing  to  Benton  Barracks,  and 
there  for  the  first  tinfls  entered  the  presence  of  an  army.  But  it  was  not  an 
army  of  veterans.  Comparatively  few  of  the  troops  had  ever  been  in  the 
face  of  an  enemy,  and  scarcely  any  since  the  Mexican  war.  They  were 
nearly  all  raw  recruits,  and  though,  like  the  men  composing  the  Fourteenth, 
they  were  as  good  as  ever  shouldered  muskets,  they  were  unacquainted 
with  the  rules  or  the  advantages  of  discipline,  the  requirements  of  military 
regulations,  whether  those  pertaining  strictly  to  the  duties  of  soldiers,  as 
fighting  bodies,  or  those  others,  frequently  neglected,  but  of  vast  import 
ance,  namely,  the  rules  whereby  the  physical  health  and  comfort  of  large 
bodies  of  men  can  be  best  preserved.  Hence  it  happened,  that  though 


FOURTEENTH  INFANTRY.  197 

Benton  Barracks  were  now,  by  general  consent  and  general  orders,  called  a 
"Camp  of  Instruction,"  they  might,  with  more  propriety,  perhaps,  have 
been  called  a  General  Hospital.  Our  regiment  did  not  escape  the  common 
lot.  Many  were  attacked  by  pneumonia  or  measles.  Not  a  few  died. 
Nevertheless,  the  command,  or  as  much  thereof  as  could,  was  required  to 
drill  almost  daily,  and  daily,  when  the  weather  would  permit,  so  that  when 
the  regiment  was  ordered  to  the  field  of  active  operations  it  had  gained  a 
high  degree  of  proficiency  in  the  evolutions  and  the  manual  of  arm^ 
Colonel  Shaw  had  a  natural  genius  for  military  affairs,  which  had  been 
improved  by  service,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  during  the  stay  of 
his  regiment  at  Benton  Barracks  he  improved  the  time  to  the  best  possible 
advantage,  so  that  when  he  left  for  the  front  he  had  a  command  which 
could  be  relied  upon  to  do  its  whole  duty  under  any  circumstances.  It  is 
proper  to  observe  that  the  colonel  was  cordially  seconded  in  the  good  work 
of  drill  and  discipline  by  officers,  and  for  the  most  part,  by  the  men  also. 

On  the  5th  of  February,  1862,  the  command  marched  to  the  levee  and 
embarked  on  steamer  for  the  theatre  of  war.  Reaching  Cairo,  the  troops 
were  there  gratified  with  seeing  the  fleet  of  gun-boats  which,  under  Flag- 
Officer  Foote,  had  just  gained  the  fine  victory  of  Fort  Henry,  and  were  now 
on  their  way  to  another  and  a  stronger  fort,  which  was  soon  to  be  the  scene 
of  a  more  brilliant  victory,  gained,  almost  as  if  in  poetic  justice  by  the 
army,  without  the  great  assistance  of  the  navy  which  had  in  that  manner 
won  the  triumph  on  the  Tennessee.  Therefore,  let  the  Tennessee  and  the 
Cumberland  murmur  evermore  the  imperishable  honor  of  the  army  and 
navy  of  the  Union. 

Our  regiment  disembarked  at  the  scene  of  the  victory,  only  two  days 
after  it  was  gained,  and  there  went  into  camp.  But  its  halt  here  was 
brief.  On  the  morning  of  the  12th,  it  took  up  line  of  march  with  the  army 
moving  on  the  enemy's  works  at  Donelson,  and  on  the  next  day,  the  first 
day  of  the  battle,  was  in  position  in  the  left  wing,  General  Percifer  F. 
Smith,  commanding.  In  the  battle  which  followed,  the  regiment  was  con 
spicuous  for  its  gallantry,  fighting  with  that  immortal  brigade,  under  com 
mand  of  Colonel  J.  G.  Lauman,  Seventh  Iowa,  which  first  forced  its  way 
into  the  rebel  works,  and  won  the  brightest  laurels  among  all  the  bright 
wreaths  which  were  here  won  by  the  army  under  Grant.  The  regiment  in 
this  its  first  battle  lost  three  killed  and  twenty-one  wounded.1 

It  remained  at  Fort  Donelson  about  three  weeks  after  the  capitulation. 
It  then  embarked  on  steamers,  and  moving  down  the  Cumberland  and  up 

1  Colonel  Shaw  states  that  his  losses  on  the  13th,  were  two  killed,  and  fourteen  wounded,  and  on 
the  15th,  (the  regiment  being  in  the  reserve  on  the  14th),  one  killed,  and  seven  wounded.  Sergeant- 
Major  Stillman  H.  Smith,  was  killed  by  the  Colonel's  side,  but  the  only  casualties  beside  which  I 
find  noted  in  the  Adjutant-General's  Report  are :  Edmund  A.  Edgar,  and  William  Lentz,  wounded ; 
the  latter  mortally. 


198  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

the  Tennessee,  disembarked  at  Pittsburg  Landing  on  the  18th  of  March. 
Here  it  went  into  camp,  being  in  the  brigade  of  General  W.  H.  L.  Wal 
lace,  (composed  of  the  Second,  Seventh,  Twelfth,  and  Fourteenth  Iowa 
regiments,)  included  in  General  Smith's  division.  The  regiment  had  a 
pleasant  encampment,  and  here  spent  no  little  time  in  drill.  General 
Smith  being  sick,  the  command  of  the  division  devolved  upon  General  W. 
H.  L.  Wallace.  Colonel  Tuttle,  Second  Iowa,  had  command  of  the  brigade. 
In  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  the  Fourteenth  formed  part  of  that  self-constituted 
Forlorn-Hope  which,  fighting  the  live-long  day  against  fearful  odds,  and 
staying  the  rebel  advance,  by  its  own  heroic  immolation  saved  the  army 
and  made  the  victory  of  the  7th  of  April  possible.  Just  as  the  sun  was 
setting,  Colonel  Shaw  seeing  further  fighting  useless  surrendered  his  com 
mand  prisoners  of  war.  The  losses  up  to  this  time  in  killed  and  wounded 
had  been  heavy,  but  the  sacrifice  of  these  and  of  the  principal  command 
in  captivity,  practically  closed  the  career  of  the  Fourteenth  for  many 
months.2 

The  officers  and  men  surrendered  were  held  as  prisoners  of  war  at  the 
South  until  late  in  the  following  fall,  when,  moving  by  Richmond,  Virginia, 
and  Annapolis,  Maryland,  they  went  to  Benton  Barracks,  Missouri,  being 
released  on  parole,  and  were  declared  exchanged  on  the  19th  of  November. 
Here,  then,  the  command  remained  for  reorganization  during  the  follow 
ing  winter.  Those  of  its  members  who  had  not  been  captured  at  Shiloh, 
and  who  afterwards  formed  part  of  the  "Union  Brigade,"  here  rejoined 
the  regiment.  Here  also  two  new  companies — A  and  B — which  the  State 
had  been  authorized  by  the  War  Department  to  raise  in  lieu  of  two  of  those 
sent  to  Fort  Randall,  as  heretofore  narrated,  joined  the  regiment.  The 
first,  numbering  seventy  men,  rank  and  file,  was  from  the  county  of  Scott, 
Isaac  M.  Talmage,  Captain,  Lieutenants  Hugo  Hoffbauer,  William  F. 
Dittoe  ;  the  second  from  Bremer,  Chickasaw,  and  other  counties,  numbered 
seventy-five  men,  Captain  Richard  Currier,  Lieutenant  William  V.  Lucas. 
Many  recruits  were  also  received  during  this  period  of  reorganization, 

2  The  following  list  of  killed  and  wounded  of  the  Fourteenth  regiment,  at  Shiloh,  is  compiled 
from  the  Adjutant-General's  Report,  and  is  not  complete.  It  is  the  only  list,  however,  that,  so  far 
as  I  know,  has  ever  been  published ;  and  is,  therefore,  the  best  there  is.  The  fact  of  the  capture  of 
.  the  principal  part  of  the  command  should,  of  course,  excuse  imperfection  in  the  reports. 

Company  E—  Kilted,  Thomas  H.  Gravat.  Company  .F— Corporal  Benjamin  F.  Jacobs;  Private 
Samuel  Lane.  Company  G — Corporal  Samuel  W.  Jenks;  Private  John  L.  Martin.  Company  H— 
Private  William  C.  Rolan.  Company  7— Privates  Eliaa  Eagles,  Samuel  D.  Lockman. 

Company  D— Wounded,  Corporal  Ralph  C.  Spurrier;  Privates  James  W.  Cowgill,  John  H.  Findley. 
Company  E—  Sergeant  Joseph  K.  Cavatt ;  Privates  Pleasant  W.  Brown,  James  C.  McMillen,  John  L.  Mil 
ton,  Carey  Pope,  Lafayette  Van  Grundy,  George  M.  Webb.  Company  G — Captain  George  Pemberton ; 
Sergeant  Elma  G.  Oldroid ;  Privates  Alexander  Cheney,  (mortally),  Henry  Loomis,  Jeremiah  Miles, 
Robert  Taylor.  Company  If— Privates  William  B.  Booth,  George  B.  Higby,  James  Northrop,  Fagan 
W.  Scott,  Alvars  W.  Tibbetts.  Company  7— Musician  Wesley  Rhodes;  Privates  Eli  H.  Gosset,  Hiram 
B.  Lee,  John  Cramer,  Thomas  J.  Prentice.  Company  K— Privates  Edward  Hukill,  Waldo  P.  Tilton. 


FOURTEENTH     INFANTRY.  199 

which  was  also  one  of  drill.  Colonel  Shaw  continued  in  command  of  the 
regiment,  but  before  it  left  the  Barracks,  Captain  Joseph  H.  Newbold  had 
been  commissioned  Lieutenant-Colonel,  and  Captain  Edgar  A.  "Warner, 
Major.  On  the  10th  of  April,  the  reorganized  command  left  St.  Louis  on 
steamer,  and  in  due  time  making  the  port  of  Cairo,  there  disembarked  and 
went  into  camp.  Here  the  regiment  was  joined  by  Company  C,  which 
made  good  the  detachment  sent  to  Fort  Randall.  It  had  been  enrolled  in 
Butler,  Bremer,  Floyd,  and  other  counties,  and  was  under  command  of 
Lieutenant  Heman  A.  Miles,  William  Stoughton  being  Second  Lieutenant. 
Thus  was  the  "  bloody  old  Fourteenth"  for  the  first  time,  as  a  matter  of 
downright  fact,  organized  with  a  full  complement  of  companies.  This  was 
in  the  month  of  June,  1863. 

But  meanwhile,  though  from  the  arrival  of  the  regiment  at  Cairo  till 
joined  by  Company  C,  it  had  been  in  the  performance  of  garrison  and 
guard  duties  there,  it  had  also  been  ordered,  at  least  in  part,  into  the  in 
terior  of  Illinois,  for  the  purpose  of  quelling  certain  political  disturbances 
which  threatened  serious  trouble,  and  of  arresting  the  ringleaders.  This 
delicate  duty  was  done  by  the  Fourteenth  with  great  success.  The  leaders 
who  sought  to  bring  about  a  domestic  imbroglio,  for  the  benefit  of  the  re 
bellion,  were  quietly  arrested  and  placed  under  the  mild  authority  of  the 
military  at  Cairo,  and  no  further  difficulty  at  that  time  arose,  to  arouse  the 
plucky  indignation  of  Governor  Yates  or  disturb  the  placid  serenity  of  Mr. 
Lincoln. 

From  Cairo  the  command  moved  to  Columbus,  Kentucky,  in  the  latter 
part  of  June.  And  there  it  remained  on  garrison  duty  for  seven  long 
months.  This  was  the  period  of  gloom  for  the  command,  surpassed  in  in 
tensity  only  by  the  period  of  its  captivity,  of  about  equal  length.  Many, 
who  had  been  at  Donelson  and  Shiloh,  envied  the  comrades  with  whom 
they  had  there  fought  who  were  now  engaged  in  the  campaign  of  Vicks- 
burg.  The  new  companies,  the  recruits,  pined  for  active  operations  in  the 
field.  All  were  dissatisfied  with  being  cooped  up  in  a  garrison  where  there 
was  neither  danger,  nor  adventure,  nor  renown  to  be  had.  But,  though 
they  were  thus  dissatisfied,  it  was  with  a  feeling  which  was  honorable  to 
them  all,  both  as  men  and  as  soldiers,  and  no  unmilitary  complaints  es 
caped  their  lips.  Moreover,  Colonel  Shaw,  and  the  officers  generally,  made 
excellent  use  of  this  long  period  of  inactivity  by  perfecting  the  regiment  in 
drill,  and  in  all  the  duties  of  soldiers.  So  that,  when  the  command  bade 
adieu  to  Columbus,  to  be  thenceforth  actively  engaged,  it  was  undoubtedly 
one  of  the  best  appearing,  best  drilled,  and  best  disciplined  regiments  in 
the  Volunteer  Army.  And  we  shall  soon  see  that  in  courage  on  the  field, 
and  in  endurance  on  the  march,  it  was  not  surpassed  by  any.  But  let  its 
deeds  speak  for  themselves. 


200  IOWA    AND     THE     KEBELLION. 

On  the  24th  of  January,  1864,  the  regiment  embarked  on  steamers  and 
proceeded  to  Vicksburg.  Here  it  was  assigned  to  the  Second  Brigade, 
Third  Division,  Sixteenth  Army  Corps.  Colonel  Shaw  was  in  command 
of  the  brigade,  and  from  this  time  until  he  left  the  service,  nine  months 
afterwards,  had  command  either  of  the  brigade,  or  of  a  division.  His 
brigade,  by  its  endurance  of  fatigue,  and  its  firmness  in  battle,  acquired  the 
sobriquet  of  "The  Iron  Brigade,"  and  its  commander  that  of  "Grim 
Fighting  Old  Shaw."  Lieutenant-Colonel  Newbold  in  command,  the  re 
giment,  very  soon  after  its  arrival  at  Vicksburg,  took  up  line  of  march 
eastward  with  the  army  under  Major-General  Sherman,  which  made  the 
famous  Meridian  raid.  This  laborious,  singular  campaign  of  one  month's 
duration  hardly  did  more  than  give  the  Fourteenth  a  good  appetite.  It 
enjoyed  the  marching  and  the  bivouacking,  and  laughed  at  blistered  feet, 
thinking  them  decidedly  preferable  to  unblistered  feet  in  a  garrison. 

Upon  the  return  of  the  expedition  to  Vicksburg,  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith's 
command,  being  two  divisions  of  the  Sixteenth  Corps,  was  ordered  into  the 
Department  of  the  Gulf,  to  assist  General  Banks  on  his  Red  River  expedi 
tion,  which  resulted  so  disastrously,  and  woufd  probably  have  ended  in  our 
complete  and  disgraceful  discomfiture  in  that  quarter,  but  for  the  gallant 
services  rendered  by  General  Smith  and  the  troops  under  his  command. 
There  was  no  time  to  halt,  after  our  regiment  reached  Vicksburg.  At 
once  embarking  it  proceeded  to  the  mouth  of  Red  River,  and  going  up 
that  stream  a  short  distance  entered  the  Atchafalaya,  an  extensive  bayou, 
called,  on  account  of  its  magnitude,  a  river,  on  the  right  bank  of  which, 
and  not  far  from  where  it  flows  out  of  Red  River  a  disembarkation  was 
made. 

TELE  CAPTURE   OF  FORT  DE  RUSSET. 

The  first  object  which  General  Smith  had  in  view  was  to  attack  and 
defeat  the  enemy,  who  occupied  a  strong  position,  strengthened  by  consi 
derable  works,  on  Bayou  de  Glaize,  some  eight  miles  west  of  the  Atchafa 
laya.  But  inasmuch  as  Admiral  Porter,  with  a  formidable  fleet,  consisting 
of  three  Monitors,  seven  iron-clads,  three  rams  and  four  lighter  gun-boats, 
was  in  full  cooperation  with  General  Smith,  the  appearance  of  this  strong 
naval  force  caused  the  rebels  to  abandon  their  works  on  the  Bayou  de 
Glaize  and  hasten  to  the  defence  of  Fort  De  Russey. 

General  Smith  decided  to  march  overland  against  the  fort,  leaving  the 
fleet  to  destroy  the  obstructions  in  the  river,  and  to  follow  as  soon  as  prac 
ticable.  The  line  of  march  was  taken  up  on  the  evening  of  the  13th  of 
March.  On  the  following  morning,  the  "Iron  Brigade,"  Colonel  Shaw 
commanding,  had  the  advance.  He  marched  rapidly  forward  toward  the 
fort,  twenty-eight  miles  distant,  the  enemy  falling  back  before  him, 
attempting  to  burn  bridges  and  in  other  ways  retard  his  progress.  But  he 


FOURTEENTH     INFANTRY.  201 

pushed  briskly  forward  till  he  came  to  Bayou  de  Glaize.  Here  the  bridge 
had  been  burned,  and  the  enemy,  from  six  hundred  to  eight  hundred 
strong,  was  found  posted  on  the  west  bank  to  dispute  our  passage.  Colonel 
Shaw  put  his  artillery  in  position  and  pron^tly  sent  the  enemy  off  in 
retreat.  He  effected  a  passage  in  a  scow  found  in  the  stream,  built  a 
bridge  across  it  for  the  passage  of  the  trains,  and,  after  two  hours  thus 
spent  pushed  on  toward  the  enemy.  Arriving  at  Marksville,  less  than 
three  miles  from  Fort  De  Russey,  he  there  left  the  Twenty-seventh  Iowa 
to  close  up  the  rear  of  the  army,  and  with  the  rest  of  the  command 
marched  on  rapidly  toward  the  fort. 

The  whole  army  moved  with  great  rapidity,  making  the  entire  march 
from  the  Atchafalaya  to  the  fort — a  distance  of  thirty-five  miles — in  less 
than  twenty  hours.  The  Twenty-seventh  was  able  to  join  the  brigade 
before  the  storming  of  the  work,  and  to  take  honorable  part  therein. 
Shaw  moved  up  to  within  eight  hundred  yards  of  the  fort,  posted  his 
artillery,  and  by  four  o'clock  of  the  afternoon  his  skirmishers  were  annoying 
the  enemy's  gunners.  After  some  time  had  been  spent  in  cautious  advances 
towards  the  fort,  our  lines  were  moved  up  to  the  edge  of  the  heavy  woods 
which  surrounded  the  work.  The  enemy  opened  upon  our  forces  with  a 
heavy  fire  of  shell  and  shrapnel.  On  our  side  two  batteries  were  brought 
into  action,  and  a  brisk  cannonade  commenced,  which  continued  for  some 
time.  The  skirmishers  then  advanced,  under  cover  of  a  heavy  fire  of 
musketry.  But  Fort  De  Russey  could  not  be  taken  in  this  way.  General 
Smith  determined  to  carry  the  work  by  storm.  The  order  to  charge  was 
given.  The  troops  formed  at  the  word,  marched  forward  with  ringing 
shouts,  and  in  less  than  thirty  minutes  after  the  trumpet  sounded  the 
charge,  the  Union  colors  were  floating  over  the  fort,  and  its  garrison  pri 
soners  of  war. 

The  fort  was  a  formidable  quadrangular  work,  with  bastions  and  bomb- 
proofs,  covered  with  railroad  iron.  Connected  with  the  fort  was  a  strong 
water-battery,  the  casemates  of  which  appeared  to  be  capable  of  resisting 
the  heaviest  shot  and  shell.  Among  the  cannon  captured  were  two  guns 
belonging  to  the  "Morning  Light,"  two  rifled  guns  from  the  "Harriet 
Lane,"  and  one  heavy  gun  from  the  "Indianola."  Ten  guns  in  all  were 
captured,  many  small  arms,  large  quantities  of  ammunition,  and  a  considera 
ble  quantity  of  commissary  stores.  The  garrison  numbered  three  hundred 
and  twenty-five,  with  twenty-four  commissioned  officers,  all  of  whom  were 
captured.  The  casualties  were  light  on  both  sides — our  own  loss  being 
seven  killed  and  forty-one  wounded,  that  of  the  enemy,  five  killed  and  four 
wounded.  The  importance  of  the  victory,  than  which  there  have  been  but 
few  more  dashing  or  brilliant,  did  not  consist  in  carnage  but  in  the  impor 
tance  of  the  work  captured— the  Gibraltar  of  the  Red  River.  Without  this 
26 


202  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

fort  in  our  possession  nothing  could  have  been  done  beyond,  and  if  the 
campaign  had  been  carried  on  by  Banks  with  a  tithe  of  the  energy  and 
success  with  which  it  was  inaugurated  by  Smith  at  Fort  De  Russey,  it 
might  have  formed  one  of  tlie  brightest  pages  in  the  history  of  the  war. 

Besides  the  Fourteenth,  the  Twenty-seventh,  Thirty-second,  and  Thirty- 
fifth  Iowa  regiments  were  engaged  at  Fort  De  Russey,  all  taking  prominent 
part  in  the  victory.  The  Twenty-seventh  and  Thirty-second  were  in  Colo 
nel  Shaw's  brigade.  He  states  that  his  special  thanks  are  due  to  Colonel 
Gilbert,  Twenty-seventh,  Colonel  Scott,  Thirty-second,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Newbold,  Fourteenth,  for  the  promptness  and  enthusiasm  with  which  they 
executed  all  orders,  and  the  good  order  with  which  they  came  into  action. 
He  states  further  that  not  a  single  instance  of  any  officer  or  soldier  attempt 
ing  to  shun  danger  or  duty  occurred.  The  loss  of  the  Fourteenth  in  this  en 
gagement  was  only  six  wounded.3  Lieutenant-Colonel  Newbold  in  his  report 
states  that  officers  and  men  acted  nobly.  "The  nature  of  the  ground  for  a 
short  distance,"  he  says,  "  was  such  as  to  break  the  line  very  much,  but  as 
soon  as  the  open  field  was  reached  and  the  command  '  Forward'  was  given  by 
the  officers,  the  regiment,  joined  by  the  skirmishers,  dashed  across  the  field 
into  the  ditch,  and  clambered  over  the  parapet  into  the  fort  with  a  shout 
that  drowned  the  rattle  of  the  enemy's  musketry." 

General  Smith  ordered  the  demolition  of  the  fort,  but  it  was  accidentally 
blown  up  on  the  17th,  with  some  loss  of  life.  Transports  having  arrived 
the  army  moved  on  up  the  river  to  Alexandria,  where  the  forces  under 
Banks  were  concentrated  and  preparations  made  for  the  advance  on  Shreve- 
port.  The  campaign  after  this,  being  under  the  direct  command  of  General 
Banks,  was  a  melancholy  repetition  of  blunder  after  blunder,  whereby  the 
army  was  mortified,  chagrined,  and  kept  from  utter  defeat  and  demoraliza 
tion  by  the  virtue  of  the  troops  themselves,  and  the  exertions  of  officers  not 
corrupted  by  speculators.  There  were  many  instances  of  gallantry  and 
fidelity  exhibited  by  the  army,  by  different  parts  thereof,  from  the  time  it 
left  Alexandria  until  its  return,  but  it  is  nevertheless  true,  that  the  history 
of  the  expedition  as  a  whole,  was  a  record  of  humiliation  and  of  shame. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  had  the  commanding  general  been  John  C. 
Fremont,  or  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  he  would  have  been  at  once  relieved,  and 
perhaps  cashiered.  But  this  is  neither  here  nor  there  so  far  as  the  Four 
teenth  Iowa  Infantry  is  concerned.  Marching  part  of  the  way,  and  moving 
part  of  the  way  by  steamer,  it  proceeded  with  the  force  under  General 
Smith  to  and  beyond  Grand  Ecore. 

On  the  8th  of  April,  Banks  fought  the  battle  of  Mansfield,  sending  up 
his  troops  by  detachments,  and  suffering  defeat  in  detail.  On  the  next  day 

8  Namely :  J.  W.  Knapp,  P.  D.  Schmidt,  J.  S.  Vaugh,  Warner  McLean,  E.  Thomas,  and  David 
Beam.  * 


FOURTEENTH     INFANTRY.  203 

General  Smith  saved  the  army  by  the  victory  of  Pleasant  Hill.  In  this 
severe  engagement,  Colonel  Shaw's  Iron  Brigade  long  stood  the  brunt  of 
battle,  fighting  against  fearful  odds  till  night  put  an  end  to  the  contest. 
His  lossei  *vere  very  heavy.  I  shall  hereafter  in  this  work  have  occasion 
to  speak  oi^101'1.  engagement  with  some  degree  of  particularity.  Let  it 
suffice  now,  tx^say  that  the  Fourteenth  here  fought  with  conspicuous 
bravery  and  effect,  and  did  as  much  toward  saving  the  army  from  defeat  at 
the  hands  of  the  enemy  and  ruin  at  the  hands  of  some  of  its  own  officers, 
overwhelmed  in  panic  and  in  liquor,  as  any  of  the  gallant  regiments  of  the 
little  band  which  saved  the  day.  The  iCgiment  here  lost  its  commanding 
officer,  several  other  officers  of  great  merit,  ?nd  many  men,  killed  and 
wounded.4 

The  battle  of  Pleasant  Hill  was  an  Union  victory,  dearly  won.  The 
rebels  put  themselves  in  retreat  at  nightfall.  Nevertheless,  Banks  also 
retreated  from  the  field  which  had  been  gained  for  him,  chiefly  by  the 
desperate  fighting  of  the  Iron  Brigade.  In  the  midst  of  the  night,  the 
field  was  abandoned,  and  the  retreat  which  had  commenced  at  Mansfield 
continued  to  Grand  Ecore,  thence  to  Alexandria,  and  thence  by  General 
Smith's  troops  to  the  Atchafalaya  and  the  Mississippi.  On  this  retreat 
the  army  was  constantly  harassed  and  galled  by  the  enemy,  who  had 

*  The  following  list  of  casualties  of  the  regiment  in  this  engagement  is  taken  from  the  corre 
spondence  of  the  Davenport  Gazette : 

Killed,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Joseph  H.  Newbold. 

Company  A — Wounded.  Corporal  David  Sloper;  Privates  David  Morrison,  George  Turner,  George 
Link,  John  B.  Goman,  Charles  Sweeney,  Franzic  McKane.  Missing,  Private  C.  C.  Smith. 

Company  B— Killed,  Privates  S.  J.  Parker,  Edward  O'Brien,  Hiram  Ornor.  Wounded,  Second 
Lieutenant  E.  A.  Holmes;  First  Sergeant  W.  W.  Parmenter;  Sergeant  A.  F.  Nichol;  Privates 
Mevoni  Clark,  George  Campbell,  W.  George,  W.  S.  Kingsberry.  Missing,  Private  J.  R.  Lyle. 

Company  C— Killed,  Private  John  H.  Gamble.  Wounded,  Sergeant  M.  L.  Roberts;  Private  John 
Myers. 

Company  D— Kitted,  Private  J.  E.  Clever.  Wounded,  Privates  James  Davis,  James  Austin,  E.  J. 
Dobins,  Peter  B.  Taylor,  Benjamin  Vandyke. 

Company  E— Killed,  Second  Lieutenant  W.  H.  McMillen ;  Private  Robert  Walker.  Wounded,  Cor 
poral  J.  L.  Rerisk ;  Privates  George  H.  Horn,  Andrew  Collins.  Missing,  Musician  W.  W.  Wallace. 

Company  F— Killed,  Private  S.  A.  Wilken.  Wounded,  Privates  J.  M.  Carr,  Joseph  Gillett,  John 
W.  Detwiler.  Wounded,  Corporals  Henry  Merriam,  William  A.  Pitt;  Privates  Urich  H.  Wambauch, 
J.  E.  Walker,  Ross  Wheatly,  T.  Wheatly,  Thomas  Tukey,  E.  A.  Edgar. 

Company  G — Kitted,  Second  Lieutenant  Joseph  Shanklin;  Privates  Enos  Kerns,  Henry  Spangler, 
William  S.  Townsend.  Wounded,  Sergeant  Charles  Ford  ;  Privates  Charles  Brown,  Berry  J.  Cook, 
I.  J.  Davis,  J.  B.  Edwards,  George  W.  Bates,  William  Heath,  S.  F.  Martin,  J.  Martin,  J.  Nenorth,  J. 
F.  Shoemaker,  James  H.  Wilkins,  D.  C.  Vail.  Missing,  Lieutenant  A.  H.  Hazlett;  Sergeant  Peter 
Wilson ;  Privates  William  Nance,  George  Shropshire,  Charles  Vimpany,  George  Loucks. 

Company  H— Wounded,  Privates  William  W.  Crouch,  James  Cass,  R.  V.  Vanvalkenberg. 

Company  I— Killed,  Second  Lieutenant  George  H.  Logan ;  Corporal  George  Berry ;  Privates  Wil 
liam  R.  White,  R.  Roland.  Wounded,  Henry  Welton,  Henry  Vauaustin,  H.  W.  Burton. 

Company  K— Wounded,  Corporal  C.  C.  Proctor;  Privates  James  M.  Arel,  J.  Sander,  James 
McAure.  Missing,  Sergeant  William  B.  Gray;  Privates  Lemuel  Robinson  and  W.  D.  Goben. 

After  the  fall  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Newbold,  Captain  Warren  C.  Jones  took  command  of  the 
regiment,  led  it  gallantly  through  the  rest  of  the  contest,  and  withdrew  it  from  the  field  when  so 
ordered. 


204  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

recovered  their  audacity  upon  seeing  that  we  had  left  the  field  of  Pleasant 
Hill  in  the  manner  described.  There  was  a  great  deal  of  skirmishing, 
sometimes  developing  into  considerable  engagements  on  portions  of  the 
line.  In  the  skirmish  of  Clautierville,  April  23d,  our  regiment  had  four 
wounded ;  at  the  running  engagement  of  Moore's  Plantc011^,  near  Alex 
andria,  May  5th  to  7th,  it  had  three  wounded.  It  was  alsiFengaged  near 
Marksville,  on  the  16th,  but  met  with  no  loss.  At  the  severe  engagement 
of  Yellow  Bayou,  on  the  18th,  where  the  enemy  again  attacked  in  force, 
and  were  most  handsomely  whipped  by  General  Mower,  whose  presence 
with  the  Red  River  Army  had  been  a  most  fortunate  circumstance,  the 
Fourteenth,  Captain  L.  A.  Crane,  commanding,  lost  twelve  men  wounded, 
and  William  H  Agler,  killed.  And  here  ended  its  contests  in  the  Depart 
ment  of  the  Gulf.  On  the  next  day  the  army  reached  the  Atchafalaya 
near  where  General  Smith  had  disembarked  two  months  before,  and  cross 
ing  on  pontoons,  reached  Morganza  on  the  21st.  Here  General  Canby 
assumed  command,  the  army  was  safe,  its  defeats  and  unnecessaiy  retreats 
forever  ended. 

From  Morganza  our  regiment  proceeded  by  steamer  to  Yicksburg,  where 
it  had  a  short  period  of  rest.  General  Smith  soon  moved  on  further  up 
the  river,  which  at  this  time  was  blockaded  along  the  peninsula,  a  part  of 
Arkansas,  known  as  Point  Chicot,  by  the  rebels.  Here  a  smart  engage 
ment  took  place  on  the  6th  of  June,  in  which  the  rebels  were  signally 
defeated.  Our  regiment  took  part  in  the  combat,  but  without  loss.  The 
command  proceeded  to  Memphis.  General  Smith's  army,  called  the  Right 
Wing  of  the  Sixteenth  Corps,  moved  from  Memphis  into  Mississippi,  soon 
afterwards,  and  there  had  an  active  successful  campaign,  defeating  the 
enemy  at  Tupelo  on  the  14th  of  July,  and  following  up  the  victory  there 
with  the  quickly-succeeding  victory  of  Old  Town.  In  these  engagements, 
the  Fourteenth  lost  three  killed  and  eighteen  wounded.5  Returning  to 
Memphis,  it  went  into  encampment  where  it  had  a  few  weeks'  quiet.  It 
then  marched  into  Mississippi  again,  going  as  far  as  Oxford,  having  occa 
sional  skirmishes  with  the  enemy,  but  suifering  no  loss.  Having  counter 
marched  to  Memphis,  it  returned  to  its  encampment  where  it  had  another 
short  rest. 

Thence  it  moved  to  Cairo,  it  being  the  object  of  General  Smith  to  move 
thence  by  rail  to  the  reinforcement  of  General  Sherman,  in  Georgia.  But 
the  movements  of  the  enemy  urgently  required  his  presence  elsewhere. 

5  Killed,  Sergeant  Robert  Hays ;  Corporal  Felix  Atkinson,  (Color-Guard) ;  Private  David  M.  Frazier. 

Company  A— Wounded,  Corporal  James  M.  Vanduzer ;  Privates  George  Turner,  William  A.  Daven 
port,  Richard  Fitzgerald,  Christian  Litscher.  Company  B — J.  B.  Kerr,  Levi  P.  Hawley.  Company 
E— Corporal  John  M.  Harris,  (Color-Guard) ;  Privates  Andrew  Collins,  William  McWilliams,  Wil 
liam  Hilton.  Company  G— Charles  Hull,  Elijah  Gallion.  Company  H—  Sergeant  Edwin  T.  Langley ; 
Privates  George  H.  Collins,  Elijah  Grogan,  M.  V.  B.  Williams.  Company  A"— William  R.  Bell. 


FOUKTEENTH   INFANTRY.  205 

General  Price  was  now  threatening  Missouri  with  a  large  army,  and  shortly 
afterwards  actually  invaded  the  State  with  a  heavy  force  of  mounted  troops, 
and  thirteen  pieces  of  artillery.  General  Smith  was  ordered  to  St.  Louis 
to  aid  in  repelling  the  invader.  Our  regiment  disembarked  at  Jefferson 
Barracks,  a  short  distance  below  the  city,  whence  on  the  25th  of  Septem 
ber,  four  companies  moved  by  rail  to  Pilot  Knob,  to  reenforce  General 
Thomas  Ewing,  Jr. ,  in  command  of  a  small  number  of  troops  at  that  post. 
On  the  next  day,  General  Ewing  was  attacked  by  a  largely  superior  force? 
He  had  strong  works,  stout  hearts  behind  them,  and  he  made  a  most 
gallant  resistance,  repelling  the  enemy  several  times  with  great  slaughter. 
The  fight  was  renewed  on  the  next  day,  the  enemy  again  making  a  direct 
assault  and  being  again  repulsed  with  severe  loss.  General  Ewing  had  on 
his  works  four  twenty-four-pounders,  four  thirty-two-pounders,  four  six- 
pounder  Parrotts,  besides  two  six-pounder  Parrotts  mounted  outside  the 
fort.  He  poured  a  storm  of  missiles  into  the  assaulting  columns  from  ah1 
these,  the  infantry  keeping  up  a  constant  galling  fire  of  musketry.  The 
enemy  recoiled  before  this  fearful  fire,  and  at  length  were  fully  persuaded 
that  they  could  not  carry  the  work.  Its  defence  had  been  most  gallantly 
conducted  and,  as  it  now  seemed,  with  complete  success.  Unfortunately, 
the  fort,  like  old  Fort  Ticonderoga,  of  revolutionary  memory,  was  com 
manded  by  adjacent  hills.  The  rebels  occupied  one  of  these,  called  Shep 
herd  Mountain,  and  thus  compelled  General  Ewing  to  evacuate.  He  blew 
up  his  magazine — by  unusual  foresight  he  had  previously  sent  his  stores  to 
St.  Louis — scattering  the  fort  into  a  mass  of  ruins  for  a  great  distance 
around,  and  put  himself  in  retreat  on  Holla.  The  first  thing  he  had  to  do 
was  to  cut  his  way  through  the  rebel  lines,  which  he  did  in  fine  style,  and 
then,  fighting  all  the  time  for  two  days,  slowly  continued  his  retreat,  and 
reached  Holla  safely  with  the  main  portion  of  his  command.  During  the 
whole  war  there  were  but  few  defences  of  posts  more  gallantly  made  than 
General  Ewing' s  two  days'  defence  of  Pilot  Knob;  and  his  retreat  thence 
to  Holla,  with  a  handful  of  men  in  face  of  an  overwhelming  army,  well 
mounted  and  supplied  with  artillery,  was  a  marvel  of  skill,  of  endurance, 
and  of  heroism.  The  detachment  of  the  Fourteenth  which  took  part  in 
this  achievement  was  commanded  by  Captain  William  J.  Campbell,  who, 
with  his  command,  received  the  published  thanks  of  General  Ewing  for 
bravery,  patience,  and  efficiency.  When  the  detachment  reached  Kolla, 
the  men  had  been  fighting,  fighting  and  marching,  for  four  days  almost 
constantly.  They  had  not  had  more  than  one  hour's  rest  out  of  twenty- 
four,  their  feet  were  covered  with  blisters,  but  they  had  done  their  duty 
under  a  general  who  had  done  his,  and  they  marched  into  Holla  with 
feelings  of  pride— quite  unlike  their  feelings  when  they  returned  to  Alex- 


206  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

andria  four  months  before.     The  losses  of  the  detachment  were  three  killed 
and  fifteen  wounded. 

Meanwhile,  Price's  troopers  in  other  parts  of  Missouri  required  attention. 
It  is  well  known  that  the  rebel  general,  after  committing  great  apparent 
depredation,  overrunning  a  large  portion  of  the  State  with  detached  bands 
who  covered  the  movements  of  his  principal  command,  was  at  last  driven 
out  of  Missouri,  and  across  the  Arkansas  River,  in  a  condition  very  much 
like  that  into  which  Thomas,  two  months  afterwards,  placed  the  army  of 
General  Hood.  That  part  of  the  regiment  which  had  not  been  at  Pilot 
Knob  made  the  march  across  Missouri  in  chase  of  Price,  as  far  as  Tipton, 
but,  though  it  did  excellent  service,  here  making  one  of  the  most  toilsome 
of  its  campaigns,  it  suffered  no  loss.  The  reunited  command  reached  St. 
Louis  early  in  November. 

The  regiment  proceeded  to  Davenport,  and  going  into  ' '  Camp  Kinsman' ' 
near  by,  was  mustered  out  of  service  on  the  16th  of  November.  At  this 
time  there  were  in  the  command,  of  recruits  whose  term  of  enlistment  had 
not  expired,  and  veterans  who  had  reenlisted  for  three  years,  nearly  two 
hundred,  officers  and  men.  These  were  formed  into  an  organization  called 
the  "Residuary  Battalion,"  consisting  of  two  companies,  of  which  Captain 
Hugo  Hoffbauer,  superior  officer,  had  command.  The  Lieutenants  of  his 
company  were  D.  McClure  and  Addison  Davis.  Captain  Orville  Burke 
and  Lieutenants  Thomas  B.  Beach  and  Perry  L.  Smith  were  the  officers  of 
the  other  company.  The  battalion  immediately  moved  to  Springfield, 
Illinois,  and  Remained  on  provost  and  guard  duty  there  until  long  after  the 
cessation  of  Hostilities.  Detachments  from  the  battalion  were  frequently 
sent  off  on  orie  duty  or  another,  and  some,  escorting  recruits  and  guarding 
prisoners,  went  as  far  as  Mississippi,  others  to  Nashville,  Tennessee.  It 
was,  however,  a  kind  of  service  decidedly  untasteful  to  the  command, 
especially  when  the  war  had  been  practically  closed  by  the  capitulation  of 
Lee  and  of  Johnston,  and  the  victory  of  Mobile.  Early  in  August,  chiefly 
through  the  exertions  of  Captain  Burke,  the  Lieutenant-General  of  the 
Armies  directed  that  the  battalion  be  honorably  mustered  out  of  service. 
Accordingly  the  battalion,  numbering  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  men 
and  five  officers,  was  shortly  afterwards  disbanded  at  Davenport,  thereby 
closing  the  history,  checkered  with  many  bright  pages  of  glory,  and  many 
of  suffering,  and  blotted  by  no  single  deed  of  dishonor,  of  a  regiment  entitled 
to  the  unmixed  admiration  of  our  people. 

I  cannot  conclude  the  history  of  the  Fourteenth  without  some  conside 
rable  reference  to  Colonel  Shaw,  who  was  the  recipient  of  most  harsh  and 
unjust  treatment  at  the  hands  of  the  authorities  of  government.  On  the 
4th  of  October,  1864,  at  a  time  when  Colonel  Shaw  was  in  command  of 
the  Third  Division,  Sixteenth  Army  Corps  and  of  which  he  had  then 


FOURTEENTH      INFANTRY.  207 

some  time  had  command — Special  Orders  No.  332,  Adjutant-General's 
Office,  Washington,  D.  C. ,  summarily  dismissed  him  the  service.  In  the 
Army  and  Navy  Official  Gazette,  under  the  head  of  "Dismissals  for  the 
week  ending  October  8th,  1864,"  appeared  the  following  extract  from  this 
order: — 

"  Colonel  William  T.  Shaw,  Fourteenth  Iowa  Volunteers,  to  date  October 
4th,  1864,  for  violation  of  Army  Regulations  and  General  Orders  from  the 
War  Department  in  regard  to  publications  over  his  own  signature  in  rela^ 
tion  to  the  operations  of  the  armies  of  the  United  States  in  the  Depart 
mentof  the  Gulf." 

This  dismissal  was  procured  by  the  personal  exertions  of  Major-General 
Banks.  There  is  no  man  who  has  a  more  sincere  respect  for  Secretary  Stan- 
ton  than  I  have,  but  it  was  a  shameful  act  to  dismiss  such  a  soldier  as 
William  T.  Shaw  at  the  solicitation  of  such  a  soldier  as  Nathaniel  P. 
Banks.  The  "publication  over  his  own  signature"  for  which  Colonel 
Shaw  was  dismissed,  was  a  letter  to  a  friend,  touching  the  Red  River 
disaster,  which  was  printed  in  the  Anamosa  Eureka.  It  contained  the 
following  paragraphs,  on  the  battle  of  Pleasant  Hill : 

"Although  I  had  less  than  one-tenth  of  the  force  on  the  field,  my  loss 
was  full  one-half  of  the  whole  loss  of  that  day,  being  about  five  hundred 
killed  and  wounded,  out  of  one  thousand  seven  hundred ;  and  yet  my  bri 
gade  was  considered  in  such  good  condition  as  to  be  ordered  to  cover  the 
retreat  of  the  army  to  Grand  Ecore  that  night  and  the  next  day.  The 
loss  in  the  Thirty-second  Iowa  alone  was  equal  to  the  whole  loss  in  Banks' 
Army;  it  wanted  but  few  of  being  equal  to  the  loss  in  all  of  Smith's  forces 
outside  of  my  brigade.  The  loss  in  the  four  Iowa  Regiments  (Fourteenth, 
Twenty-seventh,  Thirty-second,  and  Thirty-fifth)  was  equal  to  the  whole 
loss  of  all  the  forces  outside  of  the  Second  Brigade,  and  yet  the  name  of 
Iowa  is  not  mentioned  in  any  report  of  the  battle  yet  published  in  the 
New  Orleans  papers. 

"But,  it  may  be  suggested  that  the  loss  does  not  show  the  extent  of  the 
fighting.  In  this  instance,  at  least,  it  is  a  fair  index.  I  was  engaged  with 
the  enemy  for  over  seven  hours,  while  no  other  forces  were  under  fire  one 
hour.  I  was  under  a  heavy  and  destructive  artillery  fire  forty-five  minutes 
before  a  gun  was  fired  upon  any  other  part  of  the  field.  I  received  and 
repulsed  a  heavy  charge  of  cavalry,  followed  by  an  attack  of  infantry  which 
I  also  repulsed,  before  a  gun  was  fired  upon  any  other  part  of  our  line. 
My  loss  was  all  in  fair  fight,  in  good  position,  well  protected,  except  my 
flanks,  and  no  man  moved  to  the  rear  till  he  was  ordered,  and  I  gave  no 
such  orders  till  I  received  them  from  my  superiors.  That  order  would 
never  have  been  necessary  had  it  not  been  for  the  drunken  cowardice  of 


208  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

General  Dwight,  and  the  bad  generalship  of  some  other  officer.     Who  that 
may  be  I  do  not  know,  but  I  believe  it  to  be  General  Emory. 

"I  reported  to  General  Emory  at  about  ten  o'clock,"  A.M.  He  appeared 
to  be  both  drunk  and  a  coward.  I  relieved  General  McMillan,  who  was 
also  drunk.  I  did  not  see  Emory  again  till  after  dark,  and  the  fighting  had 
ceased.  He  was  then  beastly  drunk. 

"I  know  what  the  Second  Brigade  did,  and  I  only  write  what  I  know. 
I  have  heard  that  it  was  a  great  battle,  fought  by  fifteen  or  twenty  thou 
sand  men  on  our  side,  with  two  Major-Generals  and  a  dozen  Brigadiers, 
more  or  less,  and  I  know  that  about  one-half  the  fighting  was  done  by  a 
single  brigade  of  some  seventeen  hundred  men,  without  artillery,  and  that 
brigade  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  advance  of  all  other  troops. 

"At  dark,  we  had  whipped  them  at  every  point,  and  driven  them  back 
in  utter  confusion,  but  our  lines  were  drawn  in,  our  dead  and  part  of  our 
wounded  were  left  on  the  field.  At  one  o'clock,  A.M.,  the  Army  of  the 
Gulf  began  its  grand  retreat.  Being  a  little  foot-sore,  it  took  a  couple  of 
hours'  start  of  Smith's  forces,  which  started  at  three.  But  as  the  Second 
Brigade  had  thrashed  about  one-half  the  rebel  army  and  only  lost  five 
hundred  men  out  of  one  thousand  seven  hundred,  it  might  reasonably  be 
expected  that  the  remaining  twelve  hundred  could  'clean  out'  the  other 
half  if  they  should  attempt  to  interfere  with  the  grand  retreat  of  the  Great 
General !  They  were  ordered  to  cover  the  retreat,  and  did  so  to  the  satis 
faction  of  all  concerned. ' ' 

We  must  candidly  confess  that  the  publication  of  these  severe  strictures 
was  a  violation  of  regulations  and  of  orders,  and  tended  to  the  subversion 
of  discipline.  Considering  the  case  in  a  purely  technical  sense  Colonel  Shaw 
made  himself  liable  to  reproof  or  punishment.  Considering  the  case  on  its 
real  merits— how  handsomely  he  had  performed  his  duty  on  the  field ;  how 
by  his  gallant  and  tenacious  fighting  he  had  saved  our  arms  from  defeat ; 
how  shamefully  those  officers  behaved  whom  he  castigated — every  candid 
person  must  agree  that  he  ought  to  have  had  promotion  for  meritorious  con 
duct,  and  that  they  ought  to  have  been  reproved  for  conduct  which  the  whole 
army  knew  to  be  disgraceful  in  the  extreme.  The  fact  need  not  be  blinked 
that  the  commanding  general  of  the  Red  River  expedition,  and  his  subor 
dinates  named  by  Colonel  Shaw,  were  regarded  by  the  troops  generally 
with  feelings  of  contempt  for  their  incapacity,  and  of  indignation  for  the 
sad  results  which  that  incapacity  brought  about.  Stung  by  these  feelings, 
and  reflecting,  moreover,  upon  the  losses  which  his  gallant  command  had 
sustained,  in  direct  consequence  of  the  incapacity  and  inebriety  of  the 
officers  he  excoriated,  Colonel  Shaw  wrote  the  paragraphs  which  I  have 
quoted.  And  therein  he  was  justifiable  by  the  considerations  of  truth  and 
of  manly  indignation. 


FOURTEENTH     INFANTRY.  209 

When  the  order  of  dismissal  came  to  General  Smith,  he  refused  to  have 
it  promulgated,  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  though  it  was  published  to  the 
world  in  the  official  Gazette,  as  quoted,  it  was  never  executed,  and  Colonel 
Shaw  was  honorably  mustered  out  of  service  with  his  regiment.  As  show 
ing  the  regard  in  which  he  was  held  in  the  army,  I  may  state  that  the 
officers  of  the  Division  which  he  had  commanded  presented  him,  upon  his 
retirement  from  the  service,  with  a  costly  sword  and  scabbard,  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  and  tasteful  weapons  ever  made.  His  commanding  general 
issued  the  following  order : 

"  HEAD-QUARTERS,  RIGHT  WING  SIXTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS,  l 
"  HARRISONVILLE,  MISSOURI,  October  29, 1864.     J 

"  Special  Orders  No.  132.     (Extract.) 

"  I.  Colonel  W.  T.  Shaw,  Fourteenth  Iowa  Infantry  Volunteers,  is  hereby  relieved  from  the  com 
mand  of  the  Third  Division,  Sixteenth  Army  Corps,  and  will  forthwith  rejoin  his  regiment  at  Daven 
port,  Iowa.  The  quartermaster  will  furnish  transportation  for  himself  and  authorized  servants. 

"II.  In  relieving  Colonel  Shaw  from  the  command  of  the  Third  Division  prior  to  his  being  mus 
tered  out,  it  is  but  an  act  of  justice  to  an  energetic,  thorough,  and  competent  officer,  to  say  that  for 
the  last  fifteen  months  he  has  been  in  this  command  as  commanding  a  Post,  Brigade,  and  Division, 
and  in  every  position  has  performed  the  incumbent  duties  faithfully  and  well,  and  with  an  ability 
that  few  can  equal — with  courage,  patriotism,  and  skill  above  question.  The  service  loses  an  excel 
lent  officer  when  he  is  mustered  out. 

"  By  order  of  MAJOR-GENERAL  A.  J.  SMITH, 
"  J.  HOUGH,  A.  A.  G." 

The  publication  of  the  order  of  dismissal  was  received  by  the  people  of 
Iowa,  generally,  with  the  warmest  feelings  of  indignation.  The  press  was 
unanimous  in  its  condemnation. 

The  following,  from  the  State  Register,  was  generally  copied : 
"The  War  Department  recently  issued  an  order,  dismissing  Colonel 
William  T.  Shaw  of  the  Fourteenth  Iowa  Infantry  from  the  service,  for 
alleged  violations  of  the  Army  Regulations  and  General  Orders  in  regard  to 
publications  over  his  own  signature,  which  reflected  on  the  conduct  of  cer 
tain  commanding  officers  in  the  Department  of  the  Gulf.  Not  many 
months  since,  this  paper  contained  an  article  from  the  pen  of  the  Colonel 
which  made  some  crushing  revelations  with  reference  to  the  drunkenness  and 
fatal  incompetency  of  general  officers  in  the  Red  River  Expedition.  The 
Colonel,  doubtless,  wrote  the  truth.  That  there  were  ruinous  blunders 
committed  in  that  expedition,  no  one  disputes;  and  the  competency  of 
Colonel  Shaw  to  fasten  these  blunders  on  their  authors,  and  hold  them  up 
to  the  execration  of  mankind,  is  not  to  be  questioned.  If  he  committed 
an  indiscretion  in  penning  this  article,  and  in  giving  it  to  the  public;  if  he 
violated  Army  Regulations  and  General  Orders ;  if  he  even  went  so  far  as 
to  defame  the  military  reputation  of  men  high  in  command,  of  which  there 
is  no  evidence  under  the  sun,  he  was  entitled,  in  any  view  of  the  case,  to  a 
trial  by  Court-martial  which  would  have  given  him  an  opportunity  to  fortify 
27 


210  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

his  statements  by  the  necessary  testimony.  This  privilege  was  not  granted 
to  him.  He  was  hustled  out  of  the  service  in  the  most  summary  and 
ignominious  manner,  not  knowing  that  he  was  accused  of  an  offence  until 
the  order  for  his  peremptory  dismissal  reached  him.  Is  there  any  justice 
in  such  procedure  ?  The  injustice  is  the  more  flagrant  from  the  fact  that 
at  the  time  when  he  was  dismissed,  his  term  of  service  had  expired,  and 
his  regiment  was  on  its  way  home  to  be  mustered  out. 

"  We  cannot  close  this  article  without  passing  a  deserved  compliment  on 
the  old  War  Horse  of  the  Fourteenth.  At  an  early  date  after  the  com 
mencement  of  hostilities,  he  went  into  the  service  ;  and  from  first  to  last, 
as  Colonel  and  Brigade  Commander,  he  bore  himself  gallantly  as  a  brave 
and  efficient  officer.  If  the  Red  River  Expedition  had  been  engineered  by 
such  officers  as  Colonel  Shaw,  it  would  have  been  a  proud  success  instead 
of  a  shameful  humiliation  to  our  arms. ' ' 

I  need  offer  no  apology  for  saying  thus  much  for  the  old  commander  of 
the  Fourteenth.  The  good  name  of  the  regiment  is  inseparably  connected 
with  his,  and  I  should  be  unjust  to  the  regiment  itself,  and  to  Iowa,  should 
I  leave  that  good  name  tarnished  by  a  stain  which  was  foully  placed  upon 
it.  He  taught  the  regiment  its  first  lessons  in  warfare  ;  he  led  it  into  many 
battles  where  bullets  flew  as  thick  as  hailstones ;  he  suffered  with  it  the 
hardships  of  captivity ;  he  did  much,  as  its  direct  commander  and  as  its 
acting  general  commander,  to  give  it  the  fame  it  acquired ;  and  that  fame 
must  be  expunged  from  the  bright  records  of  history  before  the  "  old  War 
Horse  of  the  Fourteenth"  can  suffer  in  the  good  opinion  of  the  candid  and 
the  just. 

\ 


CHAPTER    XII. 

ELEVENTH    INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZED  AT  CAMP  McCLELLAN— "  STARVATION "  ERA!— THE  ARMY  BLUE— BEN- 
TON  BARRACKS  — JEFFERSON  CITY  — FIRST  CAMPAIGNING  —  "  PROVIDENCE  DE 
SERTED  "—A  WINTER  OF  JOY  AND  SADNESS— MOVE  TO  THE  FRONT— BATTLE  OF 
SHILOH— COL.  M.  M.  CROCKER— SIEGE  OF  CORINTH— ACTIVE  OPERATIONS— BAT 
TLE  OF  IUKA-BATTLE  OF  CORINTH-MISSISSIPPI  CENTRAL  CAMPAIGN— LAKE 
PROVIDENCE— CAMPAIGN  OF  VICKSBURG— EXPEDITION  TO  MONROE,  LA.— QUIET 
AT  VICKSBURG— THE  MERIDIAN  RAID-HOME  ON  VETERAN  FURLOUGH— THE  AT 
LANTA  CAMPAIGN— NICKAJACK  CREEK— SUBSEQUENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  REGI 
MENT—PERSONALITIES—DISBANDED. 

THE  Eleventh  Regiment  Iowa  Volunteers  was  organized  at  "  Camp  Mc- 
Clellan,"  situated  on  a  picturesque  bluff  overhanging  the  west  bank  of  the 
Mississippi,  two  miles  above  Davenport,  on  the  first  day  of  November, 
1861 — a  bright,  beautiful  day  of  the  waning  Indian  summer,  which  de 
lightful  season,  as  all  my  home  readers  know,  sometimes  delays  its  depar 
ture  till  winter  itself  comes  on,  and  the  blasts  of  December  blow  in  earnest. 
The  camp  was  christened  in  honor  of  the  young  general  who  just  before 
this  time  had  been  invested  with  the  chief  military  authority  in  place  of 
the  octogenarian  soldier  of  two  previous  wars,  and  who  let  fall  upon  his 
successor,  as  subsequent  events  proved,  rather  his  fuss  and  his  feathers 
than  his  whilom  genius  for  victory. 

The  material  of  the  regiment  was  excellent,  the  counties  of  Muscatine, 
Louisa,  Cedar,  Henry,  Linn,  Marshall,  Washington,  Keokuk,  and  Van 
Buren  chiefly,  but  not  wholly,  contributing  the  constituent  parts,  Musca 
tine  especially,  within  whose  borders  were  enrolled  no  less  than  four  of  the 
companies.  Abraham  M.  Hare,  of  Muscatine,  had  the  honor  of  being  the 
first  colonel,  though  not  the  first  commander,  of  this  gallant  regiment,  for 
William  Hall,  of  Davenport,  its  first  Major,  and  also  its  first  Lieutenant- 
Colonel,  commanded  Camp  McClellan  some  time  before  Colonel  Hare  re 
ceived  his  commission,  and  whilst  the  regiment  was  there  in  an  inchoate 
state. 

Company  A,  Captain  William  Grant,  Lieutenants  John  W.  Anderson, 

211 


212  IOWA    AND     THE     KEBELLION. 

and  Richard  R.  Madden,  was  ordered  into  quarters  on  the  28th  of  Au 
gust  ;  Company  B,  Captain  Charles  Foster,  Lieutenants  William  H.  Weth- 
erby,  and  Philip  D.  Beatty,  September  12 ;  Company  C,  Captain  Joseph 
Neal,  Lieutenants  Joseph  Limbocker  and  William  M.  Twiggs,  on  the  23d 
of  the  same  month;  Company  D,  Captain  A.  J.  Shrope,  Lieutenants 
Bennett  F.  Jackson  and  Andrew  H.  Walker,  on  the  14th ;  Company  E, 
Captain  Samuel  S.  McLoney,  Lieutenants  John  F.  Compton  and  L.  D. 
Durbin,  on  the  20th  of  August ;  Company  F,  Captain  Isaiah  G.  Moore, 
Lieutenants  Joseph  D.  Miles  and  Josiah  B.  Dawson,  September  23d ; 
Company  Gr,  Captain  Samuel  McFarland,  Lieutenants  William  F.  Lehew 
and  George  W.  F.  Barr,  September  2d ;  Company  H,  Captain  Benjamin 
Beach,  Lieutenants  George  D.  Magoon  and  George  R.  W7hite,  on  the  21st 
of  the  same  month ;  Company  I,  Captain  Charles  E.  Compton,  Lieuten 
ants  C.  B.  Meelinger  and  Alfred  B.  Wiles,  on  the  17th;  Company  K,  Cap 
tain  John  C.  Marven,  Lieutenants  William  T.  Dagley  and  Robert  L.  Wil 
son,  on  the  25th  of  August.  The  companies,  proceeding  to  the  rendez 
vous  near  Davenport,  were  there  sworn  into  the  service  of  the  United 
States  at  different  times  during  the  months  of  September  and  October, 
and  placed  under  command  of  Major  Hall.  On  the  1st  of  November, 
Colonel  Hare  was  mustered  into  the  service,  and  the  organization  on  that 
day  completed.  William  Hall,  being  Lieutenant-Colonel,  and  John  C. 
Abercrombie  Major,  Cornelius  Cadle,  Jr. ,  was  appointed  Adjutant,  William 
Watson,  Surgeon,  F.  Lloyd,  Assistant,  Richard  Cadle,  Quartermaster,  and 
Reverend  John  S.  Whittlesey,  Chaplain. 

The  period  which  elapsed  from  this  time  until  the  regiment  departed  for 
St.  Louis  has  been  called  by  its  correspondents  "  the  starvation  era."  For, 
though  for  some  time  after  the  command  entered  the  service  of  the  repub 
lic,  the  men  had  had  "  nothing  whatever  to  eat,"  except  baker's  bread, 
fresh  beef,  vegetables,  apples,  and  cucumber  pickles,  the  ladies  of  Muscatine 
city  and  county  visited  the  encampment  and  dealt  out  to  the  ' '  famishing 
boys"  who  had  been  scarcely  adhering  to  life  on  the  aforementioned  diet, 
such  an  abundance  of  cake,  fruit,  roast  turkey,  chicken  salad,  boiled  ham, 
tongue,  and  mince  pie,  as  well  nigh  transferred  the  command  of  the  regi 
ment  from  the  hands  of  the  Colonel  to  the  Surgeon. 

The  Eleventh  was  the  first  Iowa  regiment  whose  men  received  their  uni 
forms  from  the  government  before  leaving  the  State.  It  had  a  melancholy 
opportunity  of  exhibiting,  before  its  embarkation  for  the  South,  what  had 
not  yet  been  seen  in  Iowa — a  full  regiment  of  more  than  nine  hundred  men, 
dressed  in  the  full  army  blue  of  the  regulations,  marching  in  a  compact 
body.  The  remains  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Wentz,  Seventh  Iowa,  who  had 
Men  on  the  bloody  field  of  Belmont,  had  been  brought  to  his  home  in  Da- 


ELEVENTH     INFANTRY.  213 

venport,  and  the  sad  duty  of  paying  the  last  honors  to  this  brave  man 
devolved  upon  the  Eleventh. 

The  regiment  embarked  for  St.  Louis  on  the  16th.  The  weather  was 
still  mild  and  pleasant,  but  before  the  port  of  St.  Louis  was  made  a  snow 
storm  set  in  which  made  the  hurricane  deck  of  the  transport  decidedly 
unpleasant  to  the  soldiers  who  occupied  it.  In  those  days,  when  the  chief 
object  of  soldiers  seemed  to  be  to  make  themselves  comfortable,  every  officer 
supposed  in  any  degree  to  be  responsible  for  their  discomfort  came  in  for 
their  complaints,  mixed  with  a  free  use  of  the  energetic  idiom.  The  same 
men  who  complained  so  much  of  this  journey  would  have  looked  upon  it  as 
a  holiday  excursion,  before  the  war  closed.  Such  is  the  difference  between 
the  raw  recruit  and  the  veteran  soldier.  Part  of  the  regiment  was  trans 
ferred  to  another  steamer  at  Keokuk,  and  the  whole  arrived  at  St.  Louis 
on  the  evening  of  the  20th,  and  marched  from  the  levee  to  Benton  Bar 
racks,  "through  that  sort  of  miserable,  warm,  soaking  rain,"  says  a  cor 
respondent,  ' '  which  never  falls  anywhere  but  at  St.  Louis  or  Washington 
City,  and  which  is  always  •falling  at  one  or  other,  or  both  of  those  places. 
We  took  lodgings,  I  think,  at  No.  765.  It  may  have  been  567.  At  any 
rate  it  was  one  of  those  high  numbers  which  may  be  very  lucky  in  lotteries, 
but  which  are  certainly  unfortunate  in  barracks,  and  arouse  gloomy  sugges 
tions  of  numberless  oblong  rooms,  and  endless  miles  of  slippery,  muddy 
sidewalks  under  leagues  of  wooden  stoops,  where  the  luckless  volunteer  for 
the  first  time  makes  his  mark  as  a  soldier — in  the  mud. ' ' 

The  Eleventh  spent  nearly  three  weeks  at  Benton  Barracks,  at  that  time 
the  grand  place  of  fashionable  resort  for  western  troops.  ' '  Looking  back 
over  three  years  service,"  says  the  first  Assistant  Surgeon  of  the  regiment, 
"  Benton  Barracks  appear  to  me  to  have  been  designed  and  planned,  in  the 
most  successful  manner,  as  a  sort  of  '  way-side  house'  for  small-pox,  measles, 
mumps,  and  home-sickness.  I  know  these  budded,  blossomed,  and  bore 
fruit  there,  and  I  do  not  know  of  anything  else  that  could  have  long  existed 
there,  except  Tookes.  Tookes  was  a  gentleman  of  high  spirits  and  high 
wines.  Spirits,  to  be  sure,  were  forbidden  in  special  orders,  and  denounced 
by  that  consistent  officer,  the  Provost  Marshal ;  but  when  the  Provost  Mar 
shal  was  taken  into  a  side  room  by  Tookes  in  the  most  polite  manner,  and 
invited  in  the  most  obsequious  way,  to  take  something  out  of  a  claret  wine 
bottle,  and  to  give  his  unbiased  judgment  as  to  whether  it  might  be  harm 
lessly  sold,  the  Provost  Marshal  snapped  his  eyes,  and  said  a  mild  beverage 
like  that  could  hurt  no  one,  and  that  Tookes  was  a  military  benefactor,  and 
that  he  would  call  several  times  every  day,  and  be  constantly  and  diligently 
testing  its  efficacy  on  himself.  I  will  close  this  part  of  my  subject  by 
giving  one  of  Tookes'  most  glaring  bon-mots,  got  off  in  seeing  through  the 
window  of  my  quarters,  Iowa's  favorite  sanitary  agent — whose  name  so 


214  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

many  of  Iowa's  soldiers  had  afterwards  so  much  cause  to  bless — slip  and 
fall  in  the  mud  which  there  abounded.  'You  have  heard,'  said  Tookes, 
keeping  his  left  eye  only  slightly  ajar,  like  the  door  of  the  Bank  of  Florence 
when  that  beneficent  institution  was  about  to  close,  and  his  right  eye  on  a 
jar  of  peach  brandy  which  I  was  keeping  in  my  quarters  for  the  sick,  '  you 
have  heard  of  sermons  in  stones,  and  there  is  Wit-in-mire. " '  It  was  here 
that  Mrs.  Wittenmyer  actively  began  her  benevolent  services  in  behalf  of 
our  troops,  which  she  continued  without  ceasing  till  after  the  last  rebel  had 
laid  down  his  arms. 

On  Sunday,  December  8th,  the  regiment  left  Benton  Barracks  without  a 
single  regret,  and  moved  to  Jefferson  City,  arriving  on  the  same  evening. 
Hence,  not  many  days  afterwards,  it  went  upon  its  first  campaign  in  the 
field.  With  a  battalion  of  the  Third  Iowa  Cavalry,  Major  Clay  Caldwell, 
the  regiment  embarked  on  the  14th,  and  proceeded  up  the  river  to  Boone- 
ville.  The  only  positive  good  which  resulted  from  the  foray  was  the  cap 
ture  of  a  large  amount  of  gunpowder  by  the  cavalry.  A  correspondent  of 
the  Muscatine  Journal,  writing  a  resume  of  the  regiment's  history,  from 
Savannah,  Georgia,  early  in  1865,  says,  "Whatever  dangers  (and  they  have 
been  many)  the  Eleventh  has  since  passed  through,  I  consider  their  return 
to  Jefferson  City,  on  the  steamer  Isabella,  with  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
three  kegs  of  gunpowder,  five  hundred  green  soldiers,  and  a  reckless  crew 
on  board,  the  most  imminent."  The  troops  did  not  disembark  at  Jefferson 
City  immediately,  but  making  the  steamers  their  quarters,  thence  made 
several  expeditions  on  foot.  One  of  these  was  a  march  by  the  whole  regi 
ment  of  nine  miles  to  the  vicinity  of  a  little  town  named  Providence.  When 
within  a  mile  of  the  village  Colonel  Hare  sent  the  cavalry  ahead  on  a  recon- 
noissance  in  force,  who  speedily  reported  "Providence  deserted  by  the 
enemy  or  the  enemy  deserted  by  Providence,  which  is  much  the  same 
thing!"  Another  march  of  about  the  same  distance  in  another  direction 
was  made  by  five  companies,  Major  Abercrombie  commanding,  to  the  vil 
lage  of  Boonsboro,  which  was  captured  without  casualty,  except  that  Adju 
tant  Cadle  was  thrown  from  his  horse.  The  Major  posted  his  pickets,  and 
reposed  on  his  laurels  and  a  feather  bed. 

These  first  active  operations  of  the  regiment  were  afterwards  the  source 
of  much  merriment  to  officers  and  men,  before  their  camp-fires  on  cam 
paigns  whose  grandeur  and  results  were  of  such  magnificent  scale  as  to 
throw  these  entirely  in  the  shade,  and  make  it  next  to  impossible  to  get  a 
serious  account  of  them.  With  them  the  movements  in  the  field  for  the 
winter  closed.  The  regiment  had  not  been  at  Jefferson  City  many  days, 
when  five  companies  moved  to  the  town  of  California,  twenty-five  miles 
westward,  being  transported,  much  to  the  disgust  of  these  novices  in  war, 
on  cattle  cars.  A  few  days  afterwards  the  remaining  companies  marched 


ELEVENTH     INFANTRY.  215 

to  Fulton,  about  the  same  distance  north  of  Jefferson  City.  Having  good 
shelter,  good  living,  the  officers  and  men  of  the  divided  command  spent  a 
joyous  winter,  putting  in  their  spare  time  on  such  social  enjoyments  as 
California  and  Fulton,  noted  for  their  dancing  ladies  of  secession  proclivi 
ties,  afforded.  But  sadness  mingled  with  the  joy.  The  foul  atmosphere 
of  Benton  Barracks  was  fermenting  in  the  blood,  and  disease  began  to  do 
its  dreadful  work  among  the  men.  Many  forms  of  ailment  prevailed,  and 
the  fine  spirits  of  those  whose  robust  natures  were  proof  as  yet  against  thp 
insidious  enemy,  were  saddened  by  the  suffering  and  death  of  many  com 
rades  in  the  hospitals. 

On  the  10th  of  March,  1862,  the  two  wings  of  the  regiment  left  their 
respective  quarters,  and  rejoining  on  the  steamer  "  Great  Wester, "  moved 
down  the  Missouri,  down  the  Mississippi,  and  up  the  Tennessee  to  Savan 
nah,  where  the  command  disembarked  and  encamped.  Here  it  remained 
about  one  week  when,  again  embarking,  proceeded  eight  miles  up  the  river 
to  Pittsburg  Landing.  Marching  some  distance  from  the  landing  the  regi 
ment  went  into  camp  on  the  very  spot  where,  a  fortnight  afterwards,  the 
fiercest  fighting  of  the  deadliest  conflict  of  the  war  took  place.  The  regi 
ment  at  this  time  was  in  the  brigade  commanded  by  Colonel  Richard 
Oglesby,  McClernand's  Division.  On  Friday  night,  April  4th,  the  long 
roll  was  beaten,  and  the  brigade  fell  into  line.  The  alarm  seemed  to  be 
false,  and  the  troops  returned  to  quarters.  This  was  the  first  note  of  battle, 
and  its  failure  of  tangible  or  visible  results  probably  assisted  to  throw  both 
officers  and  men  of  the  army  somewhat  off  their  guard,  leaving  them  unpre 
pared  to  promptly  meet  the  enemy  when  he  came  down  like  a  wolf  on  the 
fold,  on  Sunday  morning.  Of  the  battle  of  Shiloh  I  need  here  say  but 
little.  During  the  first  part  of  the  battle,  and  until  he  was  wounded, 
Colonel  Hare,  in  the  absence  of  Colonel  Oglesby,  commanded  the  brigade, 
which  left  the  command  of  the  regiment  at  this  momentous  epoch  of  its 
history  to  Lieutenant- Colonel  Hall.  As  to  how  he  bore  himself  on  that 
terrible  occasion,  I  have  already  written,  and  need  now  only  say  that  the 
written  and  verbal  testimony  of  his  superior  officers  was  strewn  with  his 
praises.  The  losses  of  the  regiment  in  this  its  first  battle,  were  very  heavy, 
and  the  behaviour  of  its  officers  and  men,  almost  without  exception,  was 
most  creditable.1 

1  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hall  does  not  state  the  losses  in  his  official  report,  but  says  they  were  "  very 
severe  in  killed  and  wounded."  They  numbered  more  than  two  hundred,  out  of  an  aggregate  of 
seven  hundred  and  fifty,  and  of  these  more  than  thirty  were  killed  outright  on  the  field.  I  again 
acknowledge  obligations  to  the  Adjutant-General's  Report  for  the  following  list  of  casualties : 

Wounded,  Colonel  A.  M.  Hare,  commanding  brigade;  Lieutenant-Colonel  William  Hall,  (slightly), 
his  horse  shot  under  him;  Major  John  C.  Abercrombie. 

Company  A — Killed,  Privates  George  W.  Callender,  William  Frilchman,  John  Goodocke. 

Company  B— Kitted,  Corporal  William  F.  Hough.  Wounded,  Captain  Charles  Foster ;  Sergeant 
Eli  D.  Akers ;  Corporals  Benjamin  V.  Kersey,  James  Fitzgerald ;  Privates  Samuel  S.  Brockway, 


216  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

As  soon  as  the  regiment  recovered  from  the  shock  and  excitement  of  the 
battle,  it,  as  part  of  the  great  army  there  assembled,  began  to  move  upon 
Corinth.  Meantime,  the  army  had  been  to  a  considerable  extent  reor 
ganized.  The  Eleventh  and  Thirteenth  had  reluctantly  parted  from  their 
gallant  comrades  in  battle,  the  Eighth  and  Eighteenth  Illinois,  but  their  feel 
ings  of  sadness  were  entirely  assuaged  when  the  Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth  Iowa 
took  the  place  of  the  Illinois  regiments  in  the  line.  Colonel  Hare  having  now 
resigned,  Colonel  M.  M.  Crocker,  Thirteenth  Iowa,  assumed  command  of 
the  brigade,  which  was  long  known  as  "Crocker's  Iowa  Brigade,"  and, 
after  that  gallant  and  now  lamented  officer  left  it  for  a  higher  field  of  duty, 
simply  as  "the  Iowa  Brigade."  That  gallant  command,  than  which  no 
single  brigade  made  a  more  illustrious  record  throughout  the  war,  undoubt 
edly  owes  much  of  its  proud  fame  to  CROCKER,  whose  off-hand  ability, 
dashing  gallantry,  and  stern  discipline  were  known  throughout  the  army 
and  recognized  as  preeminent.  Certainly  the  officers  and  men  of  the  Iowa 
Brigade  always,  and,  I  believe,  without  exception,  held  him  in  the  highest 
esteem,  both  as  an  officer  and  as  a  man.  Nevertheless,  ill  health  had  made 
his  temper  irritable,  and  the  ludicrous  incidents  which  resulted  therefrom 
were  nearly  as  numerous  as  Mr.  Lincoln's  jokes.  But  it  was  no  joke  to 
place  any  the  least  barrier  against  his  discipline,  and  he  soon  made  his  com 
mand  in  all  respects  equivalent  to  an  organization  of  veterans. 

The  march  on  Corinth  was  by  what  military  books  call  ' '  gradual  ap 
proaches,"  and  in  this  instance  there  was  no  want  of  graduality.  The 
approaches  were  very  gradual.  When  the  place  was  evacuated  by  Beaure- 
gard,  our  regiment  formed  part  of  the  garrison,  and  as  such  remained 
there  for  about  three  months.  At  the  end  of  that  period  of  quiet,  active 
operations  again  commenced,  and  the  command  marched  to  the  town  of 
Bolivar,  Tennessee,  a  beautiful  place  on  a  tributary  of  the  Hatchie  Biver, 

Elisha  Blundon,  David  Dale,  Martin  Denton,  Addison  Garwood,  George  B.  Haworth,  Charles  W. 
Hammond,  James  Marsh,  John  Rutan,  John  Ramsey,  David  Shafer,  Thomas  C.  Smith,  William  N. 
Street. 

Company  C— Kitted,  Private  Samuel  Fritts.     Wounded,  G.  B.  S.  Livingstone. 

Company  D— Kitted,  Sergeant  Henry  Seibert ;  Privates  Thomes  J.  Corey,  Peter  Craven,  William 
Leverich,  William  White.  Wounded,  Corporals  John  A.  Hughes,  Walter  G.  Rogers ;  Private  Rode 
rick  R.  McRea. 

Company  E— Killed,  Lieutenant  John  F.  Compton ;  Sergeant  Ezra  McLaney ;  Privates  John  R. 
Buckman,  George  Crooks,  Carlton  Frink,  Thomas  M.  Haines.  Wounded,  Privates  John  W.  Dwig- 
gans,  (mortally),  George  W.  Simmons,  (mortally). 

Company  F— Killed,  Corporals  George  J.  Borns,  Martin  A.  McLain;  Private  Henry  H.  Riley. 
Wounded,  Wagoner  Theodore  Campbell,  (mortally) ;  Private  John  Cochran. 

Company  G— Killed,  Privates  William  Black,  Mortimer  Robert,  Clinton  T.  Hull,  Theodore  Pallit. 
Wounded,  Private  James  M.  Alvey. 

Company  H— Kitted,  Privates  Henry  C.  Ady,  William  E.  Mikesell,  Finley  H.  Newell.  Wounded, 
Private  Warren  W.  Evans. 

Company  I— Killed,  Sergeant  George  E.  Daniels;  Privates  John  Hester,  Madison  Reyburn. 
Wounded,  Privates  Nelson  Geller,  John  Leesh,  Thomas  McKeaugh,  Joshua  B.  Sullivan. 

Company  K— Kitted,  Private  Lafayette  Bogart.    Missing,  Private  William  Mitchel. 


ELEVENTH     INFANTRY.  217 

of  which  post  Colonel  Crocker  took  command,  and  whence  his  brigade  made 
several  expeditions  and  reconnoissances  of  less  or  more  importance.  A 
battle  took  place  near  Bolivar,  while  Colonel  Crocker  was  in  command,  in 
which  the  rebel  General  Armstrong  was  defeated  and  driven  off,  the  troops 
on  either  side  being  principally  cavalry.  The  next  movement  by  the 
Eleventh  was  a  march  on  luka,  which  commenced  near  the  middle  of 
September.  It  joined  the  column  under  Ord,  and  did  not  participate  in 
the  battle  of  luka,  fought  on  the  19th,  by  General  Rosecrans  alone  on  the 
Union  side.  The  Sixteenth  regiment,  for  a  short  time  detached  from  the 
brigade,  took  a  brilliant  part  in  that  sharp  engagement,  soon  after  which 
the  whole  brigade  marched  to  Corinth,  reaching  there  in  ample  time  to 
participate  in  the  great  battle  of  the  3d  and  4th  of  October,  when  the  rebel 
Generals  Van  Dorn  and  Price  with  an  overwhelming  army  attempted  to 
capture  the  place,  and  were  terribly  defeated  and  routed  instead.  The 
losses  of  the  regiment  in  this  engagement  principally  occurred  on  the  first 
day  of  the  battle,  and  were  not  severe.2 

The  regiment  took  part  in  the  Mississippi  Central  Railroad  Campaign, 
under  General  Grant,  and,  returning  on  the  abandonment  of  the  enterprise, 
spent  Christmas  day  at  Holly  Springs.  Thence  marched  to  Lafayette. 
Tennessee,  about  thirty  miles  east  of  Memphis  where  a  halt  of  some  days 
was  made.  Then  marching  again,  the  regiment  pitched  tents  in  Memphis 
on  January  13th,  1863,  where  officers  and  men  were  paid,  and  where,  in 
consequence,  as  some  one  wrote  to  the  papers,  they  were  as  happy  as  celes 
tial  beings  for  a  week,  which,  the  same  writer  is  careful  to  observe,  is  the 
normal  condition  of  all  troops  after  the  paymaster  has  been  around. 

Having  had  a  week  of  "flush  times  in  Tennessee,"  the  regiment  moved 
in  conjunction  with  a  considerable  army  to  Young's  Point,  Louisiana. 
There  was  not  much  of  a  stay  made  there,  however,  for  the  8th  of  Feb 
ruary  found  the  Iowa  Brigade  encamped  on  the  banks  of  Lake  Providence, 
on  the  fine  estate  of  the  confederate  senator  Sparrow,  where  the  troops  en 
joyed  themselves  right  heartily,  boating,  fishing,  and  hunting.  Those 
halcyon  days  were  also  days  of  canal-digging  and  other  improvements  in  the 
navigation  of  terra-firma.  The  Eleventh  did  its  part  in  digging  the  canal 
connecting  the  Mississippi  with  Lake  Providence,  through  which  the  little 
steam-tug,  called  in  honor  of  General  Grant's  Assistant  Adjutant-General, 
the  ' '  John  A.  Rawlins, ' '  floated  to  the  Lake.  Rawlins  was  a  man  who. 
on  the  field,  would  go  where  none  would  follow,  and  so  it  was  with  his 
namesake,  for  no  other  vessel  ever  undertook  to  follow  her.  No  one  who 

*They  were  as  follows:  Kitted,  Private  Andrew  Moor.  Missing,  Privates  James  II.  Downing. 
John  T.  Wires,  David  Hobaugh,  James  Martin,  George  W.Swift.  Wounded,  Privates  William  Harp, 
George  W.  Miller,  James  Teter,  F.  M.  Beauchamp,  William  E.  Winter.  Prisoners,  Sergeant  Samuel 
L.  Mack ;  Private  Jonas  Sterneman. 

28 


218  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

heard  or  saw  it  can  ever  forget  the  "rush  of  mighty  waters,"  when  the 
levee  of  the  river  was  cut  through  and  the  boiling  current  dashed  down  a 
descent  of  fifteen  feet  to  the  lake,  and  in  such  prodigious  power  and  volume 
as  soon  submerged  no  contemptible  part  of  Louisiana. 

The  army  now  girded  up  its  loins  and  departed  on  the  most  momentous 
enterprise  in  which  it  had  yet  been  engaged,  the  campaign  of  Vicksburg. 
Throughout  this  eventful  era,  the  Iowa  Brigade  performed  service  of  a 
peculiarly  laborious  nature,  but  it  was  not  called  upon  to  take  part  in  the 
march,  crowded  with  battles,  by  Port  Gibson,  Raymond,  Jackson,  Cham 
pion  Hills,  and  the  Big  Black  River.  In  all  the  labors,  marches,  dangers 
through  which  the  brigade  passed,  the  Eleventh  had  its  just  share.  Gen 
eral  Crocker  during  this  campaign  was  in  command  of  a  division,  highly 
distinguished  among  the  fighting  divisions  of  that  fighting  army — a  division 
which  rushed  through  storm,  and  fire,  and  iron  hail  to  the  capture  of  Jack 
son,  and  by  a  splendid  burst  of  heroic  fighting,  wrenched  victory  out  of 
defeat  at  Champion  Hills — and  as  Colonel  Reed,  Fifteenth  Iowa,  had  also 
become  a  general  officer,  Colonel  Chambers,  Sixteenth  Iowa,  was  in  com 
mand  of  the  brigade.  In  the  turn  of  military  events,  it  afterwards  fell  to 
the  lot  of  Colonel  Hall,  of  the  Eleventh,  to  command  the  brigade,  where 
upon  Lieutenant-Colonel  Abercrombie  took  command  of  the  regiment  with 
which  we  are  now  more  immediately  concerned.  And  I  may  as  well  say 
here  as  elsewhere  that  this  arrangement  continued  till  the  retirement  of 
those  officers  from  the  service,  the  one  in  July,  and  the  other  in  October, 
1864. 

When  the  campaign  of  Vicksburg  and  that  of  Jackson  which  followed 
had  closed,  the  victorious  armies  deserved  and  received  rest  from  their 
labors.  The  white  tents  of  their  encampments  might  have  been  seen  for 
miles  along  the  banks  of  the  Big  Black,  and  its  little  tributaries  from  the 
west,  stretching  to  Vicksburg,  and  embracing  in  their  extent  a  large  por 
tion  of  Mississippi  roundabout  the  stronghold,  now  securely  ours,  which 
had  been  the  scene  of  so  much  suffering  and  so  much  gladness — the  scene 
where  went  out  into  the  darkness  of  the  narrow  house  the  light  and  joy  of 
households  all  over  the  land,  shrouding  them  with  a  gloom  which  could 
have  been  rent  asunder  only  by  the  dazzling  victory  which  brightened  and 
gladdened  the  continent.  Many  hours  were  spent  by  the  thousands  en 
camped  on  the  scene  made  so  memorable  by  themselves,  in  recounting  to 
each  other  the  events  of  the  campaign.  It  was  scarcely  less  interesting  for 
these  battle-scarred  soldiers  to  talk  over  their  wars,  than  it  had  been  to 
fight  them  over,  and  it  was  certainly  a  melancholy  pleasure,  never  omitted, 
to  remember  with  fraternal  kindness  and  eulogium  their  comrades  who 
helped  to  gain  the  victory,  but  were  sleeping  their  last  sleep  on  the  hills 


ELEVENTH     INFANTRY.  219 

and  in  the  valleys  where  the  living  were  still  encamped.     Thus  the  hot 
months  of  summer,  and  the  autumn  passed  away. 

There  was  one  expedition,  however,  that  took  place  during  the  heated 
term,  in  which  the  Eleventh  Regiment  took  part,  which  I  must  not  omit. 
I  mean  the  expedition  to  Monroe,  Louisiana,  sometimes  called  the  Washita 
Expedition,  but  by  the  troops  engaged  therein  more  generally,  "The 
Louisiana  Expedition. ' ' 

After  the  campaign  of  Jackson,  when  all  armed  forces  of  the  enemy  had* 
been  either  captured  or  driven  far  beyond  the  Pearl  River,  the  grand  army 
which  had  achieved  the  great  victories,  was,  as  we  have  seen,  most  justly 
granted  rest.  Many  officers,  general,  field,  and  line,  were  granted  leaves  of 
absence,  and  one-fifth  of  the  rank  and  file  received  furloughs.  Whilst  the 
army  was  thus  depleted,  Brigadier-General  John  D.  Stevenson,  temporarily 
commanding  Logan's  Division  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  took  it  into  his  head 
to  get  up  an  expedition  into  Louisiana,  a  considerable  distance  west  of 
Vicksburg — a  region  which  had  not  yet  been  overrun  by  any  considerable 
force  of  either  army,  which  was  reported  to  abound  in  cotton  and  supplies, 
and  to  contain  a  population  which  might  easily  be  induced  to  throw  off 
their  allegiance  to  the  confederacy  and  return  to  faithful  duty  in  the  Union. 
Representations  of  this  nature  being  made  to  General  Grant,  he  ordered 
the  expedition  with  such  instructions  as  were  proper  under  the  supposed 
state  of  facts. 

Accordingly,  General  Stevenson  organized  his  expeditionary  force,  con 
sisting  of  the  Third  Division,  Seventeenth  Corps,  Brigadier-General  M. 
D.  Leggett,  the  Iowa  Brigade,  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  Colonel  Cham 
bers,  two  or  three  battalions  of  cavalry,  Captain  Edward  Osband,  Second 
Illinois  Cavalry,  and  some  other  troops,  the  infantry  numbering,  perhaps, 
four  thousand  five  hundred,  and  embarking  on  steamers  moved  to  Good- 
rich's  Landing,  whence  the  march  into  Louisiana  was  commenced  about  the 
middle  of  August.  The  troops  moved  in  light  marching  order,  with  little 
transportation,  taking  a  sufficient  quantity  of  small  rations — sugar,  salt, 
coffee,  and  hard  bread — for  twenty  days ;  depending  upon  the  country  for 
meat  and  other  substantial  edibles. 

Thus  prepared,  the  devoted  troops  of  this  little  army  commenced  an  ex 
pedition  which,  for  suffering,  intense  heat,  thirst,  unprecedented,  unac 
countable,  and  unnecessary  forced  marches,  was  without  a  parallel  in  the 
history  of  "Logan's  Veteran  Division"  or  the  Iowa  Brigade,  which  before 
and  afterwards  made  a  high  reputation  not  only  in  fighting,  but  in  what  is 
regarded  by  the  tried  soldier  as  a  far  more  serious  matter — marching.  Con 
sider,  that  the  rout  taken  was  nearly  due  west  from  Goodrich' s  Landing  ; 
that  the  country  was  low  and  marshy  at  best,  densely  covered  with  heavy 
timber  and  a  rank  undergrowth  of  precocious  and  fruitful  saplings ;  that 


220  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

the  levees  of  the  Mississippi  at  Lake  Providence  and  elsewhere  above  had 
been  previously  cut,  whereby  all  this  section  of  country  through  which 
Stevenson  moved  had  been  submerged,  the  high  water  mark  being  plainly 
visible  to  the  troops  as  they  marched  through  the  bottoms,  in  many  places 
twenty  or  thirty  feet  above  their  heads ;  that  when  the  waters  subsided  they 
had  left  a  rich  alluvial  from  which  had  sprung  a  dense,  gigantic  growth  of 
vegetation,  coming  up  to  the  very  road-side  and  shutting  out  all  breath  of 
air  as  effectually  as  walls  of  stone  ;  that  slimy,  oozy  bayous  crossed  the  line 
of  march  every  few  miles  over  which  bridges  had  to  be  repaired  or  pontoons 
laid ;  that  from  these  bayous  alone  could  water  now  be  had,  and  when  had 
it  was  nearly  hot  enough  to  blister  the  tongue,  and  filled  with  animated 
nature  of  the  most  repulsive  kind ;  that  when  the  march  commenced  in  the 
morning  the  hot  rays  of  the  sun  fell  upon  the  backs  of  the  men  with  a 
most  enervating  influence,  pursued  them  all  day  as  with  flames  of  vengeance, 
leaving  hundreds  every  day  prostrate  on  the  road  completely  overpowered, 
and  other  hundreds  with  hands  and  faces  covered  with  blisters,  like  the 
paint  of  ships  in  the  torrid  zone  ;  that,  notwithstanding  bridges  were  built, 
pontoons  laid,  and  the  enemy  in  considerable  force  harassing  the  advance, 
the  column  marched  from  fifteen  to  twenty  miles  a  day — consider  all  these 
things,  and  it  will  readily  be  seen  how  terrible  was  this  march.  Upon  the 
evening  of  the  first  day,  when  the  Fifteenth  Iowa  halted  at  Bayou  Macon, 
fifteen  miles  from  the  Mississippi,  and  stacked  arms  to  go  into  bivouac, 
there  were  less  than  an  hundred  muskets  in  line,  out  of  an  aggregate  of 
two  hundred  and  eighty-nine.  The  others  had  fallen  out  from  sheer  ex 
haustion  and  want  of  water.  So  it  was  with  the  other  regiments  of  the 
whole  command,  and  as  was  the  first  day  so  were  all  the  others  of  this 
rapid  advance.  But  for  the  wagons  and  ambulances,  crowded  with  worn- 
out  men,  more  than  half  the  troops  must  have  been  left  on  the  way. 

The  army  several  nights  bivouacked  on  the  east  bank  of  a  bayou,  with 
the  enemy  immediately  opposite  on  the  west  side.  Once  or  twice  when 
such  was  the  fact,  the  troops  were  addressed  by  General  Stevenson,  as 
they  filed  by  to  go  into  bivouac,  with  very  encouraging  words,  to  the  effect 
that  the  enemy  had  at  last  been  brought  to  bay,  and  a  fine  fight  would 
take  place  in  the  morning.  But  in  every  instance  the  enemy  showed  his 
heels.  At  Point  Jefferson,  a  hamlet  about  half  way  between  the  Missis 
sippi  and  Monroe,  the  Union  column  came  so  close  upon  the  rebels  that 
they  were  compelled  to  abandon  their  sick  and  wounded,  who,  numbering 
one  hundred  and  sixty,  with  hospitals,  and  considerable  property,  fell  in*  * 
our  hands.  The  enemy  was  pursued  to  Monroe,  where  he  made  a  slight 
resistance,  and  retired  across  the  Washita  River,  destroying  the  pontoons 
behind  him,  into  the  wild  regions  between  this  point  and  Shreveport. 

General  Leggett  was  made  Provost  Marshal  of  the  town,  which  proved 


ELEVENTH     INFANTRY.  221 

to  be  a  small  but  prosperous  place,  containing  large  quantities  of  cotton. 
The  stories  of  Union  sentiment  in  the  country  turned  out  to  be  unmixed 
fictions,  concocted,  as  the  troops  believed,  in  the  fertile  brain  of  the  general 
commanding  for  the  purpose  of  getting  up  this  expedition,  in  the  absence 
of  his  division  commander,  in  a  direction  where  it  was  supposed  there 
would  be  about  enough  fighting  for  promotion  but  without  reaching  the 
degree  of  particular  unhealthfulness. 

The  army  remained  at  Monroe  two  days.  The  region  roundabout  was  a 
rich  agricultural  country,  abounding  in  corn  and  with  apparently  an  unlim 
ited  number  of  cattle  and  swine  running  at  large  in  the  forests.  There 
would  have  been  no  difficulty  on  the  score  of  subsistence  in  maintaining 
a  large  army  marching  thence  to  Shreveport.  A  glance  at  the  map, 
with  the  light  of  General  Sherman's  after  experience  in  making  an  army 
self-sustaining  in  an  enemy's  country,  might  fully  demonstrate  that  the 
route  by  Monroe  was  the  proper  one  to  Shreveport,  instead  of  the  long, 
hazardous  line  by  the  Red  River  afterwards  adopted  by  General  Banks 
with  such  disastrous  results,  with  the  reason  still  remaining  a  mystery 
except  upon  the  ungenerous  theory  of  opening  the  route  taken  to  enable 
the  government  and  Admiral  Porter  to  realize  from  the  immense  quantities 
of  cotton  which  were  ready  to  fall  as  prizes  into  our  hands  all  along  the 
Red  River  Seas.  Whilst  the  country  about  Monroe  was  quite  densely 
inhabited  there  was  but  a  sparse  population  along  the  greater  portion  of  the 
line  of  march.  There  were,  however,  many  large  plantations,  with  great 
sheds  filled  with  countless  bales  of  cotton,  marked  "C.  S.  A."  not  one 
of  which  was  destroyed  on  account  of  orders  to  that  effect  from  General 
Stevenson. 

The  countermarch  was  not  so  rapid  as  the  advance,  but  was  well  nigh  as 
exhaustive  and  disagreeable.  The  only  visible  affirmative  results  of  the 
expedition  were  a  large  quantity  of  forage  and  an  immense  drove  of  cattle, 
taken  at  Monroe.  The  column  reached  Vicksburg  on  its  return  on  the 
3d  of  September,  whereupon  General  Stevenson  forthwith  issued  a  con 
gratulatory  order,  containing  more  glowing  heroics  than  any  ever  issued  by 
Grant,  or  Sherman,  or  Sheridan,  or  Thomas,  or  all  of  them  together.  The 
troops  did  not  see  it  in  the  same  Fight,  Half  of  them  were  completely 
worn  out.  From  the  effects  of  this  march,  hundreds  of  the  men  became 
sick,  many  died,  and  it  was  long  before  those  who  survived  it  recovered 
vigorous  health  and  spirits ;  and  to  this  day  it  is  referred  to  by  all  who 
took  part  in  it  as  the  expedition  of  the  war  illustrating  the  maximum 
amount  of  physical  suffering  and  endurance  that  an  army  is  capable  of 
undergoing.  As  for  General  Stevenson,  he  was  soon  relieved  and  sent  into 
another  department,  for  failing,  as  was  freely  circulated  in  the  army,  to 


222  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

destroy  the  enemy's  cotton,  and  for  marching  his  command  nearly  to  death 
without  any  necessity. 

I  do  not  just  now  recollect  whether  any  Iowa  troops  except  the  Iowa 
Brigade  took  part  in  this  miserable  campaign.  The  Eleventh  was  com 
manded  by  Major  Foster,  the  Thirteenth  by  Major  Walker,  the  Fifteenth 
by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hedrick,  and  the  Sixteenth  by  Captain  J.  H.  Smith, 
Colonels  Shane,  Belknap  and  Saunders  being  home  on  their  first  leave  of 
absence  since  entering  the  service,  and  Colonel  Hall  sick  in  camp.  Of 
course  every  regiment  of  the  brigade  suffered  terribly,  and  the  expedition 
cannot  be  named  to  this  day,  to  a  man  of  the  old  command,  without 
causing  a  feeling  of  indignation  and  sorrow — indignation  toward  the  com 
manding  general,  and  sorrow  for  the  brave  men  who  sacrificed  their  lives 
and  health  to  his  unhallowed  ambition  and  stupendous  folly. 

Our  regiment,  with  the  others  of  the  command,  now  resumed  that  rest 
which  had  been  broken  by  the  Louisiana  Expedition,  and  remained  quietly 
in  camp  during  the  rest  of  the  year,  and  until  early  in  February,  1864, 
when  it  joined  the  army  under  Sherman  which  made  the  famous  Meridian 
raid.  This  occupied  one  month. 

Before  General  Sherman  moved  on  this  expedition,  the  members  of  the 
regiment  had  nearly  all  reenlisted  for  the  further  term  of  three  years  or 
during  the  war.  Shortly  after  the  raid  they  were  duly  declared  a  Veteran 
Regiment,  mustered  in  as  such,  and  granted  the  usual  furlough  to  visit 
home.  The  enthusiastic  welcome  they  received  in  Iowa,  after  more  than 
two  years'  difficult,  dangerous  service,  can  never  be  forgotten  either  by 
themselves  or  by  those  who  extended  it.  Having  had  a  fine  visit  among 
their  welcoming  friends,  and  having  increased  their  ranks  by  many  recruits, 
the  officers  and  men  came  in  due  time  to  the  rendezvous  at  Davenport, 
whence  the  regiment  soon  moved  to  the  theatre  of  war. 

It  went  to  a  new  field  of  adventure  and  glory.  After  a  long  journey  by 
rail  and  river,  and  a  long  march  through  Tennessee  and  Alabama,  the 
veterans  of  the  Eleventh  found  themselves  grasping  the  generous  hands  of 
the  soldiers  of  the  Armies  of  the  Cumberland  and  the  Ohio  in  the  moun 
tains  of  Georgia,  with  whom  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  was  henceforth 
fully  to  cooperate  in  the  bravest  campaign  of  history.  The  Iowa  Brigade 
joined  the  main  body  of  Sherman's  army  at  Ackworth,  on  the  8th  of  June, 
after  the  grand  army  had  marched,  and  "flanked,"  and  fought  its  way 
thither,  from  Ringgold,  near  the  northern  boundary  of  the  State. 

A  few  days  afterwards  our  regiment  had  its  first  fighting  under  the 
frowning  heights  of  Kenesaw  Mountain,  where  the  enemy  was  posted  so 
strongly  as  to  blockade  the  march  for  nearly  a  month,  the  whole  of  which 
period  was  occupied  with  skirmishes,  in  which  all  the  troops  were  less  or 
more  engaged  at  times.  Our  army  was  posted  within  range  of  the  enemy's 


ELEVENTH     INFANTRY. 


223 


NICKAJACK  CREEK. 


224  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

sharp-shooters,  and  many  on  our  main  lines  fell  victims  to  their  accurate 
firing,  whilst  the  pickets  were  in  constant  danger.  Hence,  though  the 
Eleventh  was  not  called  upon  to  take  part  in  the  assault  of  the  27th,  it  lost 
more  than  a  score  of  men  in  killed  and  wounded  in  front  of  Kenesaw. 

Johnston  abandoned  Kenesaw  on  the  night  of  July  2d,  and  withdrew  to 
Marietta,  there  taking  position  again  behind  heavy  fortifications,  too  strong 
to  have  been  carried  by  assault.  The  movement  of  the  Twenty-third  Corps 
on  the  left,  however,  and  of  McPherson's  army  to  the  right,  gave  Sherman 
possession  of  the  works  without  bloodshed.  Johnston  retired  to  the  cover 
of  the  Chattahoochee  River,  and  soon  afterwards  threw  the  main  body  of 
his  army  across  that  stream,  but  leaving  Hardee's  strong  corps  on  the  north 
side  to  dispute  our  advance.  Hardee  occupied  a  strong  intrenched  position 
in  a  bend  of  the  river  called  the  Peninsula,  his  right  flank  covered  by  the 
river  itself,  his  left  and  left  centre  by  the  unfordable  Nickajack  Creek, 
which  flowed  perpendicular  to  his  centre,  and  then  turning  south  covered 
his  left  wing,  some  three  or  four  miles,  to  the  river.  The  occupation  of 
this  formidable  position  by  Hardee  held  the  Union  army  in  check  for  a 
week,  and  enabled  Johnston  to  withdraw  his  materiel.  It  was  abandoned 
on  the  10th,  in  consequence  of  one  of  General  Sherman's  flanking  move 
ments.  But  meantime,  there  was  a  strong  force  in  front  of  Hardee,  which 
was  engaged  in  frequent  fighting  from  the  4th  to  the  10th  of  the  month, 
both  inclusive,  in  which  the  Eleventh,  and  the  other  regiments  of  the 
brigade  had  their  share,  all  losing  many  good  and  brave  men  as  at  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  without  having  any  combat  which  attained  the  proportions  of  a 
general  engagement.  The  last  of  their  combats  was  near  Sandtown,  some 
miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Nickajack,  and  on  the  extreme  right  of  the 
Union  lines.  The  sublime  skill  in  logistics  of  Sherman  next  threw  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee  to  the  extreme  left  of  his  lines  where  it  crossed  the 
Chattahoochee  on  the  16th,  and  moved  on  Atlanta. 

It  would  involve  needless  repetition  were  I  to  narrate  in  this  place  the 
complete  history  of  the  Eleventh  regiment  throughout  the  remainder  of 
this  campaign,  of  which  it  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  as  characterizing  the 
whole  of  it,  that  every  hour  saw  a  skirmish,  and  every  day  a  battle. 
Engaged  in  the  bloodiest  encounters  that  distinguished  the  campaign,  the 
veteran  Eleventh  everywhere  acquitted  itself  with  honor,  and  sealed  its 
devotion  to  the  cause  for  which  it  fought  with  the  lives  and  blood  of  many 
as  gallant  men  as  ever  shouldered  a  musket  or  drew  a  sword.  The  losses 
in  the  regiment  during  the  campaign — at  Kenesaw,  Nickajack  Creek,  in 
the  combats  and  battles  before  Atlanta,  on  the  20th,  21st,  and  22d  days  of 
July,  in  the  siege,  and  during  the  flanking  movement,  accompanied  by 
fighting,  by  Jonesboro  and  Lovejoy — from  the  15th  of  June  to  the  5th  of 
September,  when  the  great  prize  fell  into  our  possession,  numbered  two 


ELEVENTH     INFANTRY.  225 

hundred  and  eighteen  in  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners,  being  half  of  the 
available  strength  of  the  regiment.3 

8 1  am  indebted  to  Reverend  Ensign  II.  King,  Chaplain  of  the  Fifteenth  Iowa  Volunteers,  for  the 
following  list  of  casnalties.  He  most  kindly  copied  the  reports  of  the  Eleventh  regiment,  not  only, 
but  of  all  the  regiments  in  the  Iowa  Brigade,  during  this  campaign,  and  sent  them  to  me,  thereby 
doing  a  service  which  merits  and  receives  my  warmest  gratitude.  It  is  proper  to  bear  in  mind, 
however,  that  the  reports  are  made  up  from  day  to  day,  and  are  necessarily  somewhat  inaccurate. 
That  is  to  say,  they  seem  now  to  be  inaccurate,  because,  alas !  some  reported  wounded  were  in  fac* 
killed,  or  died  on  the  field.  I  wish  the  list  could  by  correction  be  made  to  bear  less  fatality,  but  it  4 
cannot : 

LIST   OF    CASUALTIES  IN    ELEVENTH    IOWA  VOLUNTEERS,    DURING    ATLANTA    CAMPAIGN. — IN    FRONT  OF 

KENESAW  MOUNTAIN,  June,  15th  to  July  1st.— Killed,  Sergeant  William  Shallaberger  ;  Private  William 
J.  Alexander.  Wounded,  Captain  Joseph  Neal,  Lieutenant  Alfred  Carey ;  Corporal  Samuel  Edwards ; 
Privates  John  Albin,  Leroy  Douglas,  John  Ford,  George  G.  Main,  Thomas  McConnell,  John  Zeither, 
William  Taylor,  A.  Entsler,  Justin  C.  Stawker,  John  Esher,  Joseph  Hockett,  William  Talbott,  Thomas 
Ufford,  Simon  Willhelm,  William  H.  Meyer. 

NICKAJACK  CREEK. — Killed,  Privates  William  Hawley,  William  Cross,  Henry  C.  Neeley.  Wounded, 
Lieutenant  M.  Lemon ;  Sergeant  Theophilus  McKinney ;  Corporals  Thomas  Suitor,  James 
Fitzgerald,  David  Wetmoyer;  Privates  George  Dickinson,  George  Shafer,  Joseph  Purvis,  Henry 
Kyiuk,  John  Hilton,  Perry  Sterrett,  John  Smith,  Perry  Van  Winkle. 

BEFORE  ATLANTA,  July  20th.— Killed,  Private  D.  L.  Hobaugh.  Wounded,  Privates  L.  J.  Dickinson, 
A.  S.  Campbell. 

BEFORE  ATLANTA,  July  21st.— Killed,  Sergeant  Joseph  Moore ;  Private  A.  J.  Hudson.  Wounded, 
Lieutenant  William  J.  Wylie ;  Corporals  C.  Reynolds,  Miller  Tollman ;  Privates  A.  S.  Drinean,  Mason 
Stodard,  John  Williams,  David  Cummings,  A.  E.  Allen,  John  Sediker,  William  Harlett,  Samuel 
Newell.  Missing,  James  Grey. 

BEFORE  ATLANTA,  July  2'2d. — Killed,  Captain  Joseph  Neal,  Lieutenants  Stephen  H.  Caldwell,  John 

A.  Buck;  Sergeant  William  Heald;  Privates  William  H.  Meyers,  George  Easton,  Leslie  Gambell, 
Justus  L.  Stanbur,  Cicero  H.  Shepherd,  George  Sweet,  Francis  M.  Flory,  Madison  J.  Miller,  Zephaniah 
Beal,  John  Brown,  Socrates  T.  Safely,  John  Rutan.     Wounded,  Major  Charles  Foster,  Lieutenants 
Ira  P.  Foutz,  William  J.  Wylie ;  Sergeant-Major  John  G.  Safely ;  Sergeants  William  Bakey,  William 
S.  Middleton.  H.  J.  Coulter,  H.  Kesmer,  Joshua  Swain ;  Corporals  George  W.  Edwards,  Mifflins  Jen 
nings,  Peter  Duflfey,  D.  B.  Espy,  W.  D.  Ady ;  Privates  Henry  Benedict,  Thomas  Meeker,  William  Put 
nam,  John  D.  Richards,  William  Reid,  Dallas  Wamsley,  S.  N.  Conway,  Charles  W.  Hammond,  Aaron 
M.  Pierce,  E.  M.  Bowman,  W.  W.  Edmonson,  F.  M.  McCoy,  A.  P.  Todd,  G.  Wyncoop,  Persius  Ash- 
ford,  W.  J.  Tallbott,  James  S.  Clark,  Theodore  Fairer,  Albert  Wiker,  Henry  Newens,  William  C. 
Grill,  B.  M.   Connell,  J.   S.  Hood,  J.  C.  Purvis,  R.  D.  Nelson,  J.  L.  Williams,  Oscar  Connor,  George 
Hummel,  George  F.  Stuttz,  Charles  Hilboum,  Joseph  Geager,  John  W.  Beeler,  John  Mason,  John 
Gatton,  Benjamin  F.  Gard,  John  Gard,  Mathias  Kief,  Charles  Hadley,  John  T.  Cowan,  E.  D.  Andrews, 
James  M.  Conklin,  D.  L.  Foote,  Frank  Graver,  Marsena  Harriett,  Philip  Kriland,  William  Mitchell, 
Charles  Raridon,  Thomas  Strong,  John  P.  Welch.    Missing,  Captains  Benjamin  F.  Rose,  George  W. 
Barr,  Lieutenant  E.  F.  Cassell ;  Sergeants  Benjamin  V.  Kersey,  Joseph  B.  Hastings,  John  Gambell, 
John  M.  Grum,  George  McNeely,  William  E.Richard;  Corporals-  Charles  Bier,  William  H.  Nellis, 
Benjamin  F.  Bowers,  Caleb  Daily  ;  Privates  Charles  Entsler,  Joseph  Frestler,  William  Foley,  Gotlieb 
Maurer,  August  Mettage,  Turner  M.  Peck,  Archibald  Tyler,  Jordan  Albertson,  James  L.  Armstrong, 
Jeremiah  Bennett,  John  C.  Dinnell,  John  H.  Hobart,  Thomas  C.  Kersey,  James  S.  Martin,  Jesse  B. 
Myers,  Joseph  Richards,  William  B.  Street,  Samuel  Merill,  W.  J.  Washburn,  M.  B.  Bowler,  Aaron 
Pierce,  E.  W.  Carpenter,  J.  B.  Wallace,  Robert  Dunning,  Clinton  F.  Hull,  William  Hnmmell,  Jesse 

B.  Kindell,  George  M.  Gafferty,  Sheridan  Martin,  Henry  Poor,  Mathias  Paxton,  Joseph  L.  Courtney, 
Charles  A.  Smith,  H.  Hyink,  William  P.  Sparks,  S.  A.  Jackson,  Justin  E.  Coe,  Daniel  J.  Brookhart, 
Richard  Kirton,  William  Burge,  John  L.  Elder,  William  F.  Fisher,  Alexander  Q.  Long,  Samuel 
Shafer,  Madison  Staver. 

July  28th,  to  September  5th.— Killed,  Sergeant  Samuel  Campbell ;  Privates  John  Rutan,  John 
Mathews.  Wounded,  Sergeant  Henry  Kesner ;  Corporals  David  Huff,  Daniel  J.  Paroin ;  Privates 
James  Richardson,  William  Welch,  Charles  Wilson,  James  M.  Flack,  Henry  Hazzleton,  Joseph  W. 
Shoemaker.  Gabriel  Bowman,  George  Benedict,  William  Abbott,  Joseph  T.  Daily,  Robert  Henderson, 
T.  M.  McCoy,  W.  H.  Stormfeldt,  George  Clinton,  Joseph  T.  Daily,  Jabez  Hitchcock,  A.  J.  Manley, 
John  Hilton,  Van.  V.  Reeves,  Joseph  T.  Scroggs,  Stephen  T.  Leighton,  Asa  Bronson. 
29' 


226  IOWA    AND     THE     KEBELLION. 

In  the  bloody  battle  of  the  22d,  the  regiment  lost  very  heavily.  Major 
Charles  Foster  was  severely  wounded,  though  it  was  not  supposed  at  the 
time  to  be  a  fatal  hurt.  He  was  carried  from  the  field,  and,  being  a  man 
of  an  enthusiastic,  hopeful  nature,  he  spoke  of  his  wound  as  a  trifling 
matter  which  would  only  result  in  a  short  sick  leave.  So  thinking  he  pro 
cured  the  leave  and  started  home  very  soon  after  the  battle,  and  on  the 
journey  from  Atlanta  to  Louisville  rather  laughed  at  his  wound  than 
treated  it  seriously.  From  Louisville  he  went  to  Cincinnati  by  steamer. 
The  Louisville  Journal  of  the  23d  August  tells  the  rest  of  the  sad  story 
thus : — 

"We  have  received  the  sad  intelligence  that  Major  Charles  Foster  of  the 
Eleventh  Iowa  Kegiment  of  Volunteer  Infantry,  died  of  congestive  chills 
at  Cincinnati,  on  the  21st  instant.  This  intelligence  is  as  unexpected  as  it 
is  painful.  Major  Foster  left  this  city  last  week  for  his  home  in  Iowa;  and 
though  suffering  from  a  wound  received  in  the  battle  near  Atlanta,  was  in 
good  health  and  high  spirits.  He,  indeed,  reached  Cincinnati  in  this  con 
dition,  as  we  learn  from  a  gentleman  who  attended  him  in  his  last  moments, 
feeling  so  well  after  his  arrival  that  his  wife,  who  accompanied  him,  wrote 
home  that  they  would  renew  their  journey  on  the  following  day,  which  was 
Saturday  last.  But  shortly  after  he  was  taken  with  congestive  chills,  and, 
when  our  correspondent  saw  him  at  eleven  o'clock  on  Sunday,  he  was 
unconscious  and  unable  to  articulate  anything  intelligibly.  He  died  a  few 
hours  later.  His  country  loses  in  him  one  of  her  most  devoted  and 
gallant  defenders.  Major  Foster  was  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  a 
graduate  of  Dartmouth  College,  and,  when  he  entered  the  army,  a  member 
of  the  bar  of  Iowa.  He  has  fallen  almost  on  the  threshold  of  a  brilliant 
career.  Peace  to  his  ashes !" 

Major  Foster's  remains  were  borne  to  Davenport,  and  were  there  attended 
to  the  grave  by  a  large  concourse  of  citizens,  the  bar  of  the  city  joining 
the  procession  in  a  body.  The  brave  and  modest  Captain  Neal,  of  Com 
pany  C,  was  killed  on  the  field  where  Major  Foster  was  wounded,  and  near 
him  fell  Lieutenant  Caldwell,  whilst  Captain  Barr,  and  Lieutenants  Foutz 
and  Wylie  were  severely  wounded. 

When  the  Atlanta  campaign  had  been  brought  to  its  successful  termina 
tion,  our  regiment  had  about  a  month  of  quiet  and  of  comparative  ease, 
in  camp  not  far  from  the  city.  It  then  joined  in  the  chase  of  Hood,  fol 
lowing  him  into  northeastern  Alabama,  where  Sherman  turned  him  over 
to  the  eventual  tender  mercies  of  Thomas.  By  the  middle  of  November 
it  was  back  to  Atlanta  and  ready  for  the  march  on  Savannah,  which  excur 
sion  of  pleasure  was  made  without  loss  or  accident  of  any  sort  to  the  com 
mand. 

In  the  commercial  metropolis  of  Georgia  the  regiment  devoted  nearly 


ELEVENTH     INFANTRY.  227 

three  weeks  to  rest  and  pleasure.  The  ladies  of  that  city  are  distinguished 
for  their  beauty ;  the  theatre  was  in  full  blast  nightly  till  the  gas  went  out 
at  eleven  o'clock,  and  what  with  gallantry  and  patronage  of  the  histrionic 
art,  both  of  which  were  permitted  ad  libitum  by  General  Sherman,  who 
had  the  most  implicit  confidence  in  the  discipline  of  his  army,  the  officers 
and  men  of  the  Eleventh  had  no  lack  of  enjoyment.  It  was  during  this 
happy  period  that  a  correspondent  of  the  Muscatine  Journal  wrote  a  resumt 
of  the  regiment's  history  from  which  I  have  already  had  occasion  to  quote^  _' 
He  concludes  his  narrative  with  the  following  rather  humorous  "persona 
lities,"  in  which  I  wish  writers  from  other  regiments  had  indulged  more 
frequently  and,  perhaps,  more  seriously. 

"Lieutenant-Colonel  Benjamin  Beach,  the  present  commander,  is  as  true 
a  Blue  as  there  is  in  the  whole  army.  Major  John  C.  Marven  is  too  good, 
generous,  brave  and  noble  a  fellow  for  any  pen  to  give  a  true  portraiture  of. 
William  Watson,  the  first  surgeon,  had  a  great  deal  inside  his  head  and 
very  little  outside.  Cornelius  Cadle,  Jr. ,  the  first  adjutant,  now  lieutenant- 
colonel  and  assistant  adjutant-general  on  the  staff  of  Major-General  Blair, 
was  quite  the  handsomest,  almost  the  bravest,  and  entirely  the  wittiest 
officer  in  the  regiment.  He  was  severely  wounded  in  Louisiana  in  the 
spring  of  1863  while  leading  a  reconnoitering  party  into  the  village  of 
Richmond.  A  minie  ball  passed  through  his  cheek,  under  the  lobe  of  the 
ear.  Cadle,  however,  flapped  his  wings  and  ears,  and  crowed  defiance  to 
the  rebels  across  the  bayou.  His  uncle,  Richard  Cadle,  was  quartermaster 
of  the  regiment  for  a  long  time,  and  was  constantly  doing  the  clean  thing 
in  all  that  pertains  to  his  department.  He  always  wore  on  his  shoulder- 
straps,  as  an  elaborate  ornament,  the  letters  'Q.  D.,'  which  the  boys 
interpreted  to  mean  'Queer  Dick.'  When  Adjutant  Cadle  left  the 
regiment  he  was  succeeded  by  Lieutenant  Kinsman,  formerly  sergeant- 
major.  Kinsman  was  in  every  way  a  worthy  successor  of  Cadle,  and  has 
fairly  earned  by  his  gallantry  and  good  conduct  every  honor  which  the 
State  and  county  have  conferred  upon  him  and  many  which  they  have  not. 
He  is  now  assistant  adjutant-general  on  the  staff  of  the  gallant  General 
Belknap,  commanding  the  brigade.  The  first  chaplain  was  Reverend  Mr. 
Whittlesey,  a  Congregational  minister,  a  devoted  Christian  and  a  man  of 
much  gentlemanly  polish.  There  have  been  few  chaplains  who  filled  the 
bill  as  well  as  he  did.  He  overtasked  himself  in  his  attention  to  the 
wounded  during  and  after  the  battle  of  Shiloh.  There  has  been  no  pro 
vision  made  on  earth  for  the  promotion  of  chaplains,  but  Mr.  Whittlesey 
has  been  advanced  to  a  much  higher  position  than  that  he  held  in  our 
regiment — he  has  ascended  to  heaven.  His  labors  and  exposure  at  Shiloh 
caused  his  death  not  long  afterwards." 

From  Savannah  the  regiment  sailed  early  in  1865  for  Beaufort,  South 


228  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Carolina,  and  not  long  after  took  up  line  of  march  for  the  north.  The 
march  through  the  Carolinas  was  one  of  great  labor  and  difficulty,  fre 
quently  made  in  the  face  of  the  enemy,  but  there  were  only  three  casualties 
occurred  in  the  regiment  after  the  departure  from  Savannah,  Captain 
Morris  W.  Clark,  of  Company  C,  being  captured  near  Columbia,  South 
Carolina,  on  February  19th,  while  on  a  foraging  expedition,  and  privates 
Jasper  Rowen  and  John  Z.  Frederick  being  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Ben- 
tonville  on  the  21st  of  March.  Marching  thence  to  Goldsboro,  and  from 
there  after  a  short  halt  to  Raleigh,  the  regiment  was  present  at  the 
surrender  of  Johnston,  and  soon  afterwards  marched  to  the  national 
capital. 

Here  it  participated  in  the  last  grand  review  of  the  war,  and  went  into 
camp  on  the  evening  of  that  great  day  of  display  a  few  miles  from  the 
Capitol.  Major-General  Giles  A.  Smith,  who  had  commanded  the  division 
since  the  20th  of  July,  1864,  with  ever  increasing  popularity — being  a  man 
no  less  respected  for  his  military  abilities  than  beloved  for  his  amiable  and 
manly  personal  qualities — here  bade  farewell  to  his  old  command,  and  took 
his  departure  for  Texas.  General  Belknap  thereupon  assumed  command 
of  the  division,  and  that  of  "the  old  Iowa  Brigade"  fell  to  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Beach,  of  the  Eleventh,  as  the  ranking  officer  of  the  brigade 
present. 

From  Washington,  the  regiment  moved  by  rail  and  steamer  to  Louisville, 
Kentucky,  where  it  was  honorably  discharged  the  service  about  the  middle 
of  July,  and  thence  moving  to  Davenport  for  final  disbandment,  reached  that 
city  on  the  evening  of  July  19th.  George  E.  Hubbell,  Esq.,  delivered  an 
oration  on  the  occasion,  but  the  principal  occurrence  was  a  short  speech 
from  Colonel  William  Hall,  who  had  so  long  commanded  the  regiment  and 
the  brigade,  but  who  was  now  in  such  feeble  health  that  he  barely  had 
strength  to  say  only  a  few  words.  "  I  cannot  stand  long  enough  to  make  a 
speech,"  said  he ;  "I  can  only  say  to  the  citizens  of  Davenport  that  there 
have  not  been  better  or  braver  soldiers  from  any  portion  of  the  Union  sent 
to  the  field  than  you  have  been,  and  that  none  who  have  come  home  will 
be  better  or  more  faithful  citizens  than  you  will  be. "  In  a  day  or  two  after 
this  truthful  sentence  from  their  old  commander,  the  Eleventh  Iowa  Vo 
lunteers  were  no  more  save  in  the  gallant  deeds  they  had  performed,  the 
proud  history  they  had  made. 

A  large  portion  of  the  regiment  being  from  Muscatine  county,  these  were 
greeted  at  Muscatine  with  a  welcome  as  hearty  as  ever  cheered  the  souls  of 
men,  and  there  on  this  bright  occasion,  amid  the  joyful  ringing  of  bells, 
and  salutes  of  artillery,  they  bade  farewell  to  their  warfare  and  dispersed  to 
their  happy  homes. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

THIRTEENTH    INFANTRY. 

MARCELLUS  M.  CROCKER,  THE  FIRST  COLONEL  OF  THE  REGIMENT— RENDEZVOUS  AT 
DAVENPORT— ARMED  AT  ST.  LOUIS— WINTER  QUARTERS  AT  JEFFERSON  CITY- 
MOVE  TO  PITTSBURG  LANDING— DRILL— BATTLE  OF  SHILOH— SIEGE  OF  COR 
INTH—MOVEMENTS  IN  THE  FIELD— BATTLE  OF  CORINTH— CAMPAIGN  IN  MISSIS 
SIPPI—LAKE  PROVIDENCE— A  SMALL  CANAL  AND  A  GREAT  INUNDATION— OPE 
RATIONS  OF  THE  COMMAND  DURING  SIEGE  OF  VICKSBURG— "  CROCKER'S  GREY 
HOUNDS  "—WINTER  AT  VICKSBURG— THE  MERIDIAN  RAID— "  THIRTY  DAYS  IN 
IOWA"— AGAIN  AT  THE  FRONT— THE  ATLANTA  CAMPAIGN— KENESAW  MOUN 
TAIN— NICKAJACK  CREEK— BATTLE  OF  ATLANTA,  JULY  21st,  1864— THE 
BATTLE  THE  NEXT  DAY— LAST  FLANKING  MOVEMENT  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN— PUR 
SUIT  OF  HOOD— MARCH  TO  THE  SEA— TO  WASHINGTON  CITY— MUSTERED  OUT  AT 
LOUISVILLE— LAST  CAMP,  AT  DAVENPORT. 

THE  Thirteenth  Iowa  Volunteers,  even  had  it  not  been  formed  so  generally 
of  men  of  superior  physical  strength,  mental  cultivation,  and  moral  recti 
tude,  must  have  gained  a  prominent  position  among  the  regiments  of  our 
State  and  country,  for  the  reason  that  its  first  Colonel,  and  instructor  in 
the  art  of  war  and  the  duties  of  soldiers,  was  MARCELLUS  M.  CROCKER, 
who  was  endowed  by  nature  with  a  rare  military  genius,  whose  rapid  com 
prehension  and  wide  scope  would,  unless  my  personal  regard  greatly  mis 
leads  me,  have  won  for  him  a  place  in  history  next  to  that  of  McPherson, 
but  for  the  painful  disease  on  account  of  which  he  had  to  be  borne  from 
the  field  of  active  operations  in  the  midst  of  the  war,  and  which  carried 
him  to  an  untimely  grave  before  the  complete  restoration  of  peace.  He 
had  early  sought  a  military  education,  and  did  spend,  in  fact,  more  than 
two  years  at  the  West  Point  Academy,  where  he  stood  high  in  his  class. 
He  left  that  institution  and  devoted  his  energies  to  the  support  of  his  mo 
ther  and  sisters.  When  the  war  broke  out  he  was  a  prominent  lawyer  of 
our  State  Capital,  but  immediately  raised  a  company,  which  was  attached 
to  the  Second  regiment,  of  which  he  became  Major,  in  which  position  his 
military  abilities  at  once  became  evident,  as  they  did  much  to  make  that 

229 


230  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

organization  one  of  the  best  in  the  service.  He  was  fortunately  appreci 
ated,  and  by  none  more  than  by  Governor  Kirkwood,  who  determined  to 
promote  him  as  soon  as  practicable. 

He  was  accordingly  commissioned  Colonel  of  the  Thirteenth  Iowa  In 
fantry,  which  was  recruited  under  the  President's  proclamation  of  July 
23d,  1861,  and  ordered  to  rendezvous  at  Camp  McClellan,  near  Davenport, 
where  the  regiment  was  completely  organized,  and  the  last  company  mus 
tered  into  the  service  on  the  2d  day  of  November,  1861.  Captain  Chambers, 
the  mustering  officer,  having  rejected  a  small  number  of  the  men,  there 
were  embraced  on  the  rolls,  at  the  date  of  its  entering  the  service,  eight 
hundred  and  ninety-nine  names,  which  number,  however,  was  soon  in 
creased  by  additional  enlistments  to  nine  hundred  and  eighty-nine.  Besides 
the  commanding  officer  the  field  officers  were :  Milton  M.  Price,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel,  and  John  Shane,  Major.  The  staff  officers  were  at  once  appointed, 
and  consisted  of  "William  T.  Clark,  Adjutant,  Horatio  G.  Earner,  Quarter 
master,  Joseph  McKee,  Surgeon,  James  H.  Boucher,  Assistant,  and 
Reverend  John  Steele,  Chaplain.  To  continue  the  personnel  of  the  regi 
ment,  I  may  say  that  the  Captains  of  the  different  companies  when  the  or 
ganization  was  completed  were,  in  the  orders  of  the  companies :  John  Q. 
Wilds,  Thomas  H.  Miller,  James  Baker,  A.  C.  Price,  George  M.  Van 
Hosen,  N.  W.  Earner,  Wm.  A.  Walker,  Thomas  P.  Marshall,  John  Elrod, 
and  Sidney  E.  Woodford,  with  these  subalterns,  namely :  J.  C.  Kennedy, 
James  Wilson,  Simon  P.  P.  Young,  Joseph  B.  Homan,  Stephen  Purdy, 
John  Secrest,  Joseph  H.  Shutt,  Elliott  Schurtz,  H.  B.  Lynch,  and  V.  W. 
Ambrose,  first  lieutenants ;  Henry  H.  Rood,  E.  D.  Duncan,  Jacob  Swank, 
Justinian  Ray,  Paul  Renshorf,  Jas.  M.  Secrest,  Chas.  E.  Putnam,  George 
S.  Shaffer,  Chas.  P.  Young,  and  Samuel  D.  Cook,  second  lieutenants. 

Thus  completely  organized,  and  the  men  having  also  received  their 
clothing,  the  regiment  soon  moved  to  Benton  Barracks,  Missouri,  where  it 
remained  from  November  20th  to  the  llth  of  December.  Here  it  was 
armed  with  old  Harper's  Ferry  muskets,  altered  from  flint-lock  to  percus 
sion,  and  supplied  with  tents  and  equipage  for  actual  service.  At  the  date 
last  mentioned  it  was  ordered  to  report  to  General  Pope,  and  was  by  him 
assigned  to  duty  at  Jefferson  City,  the  capital  of  Missouri.  The  command 
there  remained  during  the  rest  of  the  winter.  The  period  was,  of  course, 
one  of  monotony  and  dulness,  but  it  was  improved  to  the  utmost  by  Colonel 
Crocker,  who  instituted  schools  of  instruction  for  the  officers  and  drills  for 
the  men.  During  the  whole  winter,  officers  and  privates  spent  several 
hours  each  day  in  learning  their  practical  duties,  each  and  every  one  labor 
ing  diligently  to  attain  that  proficiency  in  the  art  to  which  they  were  now 
devoted  which  should  enable  them  to  do  good  service  in  the  field. 

Having  received  or-ders  to  report  to  General  Grant,  Colonel  Crocker 


THIRTEENTH      INFANTRY.  231 

placed  his  regiment  aboard  care  at  Jefferson  City  on  the  8th  of  March, 
1862,  and  moved  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  embarked  for  Pittsburg  Landing, 
arriving  on  the  23d.  The  regiment  reported  to  General  McClernand,  com 
manding  First  Division,  and  with  the  Eleventh  Iowa,  and  Eighth  and 
Eighteenth  Illinois,  constituted  the  first  brigade  thereof,  Colonel  Richard 
Oglesby,  commanding.  The  drills  were  again  actively  resumed,  and  officers 
and  men,  under  the  personal  superintendence  of  Colonel  Crocker,  were 
' '  put  through  their  paces' '  from  five  to  six  hours  every  day.  In  the • 
vicinity  of  many  regiments  which  were  not  required  thus  to  drill,  and  not 
yet  understanding  the  great  good  there  was  in  these  exercises,  there  were 
many  objections  urged  thereanent.  Men  called  it  "the  infernal  drill,"  and 
concocted  all  kinds  of  excuses  to  get  out  of  it.  Some  were  not  used  to 
such  hard  work ;  some  were  too  fat  for  such  severe  exercise  on  warm  days ; 
others  attempted  to  play  ' '  old  soldier' '  when  drill  hour  came,  and  became 
sick  just  at  that  time  of  day.  All  which  had  no  visible  effect  upon  the 
obstinate  and  obdurate  colonel.  Effeminate  gentlemen  learned  to  work, 
fat  men  to  lard  the  lean  earth  as  they  walked  along,  without  fatal  conse 
quences,  whilst  those  who  had  attempted  the  old  soldier  strategy  had  the 
privilege  of  riding  a  wooden  horse  for  the  benefit  of  their  health.  It  is  not 
to  be  denied  that  curses  more  deep  than  loud  were  visited  upon  the  colonel's 
head  by  many  who  thought  him  unnecessarily  severe.  Nevertheless,  the 
drills  "  went  on  just  the  same."  After  the  terrible  days  of  Shiloh  those 
who  had  grumbled  the  most  were  devoutly  thankful  that  the  regiment  had 
such  a  commander. 

On  the  first  day  of  that  battle  the  regiment  fought  with  great  efficiency, 
and  was  under  fire  for  ten  consecutive  hours.  It  lost  heavily  in  killed  and 
wounded,  but  had  comparatively  few  missing.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Price  and 
Major  Shane  were  among  the  wounded,  whilst  the  losses  among  the  line 
officers  were  unusually  severe.  Almost  all  the  casualties  occurred  in  the 
first  day's  battle,  the  command  being  in  the  line  of  reserves  on  the  second 
day.1 

1  The  official  report  of  Colonel  Crocker  places  the  loss  of  the  regiment  at  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
two,  of  -whom  tweuty-four  were  killed,  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine  wounded,  and  nine  missing. 
The  following  list  is  taken  from  the  Adjutant-General's  Report : — 

Comjxiny  A — Killed,  Privates  Allen  8.  Brown,  George  W.  Doty,  Benjamin  McAferty,  Shedrick  A. 
Rundell.  Wounded,  Corporals  John  C.  Mason,  John  R.  McClaskey,  James  S.  Brooks,  Richard  W. 
Vansant;  Musician  John  Conaway ;  Privates  Isaac  Boyd,  Israel  C.  Bellington,  William  H.  Buchan, 
Joseph  M.  Harper,  Spear  P.  Harman,  William  Hinkley,  Jesse  S.  Hampton,  John  M.  Largeant, 
Charles  A.  Myers,  Stephen  G.  Smith,  Jacob  H.  Shaver,  Alonzo  B.  Smith,  Morgan  I.  Umstead,  Francis 
A.  Varner  (mortally),  James  E.  Neal. 

Company  B — Killed,  Lieutenant  Erasmus  D.  Duncan ;  Sergeant  Nathaniel  H.  Johnson ;  Privates 
William  H.  Byerly,  Alfred  P.  Easterday,  William  Hart,  George  McKeever.  Wounded,  Captain 
Thomas  H.  Miller;  Corporal  Henry  L.  Kissel;  Privates  William  H.  Armentrout,  Joseph  S.  Binkerd, 
Beriah  Battles,  James  W.  Dickenson,  Angus  French,  Sylvester  R.  Hughes,  William  H.  Kuapp,  Wil 
liam  Lagsdon,  John  V.  Monger,  Silas  Poling,  Clay  Rieman,  Charles  McKee  Wolf,  William  Wadkins, 
Weslpy  Young. 


232  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Upon  the  reorganization  of  the  army  a  few  days  after  the  battle,  the 
regiment  was  placed  in  the  Sixth  Division,  Brigadier-General  Thomas  J. 
McKean  commanding.  The  brigade  to  which  it  was  attached  was  known, 
officially,  as  the  third  of  that  division,  and  it  consisted  of  the  Eleventh, 
Thirteenth,  Fifteenth,  and  Sixteenth  Iowa  regiments,  Colonel  M.  M. 
Crocker  commanding.  It  very  soon  acquired  the  name  of  "the  Iowa 
Brigade,"  and  continued  to  be  known  as  such,  the  same  regiments  all  the 
while  remaining  in  the  same  brigade,  throughout  the  war.  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Price  resigned  about  a  week  after  the  battle  of  Shiloh.  Major 
Shane  was  promoted  in  his  stead,  and  Captain  George  M.  Yan  Hosen,  of 
Company  E,  was  promoted  to  the  Majority. 

In  the  siege  of  Corinth  under  Halleck,  which  dragged  its  slow  length 
along  till  the  last  of  May,  the  command  participated,  and  when  Beaure- 
gard  had  evacuated,  it  formed  part  of  the  garrison  of  the  place.  It  re 
mained  there  on  garrison  duty  nearly  two  months.  Near  the  end  of  July 
it  marched  with  other  forces  to  Bolivar,  Tennessee,  to  look  after  the 
enemy,  and  having  chased  him  from  one  point  to  another  pretty  much  all 
over  that  part  of  the  country  returned  to  Corinth  on  the  12th  of  September. 


Company  C— Killed,  Wagoner  Alkana  Malone ;  Privates  Charles  L.  Barley,  Jesse  Wells.  Wounded, 
Sergeants  Edward  Essex,  James  M.  Vincent,  Wesley  Huff;  Corporals  Thendes  H.  Miller,  Fergus  G. 
Holmes ;  Privates  William  M.  Alexander,  Bailey  Chancey,  Lemuel  Ford,  John  Hall,  John  P.  Martin, 
John  H.  Stanley  (mortally),  David  P.  Smith,  Joseph  0.  Devault.  Missing,  George  Bagsdale. 

Company  I) — Killed,  Private  George  Lickey.  Wounded,  Sergeants  Alonzo  J.  Pope,  Robert  F.  Lowe ; 
Corporals  James  II.  Waugh,  Richard  S.  Martin ;  Isaac  W.  Bottorf  (mortally),  Samuel  W.  Brunt,  Lewis 
Castor,  Norval  F.  Curtis,  William  Dalton,  Franklin  F.  Flemming,  Albert  Fritzler,  William  Johnson, 
Samuel  Johnson,  John  W.  Jacobs,  Clark  C.  Mclntosh,  Upton  W.  Minteer,  Morgan  Paslay,  Herrick 
Robinson,  Andrew  Stranahan.  Missing,  Charles  II.  McPeek. 

Company  E— Killed,  Corporal  John  Milton ;  Private  Silas  D.  Allen.  Wounded,  Lieutenant  Buren 
R.  Sherman ;  Sergeants  Thomas  J.  Graham,  Thomas  Mounts,  David  J.  Randall ;  Privates  Andrew  J. 
Finch,  Jonathan  Gallagher,  George  McKinstry,  David  C.  Oliver,  Henry  Price,  Joseph  Priest,  James 
A.  Thompson,  James  H.  Work.  Missing,  Nicholas  Garners. 

Company  F— Wounded,  Lieutenant  John  H.  Watson  (mortally);  Sergeants  Neall  McAllister, 
Jacob  Bordenhoffer;  Corporals  Abraham  E.  Wood,  Jonas  Ganby ;  Privates  Christopher  Agnes,  John 
Ely,  Chesley  Z.  Brockman,  Elias  Curtbright,  William  Cline,  William  Carlton,  Ezra  Coffee,  Matthew 
M.  Jackson,  Daniel  Loomis  (mortally),  Edward  Ware,  L.  J.  C.  Zirgenfuse. 

Company  G — Killed,  Private  Samuel  C.  Martin.  Wounded,  Corporal  Newel  C.  Keyes;  Privates 
George  W.  Black,  Robert  B.  Durand,  Jeremiah  Dearth,  William  S.  Hanna,  William  I.  Jackson, 
David  D.  Merchant,  Charles  M.  Martin,  Joseph  0.  Schoonover. 

Company  H — Killed,  Corporals  Cornelius  Van  Voorhries,  Hiram  V.  Willey.  Wounded,  Lieutenants 
Elliott  Shurtz,  George  S.  Hampton,  Jr. ;  Privates  Noel  M.  Adams,  Kimber  Cleaver,  Thomas  Elder, 
Napoleon  C.  Foy,  Alexander  B.  McCain,  Patrick  H.  Mahoney,  John  M.  Nettle.  Missing,  Michael 
Mulvehill.  Prisoner,  Corporal  John  H.  Jarvis. 

Company  I— Killed,  Privates  Parker  L.  Aylworth,  Joseph  Parks.  Wounded,  Sergeant  William  S. 
Beatty;  Corporals  Theophilus  Watkins,  James  Coates;  Privates  Barton  C.  Kalor,  Freeman  G. 
Cheslor,  Robert  R.  Cox,  James  E.  Delong,  John  W.  Farley,  Josiah  Honsel,  Samuel  Hartzler,  Robert 
F.  Kyle,  John  M.  McCall,  Henry  Nichols,  Jonathan  E.  Ogden,  Simeon  Polen,  John  T.  Thompson, 
John  W.  Pierson,  T.  H.  Elrod. 

Company  K— Killed,  Private  David  Knauss.  Wounded,  Corporals  William  E.  Hawthorne,  Joseph 
M.  Smiley;  Privates  William  Brown,  James  Beck,  Owen  M.  Creath,  Simon  Gongiver,  Michael 
Kclley,  John  Law,  Benjamin  F.  Lamb,  Jackson  A.  Lane,  Samuel  C.  Moses,  Matthias  T.  Snyder. 


THIRTEENTH     INFANTRY.  233 

Its  next  movement  in  the  field  was  under  General  Ord,  who  marched  upon 
luka,  shortly  after  the  arrival  of  our  command  at  Corinth,  for  the  purpose 
of  giving  battle  to  Price.  General  Rosecrans  moved  by  another  route, 
with  the  same  end  in  view,  and  was  attacked  by  Price  on  the  evening  of 
the  19th,  when  the  battle  of  luka  ensued,  without  Ord  having  an  oppor 
tunity  to  take  a  direct  part  therein.  Price  retreated,  and  our  regiment 
returned  to  Corinth  about  the  1st  of  October.  It  was  engaged  in  the  battle 
of  the  3d  and  4th,  and  though  long  under  a  heavy  fire  of  artillery,  its  losses 
here  were  light.  Two  companies  of  the  regiment — A,  Captain  Kennedy, 
and  G,  Captain  Walker — which  were  ordered  to  advance  and  deploy  as 
skirmishers,  during  the  first  day's  battle  suffered  the  principal  loss,  as  they 
won  the  laurels  of  the  command  in  this  engagement.  Indeed,  I  do  not 
find  that  any  loss  occurred  to  any  other  than  these  two  companies,  at  this 
bloody  fight,  where  several  Iowa  regiments  suffered  most  severely.2  On 
Sunday  morning,  October  5th,  the  command  joined  in  the  pursuit  of  the 
rebels.  It  was  continued  to  Ripley.  The  regiment  on  its  return  reached 
Corinth,  October  llth. 

Having  halted  in  camp  at  Corinth  for  three  weeks,  the  command  com 
menced  another  movement  in  the  field,  joining  in  the  campaign  under  Gen 
eral  Grant  for  an  attack  on  Yicksburg  by  Holly  Springs  and  Granada.  The 
regiment  marched  by  Grand  Junction,  Holly  Springs,  and  Oxford  to 
u  Yocana"  Creek,  when,  Holly  Springs  having  been  lost  to  Grant,  the  army 
countermarched  to  the  frontier  of  Tennessee.  The  division  to  which  the 
regiment  was  attached  on  this  campaign,  now  commanded  by  General 
McArthur,  arrived  at  Memphis  on  the  13th  of  January,  1863,  where  the 
troops  went  into  camp.  I  cannot  just  now  lay  my  finger  upon  the  date,  but 
it  was  about  this  time  that  Major  Van  Hosen  resigned  without  good  cause, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Adjutant  James  Wilson,  who  had  been  promoted  to 
the  last-named  rank  upon  the  appointment  of  Adjutant  W.  T.  Clark  as 
assistant  adjutant-general  in  the  army  in  March  of  1862.  At  that  time 
Clark's  direct  connection  with  the  regiment  ceased,  but  it  may  be  proper  to 
say  that  he  gradually  rose  in  rank  in  the  staff  department  until  the  winter 
of  1864-5,  in  the  early  part  of  which  he  was  appointed  a  brigadier-general 
of  volunteers,  in  which  capacity  he  continued  to  serve  till  the  close  of  the 
war,  with  as  much  acceptability  as  had  characterized  his  fortunate  career  as 
an  executive  officer. 

2  I  again  am  indebted  to  the  Adjutant-General's  Report,  for  the  following  list  of  casualties  : 

Wounded,  Sergeant-Major  Frederick  Lyman. 

Company  A—  Wounded,  Sergeant  Charles  W.  Kepler;  Privates  James  W.  Fitz,  Charles  Gardner, 
James  W.  Wickham. 

Company  G— Killed,  Corporal  Oscar  Kendall ;  Private  Jonathan  B.  Trayer.     Wounded,  Lieute 
nant  George  F.  Ross;  Privates  William  S.  Hanna,  Joseph  Hull,  Joseph  Howet,  Julius  A.  Jackson, 
Bamuel  J.  Royce,  Thomas  C.  Smock,  Samuel  J.  Rogers,  George  H.  Walker. 
30 


234  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

General  Me  Arthur's  division  did  not  halt  long  at  Memphis.  Embarking 
on  steamers  it  moved  down  the  river  on  the  20th  of  January,  and  reached 
Duckport,  Louisiana,  on  the  25th.  Without  disembarking,  however,  the 
troops  returned  to  the  landing  of  Miiliken's  Bend,  and  there  went  ashore. 
The  command  remained  encamped  there  a  fortnight,  at  the  end  of  which 
it  moved  by  steamer  to  Providence,  and  there  disembarking  again  went  into 
camp,  using  for  this  purpose  the  fine  plantation  of  "General"  Edward 
Sparrow,  a  senator  in  the  Confederate  Congress  from  Louisiana.  Here  the 
division  remained  more  than  two  months.  The  troops  worked  much  of  the 
time  on  the  famous  "Lake  Providence  Canal,"  in  which  the  people  of  the 
North  took  so  deep  an  interest,  and  from  which  they  expected  such  great 
results.  The  canal  was  by  no  means  in  proportion  to  these  great  expecta 
tions,  but  when  the  water  was  let  into  it  the  inundation  which  resulted  was 
surely  great  enough  to  make  full  amends.  It  deluged  our  troops  so 
thoroughly  that  they  were  never  able  to  overcome  their  disgust  for  canals. 
Whilst  the  troops  were  thus  engaged  near  Lake  Providence,  the  army  gen 
erally  was  reorganized,  the  organization  of  corps  d'  armee  having  at  length 
been  adopted.  General  McArthur's  division,  on  the  new  arrangement  be 
came  the  first  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  General  McPherson  commanding. 
Colonel  Crocker  was  promoted  shortly  afterwards  to  the  rank  of  brigadier- 
general  of  volunteers,  whereupon  Lieutenant-Colonel  Shane  was  commis 
sioned  colonel,  Major  Wilson  lieutenant-colonel,  and  Captain  William  A. 
Walker,  Company  G,  major. 

For  a  considerable  portion  of  the  period  embraced  in  the  campaign  of 
Vicksburg,  the  Iowa  Brigade  performed  peculiar  services — services  in 
volving  hard  labor  and  tough  marching  qualities.  These  troops  were 
called  upon,  in  short,  to  do  about  all  the  hard  marching  and  outside  work 
for  all  that  part  of  the  army  to  which  they  belonged,  during  a  period  of 
about  three  months.  Leaving  Lake  Providence  near  the  close  of  April, 
they  steamed  down  to  Miiliken's  Bend,  whence  they  marched  to  Holmes' 
Plantation,  and  were  engaged  near  there  a  fortnight  in  guarding  and  re 
pairing  the  roads  over  which  the  army  marched  when  it  swung  round 
below  Vicksburg.  This  duty  done,  they  marched  to  Hard  Times,  and, 
crossing  the  Mississippi  in  steamers  to  Grand  Gulf,  then  an  important  de 
pot  of  supplies,  remained  in  guard  of  the  post  for  some  days.  They  then 
moved,  marching  around  Vicksburg  on  the  west,  and  by  water  afterwards, 
to  Haines'  Bluff,  to  reenforce  the  right  of  our  army  which  had  made  a 
lodgment  there,  but  soon  returning  marched  to  near  Warrenton,  and  took 
position  on  the  left  of  the  line  of  investment.  In  the  latter  part  of  May 
they  again  moved,  joining  a  force  that  was  detailed  to  make  a  reconnois- 
sance  in  the  direction  of  Mechanicsville.  It  is  no  wonder  the  troops  of  the 
Iowa  Brigade  acquired  the  sobriquet  of  "Crocker's  Greyhounds."  Re- 


THIRTEENTH     INFANTRY.  235 

turning  from  the  reconnoissance,  they  took  position  on  the  left,  where  they 
remained  till  the  24th  of  June.  The  rebel  General  Joe  Johnston  having 
made  his  appearance  in  rear  of  our  army,  General  Sherman  moved  out  to 
watch  him,  with  the  Army  of  Observation.  The  Thirteenth  joined  this 
force,  and  took  position  near  Messenger's  Ferry  on  Big  Black  River.  On 
the  4th  of  July,  while  Vicksburg  was  being  surrendered  to  Grant,  it  was 
skirmishing  with  Johnston's  rebels.  That  night  they  retreated  on  Jackson, 
and  our  command  being  a  part  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps  not  assigned  to  tie 
Expeditionary  Army,  remained  in  camp,  with  orders  to  be  ready  to  march 
to  Vicksburg  at  any  time.  Before  the  order  came,  however,  it  became  ne 
cessary  to  send  supplies  to  Sherman,  and  the  Iowa  Brigade,  still  in  its  role 
of  performing  extra  duty  for  the  army,  escorted  the  train,  consisting  of  se 
veral  hundred  wagons.  The  train  was  escorted  safely  to  Clinton,  where 
the  brigade  was  relieved  by  troops  from  Sherman.  Whereupon,  Jackson 
having  been  evacuated,  it  countermarched,  and  halted  at  Vicksburg  on  the 
28th.  During  all  this  long  period  of  activity,  much  of  the  time  in  face  of 
the  enemy,  the  casualties  of  the  Thirteenth  regiment  were  but  trifling,  not 
to  exceed  forty,  all  told,  I  believe. 

Its  labors,  during  most  of  the  remainder  of  the  summer,  were  light. 
For  a  long  week  in  the  early  part  of  August  the  regiment  was  engaged,  in 
connection  with  a  portion  of  the  navy,  in  wrecking  and  dismantling  certain 
gun-boats  that  had  been  sunk  by  the  enemy's  torpedoes  in  the  Yazoo 
River,  in  the  vicinity  of  Yazoo  City.  It  also  participated  in  the  campaign, 
under  General  Stevenson,  against  Monroe,  Louisiana,  about  eighty  miles 
west  of  Vicksburg,  which  occupied  about  a  fortnight.  Upon  its  return,  on 
September  3d,  it  went  into  quarters  at  Vicksburg,  and  there  remained  for 
five  months,  in  the  performance  of  the  dull,  monotonous  duties  of  garrison 
life.  From  the  4th  of  February,  1864,  to  the  4th  of  March,  the  regiment 
was  with  the  forces  under  General  Sherman  on  the  famous  Meridian  raid, 
participating  throughout  in  that  exciting  enterprise. 

The  general  dulness  of  garrison  life  at  Vicksburg,  had,  of  course,  been 
enlivened  by  sundry  particular  matters  of  amusement  or  interest.  During 
the  two  months  which  immediately  preceded  the  Meridian  Expedition,  in 
especial,  there  had  been  a  subject  which  elicited  very  general  interest  and 
a  vast  deal  of  conversation.  This  was  the  subject  of  reenlisting  in  the 
army,  and  thus  becoming  a  veteran  regiment.  The  regiment  at  this  time 
had  an  aggregate  of  four  hundred  and  eighty-eight.  Of  these,  thirty-five 
were  absent,  on  duty  out  of  the  corps ;  thirty-nine  were  ineligible  recruits ; 
and  twenty  were  rejected  by  the  surgeon  on  account  of  physical  disability. 
There  were  thus  left  three  hundred  and  ninety-four  eligible  for  reenlistment, 
of  whom,  during  the  two  months  mentioned,  three  hundred  and  forty-three 


236  IOWA     AND     THE     EEBELLTON.       . 

reenlisted,  being  nearly  one  hundred  men  in  excess  of  the  number  required 
to  make  the  command  a  veteran  regiment. 

On  the  return  from  Meridian,  therefore,  General  McPherson  issued  an 
order  declaring  the  regiment  a  veteran  organization,  and  giving  the  officers 
and  men  "  thirty  days  in  their  own  State,"  and  on  the  7th  of  March  the 
veterans  were  homeward  bound.  They  were  received  with  great  cordiality 
by  the  people  of  the  State,  and,  what  was  better  for  the  regiment  in  its 
subsequent  history,  it  received  many  valuable  accessions  to  its  ranks  in 
large  numbers  of  recruits  who  afterwards  did  good  service  in  the  cause. 
Embarking  on  the  16th  of  April,  they  were  all  "off  to  the  wars  once 
more. ' '  Arriving  at  Cairo  in  due  time  the  regiment  was  placed  in  a  pro 
visional  division,  Brigadier-General  W.  Q.  Gresham,  commanding,  which 
ascended  the  Tennessee  River  to  Clifton,  Tennessee,  and  there  disembarked. 
Halting  there  but  a  few  days,  it  marched  by  Pulaski  and  Athens  to  Hunts- 
vine,  Alabama,  arriving  on  the  20th  of  May.  Here  the  provisional 
organization  was  abandoned,  and  the  old  regiments  of  the  Iowa  Brigade 
again  came  together,  and  did  not  afterwards  separate  till  the  close  of  the 
war.  General  Crocker  was  in  command  of  the  division — the  Fourth.3 

Resting  at  Huntsville  but  a  few  days,  during  which  such  supplies  of 
clothing  and  equipage  as  could  be  carried  with  the  limited  transportation 
allowed,  were  drawn,  the  command  marched  by  Decatur  and  Rome  to  Ack- 
worth,  Georgia,  there  joining  the  main  body  of  General  Sherman's  army 
on  the  8th  of  June.  The  forward  march  hence  of  the  Atlanta  campaign 
began  two  days  afterwards.  On  the  llth,  the  command  arrived  in  front 
of  Kenesaw  Mountain,  where  commenced  its  first  fighting  in  the  great  cam 
paign.  Although  our  regiment  was  in  no  general  engagement  here,  it  lost 
many  men  in  killed  and  wounded  on  the  picket  lines,  or  picked  off  from 

8  GENERAL  M.  M.  CROCKER. — This  officer  was  compelled  to  leave  the  field,  at  Decatur,  on  account 
of  ill  health.  He  was  afterwards  sent  to  the  territory  of  New  Mexico  by  the  order  of  the  Depart 
ment  of  War,  Secretary  Stanton  being  desirous  of  placing  him  in  a  command  where  he  might,  if 
possible,  be  restored  to  health  and  vigor.  He  remained  in  New  Mexico  till  the  spring  of  1865,  when 
he  returned  to  the  States  for  the  purpose  of  taking  an  important  command.  His  improvement  in 
health,  however,  was  rather  apparent  than  real,  and  he  soon  began  to  suffer  again.  He  afterwards 
rallied,  and  went  to  the  National  Capital  in  August,  but  at  once  became  worse,  and  died  at  Wil- 
lard's  Hotel  before  the  close  of  the  month.  * 

I  have  had  frequent  occasion  in  this  work  to  speak  of  Ooneral  Crocker — some  paragraphs  in 
relation  to  him  having  been  written  long  before  his  death,  some  after  that  sad  event.  He  never 
commanded  Iowa  troops  after  the  relinquishment  of  his  command  at  Decatur,  Alabama,  but  he  never 
ceased  to  be  remembered  with  kindness,  with  gratitude,  and  with  affection  by  the  troops  of  the 
Iowa  Brigade  and  by  all  who  had  ever  served  under  him,  or  with  him,  and  when  he  died  they 
mourned  as  for  a  friend  and  brother.  He  had  a  genius  for  warfare  more  brilliant,  perhaps,  than 
that  of  any  soldier  from  our  State,  and  not  surpassed  by  many  in  the  army.  Though  long  years 
of  poor  health  had  made  his  disposition  irritable,  he  had  a  genial  nature  and  a  big  soul.  Down  at 
the  bottom  his  heart  was  one  of  the  kindest  that  ever  beat.  I  confess,  that  when  traveling  in 
Indiana,  I  heard  of  the  death  of  Major-General  M.  M.  Crocker,  I  shed  tears  like  a  girl ;  and  there 
were  many  thousand  stout-hearted  citizens  of  Iowa  who  paid  him  a  like  tribute,  and  will  never 
surcease  to  revere  his  memory. 


THIRTEENTH     INFANTRY.  237 

our  main  line  by  the  sharp-shooters  of  the  enemy.  Among  the  latter  was 
Sergeant  Lowe,-  of  Company  D,  a  young  man  of  excellent  character  and 
amiable  disposition,  a  favorite  with  the  whole  regiment.  He  was  shot 
through  the  body  on  the  29th  of  June,  while  examining  the  works  on 
Kenesaw  from  our  main  works  on  the  summit  of  Brush  Mountain.  He 
died  the  next  day,  saying,  "Tell  my  father  and  brothers  that  whenever 
they  see  the  stars  and  stripes,  to  remember  that  I  died  for  the  brave  old 
flag. ' '  He  received  the  rude  burial  of  a  soldier.  A  strip  of  pine,  with  th,e 
words  "Robert  F.  Lowe,  First  Sergeant,  Company  D,  Thirteenth  Iowa 
Infantry, ' '  written  with  pen  and  ink,  constitutes  his  monument,  perhaps 
ere  this  trodden  under  foot  and  entirely  destroyed.  Such  were  the  humble 
monuments  of  many  others  in  the  command,  of  thousands  in  the  grand 
army,  who  died  to  save  the  millions  over  whose  dust  more  permanent 
monuments,  engraved  with  proud  epitaphs,  might  be  builded ;  but  more 
enduring  than  these,  will  be  the  influence  of  the  martyr  boys  who  died  for 
the  "brave  old  flag,"  even  though  their  names  perish  from  among  men. 
They  have  consecrated  the  banner  of  our  country,  and  given  to  it  a  mean 
ing  and  a  power  for  which  the  coming  generations  will  call  them  blessed, 
but,  because  their  frail  grave-boards  so  soon  were  destroyed,  without  being 
able  to  immortalize  their  individual  names.  If  in  this  there  seems  to  be 
historical  injustice,  it  will  not  be  forgotten  that  thus  it  has  ever  been  with 
history.  But  to  proceed : 

On  the  night  of  July  2d,  our  command  withdrew  from  Brush  Mountain, 
and,  marching  to  the  extreme  right  of  the  line,  took  position  near  Nicka- 
jack  Creek,  and  on  the  4th,  as  on  that  anniversary  of  the  previous  year, 
the  Thirteenth  Iowa  was  skirmishing  with  Joe  Johnston's  rebels.  Here, 
as  at  Kenesaw,  the  regiment  was  in  no  engagement,  but  here  as  there, 
being  within  reach  of  the  enemy's  missiles,  it  lost  many  brave  men.  Among 
them  was  Sergeant  McClaskey,  of  Company  A,  who  was  shot  while  cross 
ing  the  bridge  over  the  creek,  his  leg  torn,  the  bone  shattered  to  pieces, 
but  who  refused  to  be  taken  off,  because  his  rescuers  would  thereby  be 
exposed  to  death.  Others,  wounded  or  killed,  were  no  less  worthy  of  men 
tion.  The  casualties  here  numbered  twenty-five.  The  enemy  having 
retired  from  the  Nickajack,  and  across  the  Chattahoochee  River  at  Sand- 
town,  the  command  with  which  we  have  to  do  moved  to  the  extreme  left 
of  the  line,  and  on  the  20th  of  July,  after  heavy  skirmishing,  in  which 
General  Gresham,  commanding  division,  was  wounded,  took  position  before 
Atlanta,  and  distant  therefrom  only  about  three  miles. 

COMBAT  NEAR  ATLANTA,  JVLY  21,  1864. 

Upon  the  fall  of  General  Gresham,  Colonel  Hall  turned  over  the  com 
mand  of  the  Iowa  Brigade  to  Colonel  Shane,  and  himself  assumed  com- 


238  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

m  and  of  the  division,  of  which  he  was  relieved,  however,  early  on  the 
morning  of  the  21st,  by  Brigadier-General  Giles  A.  Smith.  But  Colonel 
Shane  retained  the  command  of  the  brigade  during  the  combat  I  am  about 
to  describe. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  describe  the  grand  skirmish  at  large,  which  took 
place  in  front  of  Atlanta  on  the  21st  of  July.  I  shall  only  relate  what  took 
place  on  that  part  of  the  field,  southeast  of  the  city,  where  the  Iowa 
Brigade  was  posted. 

On  the  left  of  this  brigade,  General  Force's  Brigade  of  the  Third  Divi 
sion,  Seventeenth  Corps,  was  posted.  Immediately  in  front  of  Force,  and 
on  a  commanding  hill,  the  enemy  was  posted  in  large  numbers  behind  a 
well  constructed  and  formidable  fort.  It  was  necessary  that  the  work 
should  be  taken,  but  it  was  in  itself  so  strong  and  was  defended  by  so 
strong  a  force,  that  it  would  have  been  madness  to  have  attempted  it  by 
storm  alone.  The  aid  of  a  simple  stratagem  was  therefore  brought  into 
requisition.  It  was  determined  by  the  generals  that  the  Iowa  Brigade 
should  move  in  assault  against  the  work,  in  their  immediate  front,  demon 
strating  both  with  their  arms  and  their  lungs.  It  was  hoped  that  by  this 
means  the  attention  of  the  enemy  would  be  entirely  drawn  to  the  attack 
under  Shane,  while  Force  could  move  rapidly  up  and  take  the  work. 
These  hopes  were  fully  realized. 

The  troops  were  in  position,  behind  works,  some  five  or  six  hundred 
yards  from  the  fort.  In  front,  it  was  partly  forest,  but  immediately  in 
front  of  the  Thirteenth,  on  a  slightly  ascending  hill  extending  to  the  enemy's 
position,  was  a  field  of  young,  growing  corn.  The  brigade  formed  at  eight 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  Thirteenth,  Major  Walker  commanding,  and 
the  Fifteenth,  Colonel  Belknap,  in  front,  the  Eleventh,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Abercrombie,  and  the  Sixteenth,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Sanders,  in  the  rear. 
Suddenly,  without  preparatory  warning  to  officers  or  men,  the  order  to 
charge  was  given.  Hastily  seizing  their  arms  and  adjusting  their  accoutre 
ments  the  troops  crossed  their  works.  Quickly  reforming  and  correcting 
the  alignment,  they  rushed  forward,  with  shouts  which  might  have  done 
credit  to  a  tribe  of  Indians.  They  had  scarcely  advanced  a  half-dozen  long 
paces  when  they  were  met  with  a  murderous  volley  of  artillery  and  musketry. 
' '  Forward  !  Double-quick ! ' '  was  the  command  which  rang  along  the  line 
in  response.  Replying  to  the  rebel  fire  with  rapid  volleys,  the  line  pushed 
forward  through  the  storm  of  deadly  missiles  which  drove  against  it  with 
fearful  destructiveness,  till  within  fifty  paces  of  the  fort,  when  a  halt  was 
ordered,  and  the  men  commanded  to  lie  down.  Directly  in  front  of  the 
Thirteenth  was  a  battery  which  made  havoc  among  the  men  at  every  dis 
charge,  but  met  with  a  persistent  response  from  our  musketry.  Sergeant 
Starkweather,  the  color-bearer,  twenty  feet  in  advance  of  the  centre,  firmly 


THIRTEENTH     INFANTRY.  239 

held  the  flag  aloft  and  the  men  were  cheered  by  the  sight  of  "Old  Glory" 
proudly  waving  in  all  its  beauty,  though  riddled  and  torn  with  bullets.  It 
seemed  to  the  men  that  they  lay  there  an  age.  Firing  as  rapidly  as  pos 
sible,  they  kept  the  enemy  busy,  and  Force  took  the  work.  The  enemy 
retired  to  a  strong  line  of  works  in  rear  of  the  fort,  whence  they  continued 
to  play  upon  the  Iowa  Brigade  with  artillery.  The  order  was  given  to 
retire.  The  men  rose  up  and  moved  rapidly  but  in  good  order  to  their  line 
of  works,  having  been  absent  therefrom  just  twenty-seven  minutes. 

In  this  short  time,  the  Iowa  Brigade  had  lost  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
six  men  in  killed  and  wounded,  who  were  left  upon  the  field  of  battle  till 
the  cover  of  night  afforded  an  opportunity  for  their  removal.  The  Eleventh, 
Fifteenth,  and  Sixteenth  regiments,  by  reason  of  the  nature  of  the  ground, 
were  not  so  much  exposed,  but  they  suffered  severely,  especially  the  last 
two,  and  both  officers  and  men  of  the  whole  brigade,  behaved  in  the  best 
manner  during  the  brief  but  bloody  conflict.  Colonel  Shane  speaks  of  their 
conduct  in  the  highest  praise.  The  Thirteenth  went  into  the  combat  with 
three  hundred  and  fifty  men,  of  whom  one  hundred  and  thirteen  were 
killed  and  wounded.  Lieutenants  Ridge  and  Hudson  were  mortally 
wounded,  and  Captain  White  disabled  for  life.  "I  cannot  close,"  says 
Major  Walker,  in  concluding  his  official  report,  "without  awarding  to  the 
regiment  the  credit  due  it  for  the  impetuosity  and  gallantry  of  the  advance, 
the  stubbornness  with  which  it  held  the  position,  and  the  steadiness  and 
good  order  in  which  it  retired  when  ordered. ' ' 3 

On  the  night  of  the  21st,  the  command  moved  to  a  new  position  still 
further  to  the  left,  but  as  the  enemy  evacuated  his  works  in  front  of  the 
battle-field,  details  from  each  company  were  sent  out  to  perform  the  melan 
choly  task  of  burying  the  dead  and  removing  the  wounded  to  hospitals. 
The  wounded  were  quickly  placed  on  stretchers  and  borne  from  the  field. 
As  for  the  lamented  dead — 

"  Slowly  and  sadly  they  laid  them  down, 

From  the  field  of  their  fame,  fresh  and  gory ; 
They  carved  not  a  line,  they  raised  not  a  Btone, 
But  left  them  alone  in  their  glory." 

During  these  sad  services  a  slow,  drizzling  rain  came  on,  in  which  the 
change  of  position  was  effected.  That  having  been  accomplished  the  men 
lay  down  to  rest  as  best  they  could,  and  remained  in  cheerless  bivouac  till 

3  It  is  proper  to  say  that  Major  Walker  puts  the  time  of  the  combat  at  thirty  minutes,  and  the 
number  of  killed  and  wounded  at  ninety-eight.  He  probably  did  not  mean  to  be  minutely  precise 
as  to  time,  and,  as  he  made  his  report  on  the  day  of  the  fight,  a  number  wounded  in  this  engage 
ment,  and  not  reported  till  the  next  day,  were  not  counted  by  him,  and  afterwards  inadvertently 
placed  among  the  wounded  of  the  22d.  I  am  well  assured  of  the  correctness  of  the  statement  in 
the  text  by  Major  A.  J.  Pope,  no  less  noted  for  his  carefulness  in  a  matter  of  this  sort  than  for  bis 
coolness  and  bravery  on  the  field. 


240  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

three  o'clock  on4he  morning  of  the  22d.  They  then  commenced  work,  in 
trenching  their  new  position,  the  Eleventh  and  Sixteenth  regiments  of  the 
Brigade  on  the  front  line,  the  Thirteenth  and  Fifteenth  on  the  rear.  Near 
noon,  the  terrible  battle  of  the  22d  raged  in  full  force  on  this  part  of  the 
field.  Company  A,  Captain  Kennedy,  Company  Gr,  Sergeant  Halleck, 
were  ordered  to  reenforce  the  Eleventh,  and  Company  D,  Captain  Pope, 
and  Company  K,  Lieutenant  Rice,  the  Sixteenth.  The  enemy  had  found  a 
gap  between  the  left  of  the  Seventeenth  and  the  right  of  the  Sixteenth 
Corps,  and  these  companies,  by  the  best  exertions,  were  unable  to  fill  it.  A 
majority  of  Company  A,  part  of  Gr,  and  all  of  D,  and  K,  with  Captain 
Pope,  Lieutenants  Rice,  Parker,  and  Eyestone,  were  captured.  The  re 
mainder  of  the  regiment  fought  with  great  gallantry  during  the  rest  of  the 
battle,  suffering  heavy  loss.  Major  Walker  was  killed  dead  on  the  field, 
and  Lieutenants  Haskin,  Huff  and  Hunter  wounded.  The  loss  of  the 
regiment  in  this  battle,  where  the  Iowa  Brigade  won  such  conspicuous 
renown,  was  one  hundred  and  forty-nine. 

In  the  battle,  still  before  Atlanta,  of  the  28th,  the  regiment  performed 
most  valuable  services,  being  ordered,  with  the  remnant  of  the  Third  Iowa, 
to  reenforce  a  portion  of  the  line  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  severely  pressed 
by  the  enemy,  where  the  united  command,  under  Colonel  Shane,  averted 
the  threatened  danger,  and  fought  with  great  bravery  and  efficiency,  but 
happily,  with  little  loss,  till  the  victory  was  gained.  The  command  returned 
on  the  evening  of  the  next  day  to  its  position  in  General  Smith's  Division. 
Colonel  Shane  reported  the  conduct  of  the  men  to  have  been  gallant  in  the 
extreme,  and  specially  mentioned  Captains  J.  C.  Kennedy  and  John 
Archer  as  having  ' '  exhibited  the  very  highest  qualities  of  soldiers  and 
officers." 

In  the  remainder  of  this  memorable  campaign — the  marches  and  actions, 
Jonesboro,  Lovejoy,  East  Point — whereby  Hood  was  forced  out  of  Atlanta, 
the  Thirteenth  fully  participated,  giving  its  best  exertions  to  the  move 
ments  whereby  the  army  gained  advantageous  positions,  and  shedding  its 
best  blood  as  freely  as  water  in  the  several  engagements  which  took  place. 
The  losses  of  the  regiment  during  the  whole  campaign,  from  Kenesaw 
Mountain  to  the  occupation  of  Atlanta,  were,  in  killed,  wounded,  and 
captured,  three  hundred  and  thirty-one,  or  within  twelve  of  the  number 
which  constituted  the  veteran  organization,  at  Vicksburg,  near  the  begin 
ning  of  the  year.4 

*  The  following  list  of  casualties  embraces  very  nearly  all  the  names  of  those  who  were  killed  or 
wounded  during  this  campaign.  In  that  respect  it  is  very  nearly  correct— as  nearly  so,  perhaps,  as 
any  similar  list  can  well  be.  But  it  is  not  exact  in  other  respects.  Thus,  no  doubt,  a  few  will  be 
stated,  as  wounded  in  one  engagement  whereas  the  fact  may  be,  they  were  wounded  at  the  engage 
ment  immediately  preceding  or  immediately  following  that.  Where  battles  followed  each  other 
so  rapidly  as  they  did  during  much  of  this  campaign  errors  of  this  kind  were  unavoidable.  So  too. 


THIRTEENTH     INFANTRY.  241 

The  campaign  concluded,  our  regiment  halted  at  Atlanta  about  a  month, 
performing  garrison  duties,  and  at  times  assisting  in  the  erection  of  fortifi- 


i  will  be  found  among  the  wounded,  of  those  who,  perhaps,  ought  to  have  been  reported  killed, 
as  they  died  on  the  field.    But  they  were  not  so  reported,  and  I  give  the  names  as  found  in  the  lists. 

KENESAW  MOUNTAIN.  Wounded,  Sergeants  Robert  F.  Lowe  (mortally),  Alexander  H.  Watson ; 
Corporals  Henry  Rieman,  George  W.  Snyder,  John  W.  Moore;  Privates  Abraham  Stewart,  James  H. 
Smith,  Rensellaer  Hudsonpeller,  Jonathan  E.  Ogden,  Charles  F.  Kendall,  Mordecai  N.  Sweeney, 
William  S.  Booton,  Almond  C.  Keyes. 

NICK  A  JACK  CREEK.    Kitted,  Privates  J.  J.  Arford,  Martin  Casey.     Wounded,  Lieutenants  Wesley      * 
Huff,  George  B.  Hunter;  Sergeant  J.  R.  McClaskey  ;  Corporals  Nathan  Gilliland,  Stephen  Wortz,  B?  ' 
E.  Butler,  Chancey  Ford;  Privates  S.  D.  TJmstead  (mortally),  Jesse  Chatres,  John  M.  Ellis,  A.  Hollo- 
peter,  Ezra  M.  Organ,  Milton  R.  Davis,  Henry  C.  Smith,  Daniel  Lamphier,  E.  C.  Reed,  0.  L.  Gregory, 
L.  M.  White,  Abraham  Garver,  M.  Mulverhill,  Marion  Lowell,  John  H.  Evans,  Albert  Wrager. 

BEFORE  ATLANTA,  July  20.  Wounded,  Lieutenant  John  Ridge,  Lieutenant  Hardin  Wilson,  Lien- 
tenant  E.  L.  Forsyth ;  Privates  George  French,  A.  H.  Brown,  James  V.  Grier,  William  Merchant. 
William  Turner,  William  H.  Fawcett,  James  0.  Mitchell,  James  Casey. 

BEFORE  ATLANTA,  July  21.  Killed,  Sergeants  R.  B.  Durand,  James  W.  Atwood,  L.  M.  Roberts,  Cor 
poral  D.  D.  Merchant ;  Privates  W.  A.  Arasmith,  Oscar  Walling,  D.  V.  Hammer,  D.  B.  Meeker,  A.  G. 
McDaniels,  Alexander  Work,  James  D.  Ward,  J.  A.  Jackson,  Bentou  Hover,  James  Y.  Grier,  Lois 
White,  George  S.  Robinson  Wm.  A.  Hart.  Wounded,  Captain  T.  P.  Marshall,  Lieutenants  W.  H. 
Plainer,  David  Hudson,  James  E.  White;  Sergeants  I.  G.  Bratler.  E.  S.  Hazlett,  James  W.  Fitz,  E.  J. 
Evans,  F.  F.  Flemming,  James  D.  Curry,  Wm.  H.  Renn,  Charles  Emeigh,  Otto  F.  Blanch,  Hiram 
Halleck;  Corporals  Nathan  Gilliland.  Levi  Mabec,  John  Beck,  Jacob  Brukerd,  Charles  F.  Kendall. 
Andrew  Stanahan,  William  Anebum,  Henry  A.  Palmer,  J.  E.  Johnson,  Stephen  Wertz ;  Privates  W. 
H.  Buchan,  Jacob  Easterly,  H.  Kamberling,  Peter  Kern,  Joseph  Moore,  Peter  Muntz,  Henry  Smith. 
Stephen  Smith,  Isaac  Wickham,  Isaac  Zavits,  Levi  Newcomer,  L.  C.  Westface,  Owen  Wilson,  John 
Wilson,  Peter  Martz,  Abraham  Ellis,  Wilson  Ragsdale,  C.  Gastin,  W.  C.  Sisson,  Abraham  Gawer,  John 
Wilson,  J.  W.  Mclntosh,  S.  W.  Prunt,  Cyrus  Pinkerton,  James  Lamb,  Ely  Milton,  George  Mooney, 
James  Gartlan,  Joseph  A.  Roberts,  Walton  W.  Buck,  Jerome  Hull,  C.  C.  La  Rue,  S.  A.  Marine,  J. 
Ritchey,  George  A.  Sells,  N.  B.  Andress,  Thomas  G.  Day,  Thomas  Smock,  Jacob  Joyce,  L.  L.  Catline, 
Kimball  Cleaver,  J.  Thompson,  C.  E.  S.  Cooper,  Sidney  Curtis,  Tobias  Kites,  TJ.  P.  Romick,  S.  P. 
Stephens,  F.  M.  Lindsay,  W.  Hartman,  Daniel  Coryel,  Amos  I.  Lane,  N.  H.  Rhodes,  William  Conget, 
William  Gammel,  George  Hutchinson,  James  M.  Armstrong,  J.  M.  Smiley. 

BEFORE  ATLANTA,  July  22.  Killed,  Major  William  A.  Walker,  Privates  Thomas  N.  Likens,  Willis  R. 
Rouce,  James  T.  Mount.  Isaac  C.  Powell,  William  C.  Thompson,  James  E.  Deloney,  John  Dusenbury. 
John  A.  Lanning ;  Wounded,  Captain  George  McLaughlin,  Lieutenants  Wesley  Huff,  George  B. 
Hunter,  Charles  M.  Haskin,  Sergeants  D.  S.  Stover,  Joel  Barker.  Sylvester  Adams,  Hiram  Halleck. 
Ezra  Small,  Robert  M.  Brown ;  Corporals  Elias  Mills.  H.  C.  Anderson,  Moses  W.  Rice,  Jacob  Wisecawes. 
Calvin  H.  Young;  Privates  W.  P.  Myers.  Lewis  Maler,  James  L.  Little,  William  R.Eyerly,  William 
W.  McKee,  Thomas  Mitchel,  John  W.  Skeen,  Ely  Welton.  George  W.  Lissons,  James  R.  Wallace,  A. 
Skinner,  Harvey  Wilson,  N.  B.  Andress,  Robert  J.  Pray,  John  C.  Shields,  George  N.  Bardon,  Francis 
N.  Burt,  N.  C.  Fay,  George  Forbes,  R.  Henderson,  William  H.  McBain,  John  Lucas,  J.  J.  Postlewait, 
Henry  Shepherd,  Henry  H.  Williams,  James  Allen,  John  H.  Evans.  William  M.  Roland ;  Missing, 
Captain  A.  J.  Pope,  Lieutenants  John  L.  Parker,  John  S.  Rice,  John  W.  Eyestone ;  Sergeants  E.  R. 
Mason.  William  B.  McGabey,  Joel  Barker,  William  L.  Melogen,  James  D.  Curry,  Otto  F.  Blanch. 
Simon  P.  Wolston,  Thomas  Elder,  Simon  Gongwer;  Corporals  John  B.  Shafer,  M.  J.  Umstead,  W.  0. 
Mitchel,  John  W.  Jacobs,  John  N.  Allen,  Abraham  B.  Miller,  Thomas  Barrett,  C.  L.  Brockman, 
Rufus  Worthem,  John  A.  Gipi,  John  W.  Stanton  ;  Privates  Zaccheus  Barger,  Hiram  Bance,  James  A. 
Brodd,  William  S.  Comstock,  Jacob  I.  Davis,  John  A.  Fitz,  George  Huo,  John  G.  Hitsman,  William 
T.  Harper,  George  W.  Hoffman,  Bruce  McKinsey,  Dixon  M.  Parsons,  Henry  C.  Smith,  James  W.  Smith, 
Robert  M.  Thompson,  Robert  M.  Wickham,  James  W.  Wickham,  A.  J.  Whitlateh,  Jacob  K.  Shover, 
William  Sergeant,  J.  T.  Newhouse,  J.  P.  McKeever,  William  Mardesty,  William  P.  Stier.R.  Hudson- 
piller,  Joseph  Burns,  Samuel  W.  Brunt,  Joseph  Brean,  H.  Brokam,  John  M.  Dawson,  John  L.  Emery, 
Albert  Fritzler,  J.  M.  Mclntosh,  Cyrus  Pinkerton,  James  J.  Sisson,  William  Skinner,  Peter  Shaver, 
Stephen  Wayman,  Thomas  M.  White,  William  H.  Young,  George  Biglow,  M.  R.  Cochran,  George  C. 
Rowe,  Jesse  R.  Pratt,  Jesse  Ambem,  Thomas  Brown,  William  Fawcett,  Louis  Lord,  William  Mer 
chant,  David  Robertson,  Thomas  Smock,  Francis  M.  Gard,  John  James,  Jacob  Kiler,  Edwin  Smith, 
Siimuel  C.  Wardle,  Francis  H.  Garley,  Davis  W.  Mount,  Horace  Thaley,  Holden  E.  Day,  Jacob 
31 


242  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

cations.  Captain  Thomas  P.  Marshall,  Company  H,  was  meanwhile  pro 
moted  to  the  majority,  in  place  of  Major  Walker,  killed.  About  the  1st  of 
October  the  command  joined  in  the  pursuit  of  Hood,  who  was  attempting 
to  play  havoc  with  General  Sherman's  communications,  and  assisted  in 
driving  that  rebel  leader  as  far  as  Gaylesville,  in  Northeastern  Alabama. 
Here  our  regiment  halted  a  few  days  and  returned  to  Marietta,  arriving 
there  early  in  November.  Here  Colonel  Shane,  Adjutant  Rood,  Quarter 
master  Kennedy  and  several  line  officers  were  mustered  out  of  service  by 
reason  of  the  expiration  of  the  term  for  which  they  had  entered. 

From  Marietta  the  regiment  moved  to  Atlanta,  and  departed  thence  with 
the  army  under  Sherman  for  Savannah  and  the  sea,  on  the  15th.  Of  the 
marches,  the  labors  of  destruction,  the  fun  and  frolic,  the  yams,  the 
chickens,  turkeys,  geese,  ducks,  and  lively  times  generally  of  this  grand 
promenade,  the  officers  and  men  of  the  Thirteenth  had  their  full  share, 
performing  their  duties  as  faithfully,  and  enjoying  the  fat  of  the  land  as 
heartily  as  any.  They  participated  in  the  siege  of  Savannah,  and  it  having 
been  evacuated  by  Hardee,  they  entered  the  beautiful  city  on  the  22d  of 
December,  and  encamped  within  a  mile  of  the  City  Hall. 

Of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  the  Seventeenth  Corps  was  the  first  to 
leave  Savannah,  and  of  this  corps  the  division  to  which  the  Iowa  Brigade 
was  attached  was  the  first  to  embark.  Our  regiment  marched  to  "Thun 
derbolt,"  not  far  from  the  city,  on  the  6th  of  January,  1865,  and  there 
embarking  on  steamers  made  a  pleasant  sea  voyage  to  Beaufort,  South 
Carolina,  arriving  on  the  next  day.  Encamping  here  a  few  days  that  a 
general  movement  might  be  made,  the  command  took  up  line  of  march  for 
Pocotaligo,  and  arrived  there  on  the  15th,  skirmishing  with  the  enemy. 
The  command  halted  there  about  a  fortnight,  during  which  LieutenamV 
Colonel  J.  C.  Wilson  was  promoted  to  the  Colonelcy ;  Captain  J.  C.  Ken 
nedy  made  Lieutenant-Colonel;  Sergeant-Major  C.  A.  Meyers,  Adjutant; 
and  N.  C.  Keyes,  Quartermaster. 

On  the  29th  of  January,  the  march  through  the  Carolinas  began,  our 
regiment  joining  therein.  This  march  was  far  more  toilsome  and  difficult 
than  any  in  which  the  regiment  had  taken  part  unless  the  expedition  from 


Lecust,  James  F.  Beak,  Joseph  A.  Escher,  Jonathan  R.  Beasley,  William  S.  Rogers,  Patrick  Sheritan, 
William  H.  H.  Hiatt,  George  M.  Op  mart,  David  S.  Cole,  N.  J.  Brewer,  William  Myers,  L.  M. 
Creswell. 

BEFORE  ATLANTA,  July  28.  Killed,  Captain  Stephen  Wertz ;  Wounded,  Sergeant  William  Goodpas- 
ture,  Corporal  John  R.  Barnes ;  Privates  Thomas  McGreen,  Edward  Ware,  Nelson  B.  Andress. 

SIEGE  OP  ATLANTA.  Killed,  Privates  C.  R.  Burrows,  Elias  Hayherst,  Theodore  F.  Rieman,  Thomas 
G.  Day ;  Wounded,  Captain  Charles  H.  Hoskins,  Lieutenant  John  Starkweather,  Corporal  Jacob  Joice; 
Privates  Henry  N.  Norman,  F.  G.  Lockwood,  R.  R.  Hawford,  William  Turner,  Henry  Myers,  James 
C.  Warrington,  R.  S.  Martin,  E.  J.  Clark,  John  C.  Presol,  D.  J.  Pheland,  L.  E.  Shults,  Joseph  P. 
Blow. 

JONESBOEO  AND  LovEJOY.    Killed,  Corporal  John  W.  Johnson  ;  Wounded,  William  W.  Furgesaon. 


THIRTEENTH      INFANTRY.  243 

Vicksburg  to  Monroe,  Louisiana,  in  the  summer  of  1863  be  considered  as 
worse.  There  were  swamps  through  which  the  command  had  to  wade  for 
miles  at  a  time ;  rivers  and  creeks  innumerable,  over  many  of  which  bridges 
had  to  be  built,  whilst  the  building  of  corduroy  roads  was  a  rather  general 
employment  When  the  corps  approached  Orangeburg,  on  the  12th  of 
February,  the  regiment  was  deployed  as  skirmishers,  and  with  daring 
bravery  crossed  the  bridge  over  the  North  Edisto  River,  which  had  been 
set  on  fire  by  the  rebels  and  was  still  burning,  and  drove  the  enemy  out  of 
the  town. 

Columbia,  the  capital  of  South  Carolina,  was  entered  by  our  troops  on 
the  17th  of  February,  and  the  city  surrendered  formally,  as  we  shall  here 
after  see,  to  Colonel  George  A.  Stone,  Twenty-fifth  Iowa,  who  commanded 
a  Brigade  of  Iowa  troops  in  the  Fifteenth  Corps.  Before  his  fine  brigade, 
by  the  most  energetic  movements,  however,  was  able  to  enter  the  city,  a 
portion  of  the  Thirteenth,  under  Lieutenant- Colonel  Kennedy,  performed  a 
brilliant  feat  of  "bumming"  by  crossing  the  river  immediately  opposite  the 
city,  but  some  three  miles  below  where  Stone  effected  a  crossing,  and  taking 
irregular  possession,  and  hoisting  the  stars  and  stripes  on  the  rebel  capital. 
This  achievement  on  the  part  of  Colonel  Kennedy,  which  caused  a  great 
deal  of  merriment  in  the  army,  and  considerable  temporary  jealousy  on  the 
part  of  the  Iowa  Brigade  in  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  is  thus  described  in  a 
letter  by  General  Smith : 

"HEAD-QUARTERS,  FOURTH  DIVISION,  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS.) 
"  NEAR  COLUMBIA,  SOUTH  CAROLINA,  February  17th,  1865.     J 

"BRIGADIER-GENERAL  W.  W.  BELKNAP,  COMMANDING  THIRD  BRI 
GADE  :  — SIR.  Allow  me  to  congratulate  you,  and  through  you,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  J.  C.  Kennedy,  Thirteenth  Iowa  Veteran  Volunteers,  and  the  men 
under  his  command,  for  first  entering  the  City  of  Columbia,  on  the  morning 
of  Friday,  February  17th,  and  being  the  first  to  plant  his  colors  on  the  capital 
of  South  Carolina.  While  the  army  was  laying  pontoon  bridges  across  the 
Saluda  and  Broad  Rivers,  three  miles  above  the  city,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Kennedy,  under  your  direction,  fitted  up  an  old  worn-out  flat-boat  capable 
of  carrying  about  twenty  men,  and  accompanied  by  Lieutenants  H.  C. 
Me  Arthur  and  William  H.  Goodrell,  of  your  staff,  crossed  the  river  in 
front  of  the  city,  and  boldly  advanced  through  its  streets,  sending  back  the 
boat,  with  another  procured  on  the  opposite  shore,  for  more  troops,  and  on 
their  arrival,  with  seventy-five  men  in  all,  drove  a  portion  of  Wheeler's 
cavalry  from  the  town,  and  at  eleven  and  a-half  o'clock,  A.  M.,  planted  his 
two  stands  of  colors,  one  upon  the  old  and  the  other  upon  the  new  capital. 

"The  swift  current  of  the  Congaree  River  and  its  rocky  channel  rendered 
his  crossing  both  difficult  and  dangerous,  and  the  presence  of  the  enemy, 
but  in  what  force  unknown,  rendered  the  undertaking  still  more  hazardous. 


244  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

"Lieutenant-Colonel  Kennedy  and  his  regiment  are  entitled  to  great 
credit  for  its  successful  accomplishment. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"GILES  A.  SMITH, 
"Brevet  Major-General  Commanding." 

To  the  Thirteenth  Iowa,  therefore,  belongs  the  credit  of  sending  the  first 
Federal  troops  into  the  capital  where  secession  was  inaugurated,  and  of 
there  first  hoisting  the  national  colors.  Lieutenant  McArthur,  I  believe, 
of  the  Fifteenth  Iowa,  but  serving  on  General  Belknap's  staff,  was  the 
person  who  planted  the  flag  on  the  capital  building.  The  whole  enterprise 
was  much  talked  about  among  our  troops  for  some  time.6 

Leaving  the  capital  which  had  been  nearly  destroyed  by  fire,  in  due 
time,  the  march  forward  was  continued.  On  the  20th  of  March  arrived  in 
front  of  Bentonville,  North  Carolina,  where  a  heavy  engagement  was  fought 
on  the  next  day,  in  which  the  Fourteenth  Corps  was  principally  engaged 
and  suffered  the  principal  loss.  The  Thirteenth  regiment,  however,  was 
on  the  outskirts  of  the  battle,  so  to  say,  and  there  had  three  men  wounded 
— Sergeant  Catlin,  Corporal  Bilman,  and  Private  Joseph  Swaney — the 
last  casualties  of  the  regiment ;  for  at  Bentonville  it  closed  its  long  and 
honorable  career  so  far  as  being  under  fire  of  the  enemy  was  concerned. 
Arriving  at  Goldsboro,  it  there  had  added  to  its  ranks  a  large  number  of 
drafted  men,  who,  at  once  placed  with  veteran  troops,  very  soon  made  a 
creditable  appearance,  and  performed  right  well  the  duties  of  soldiers. 
Here  Captain  A.  J.  Pope,  Company  D,  was  promoted  Major  in  place  of 
Marshall,  resigned. 

The  regiment  joined  in  the  march  to  Raleigh,  leaving  Goldsboro  on  the 
10th  of  April.  It  participated  in  the  campaign  till  the  surrender  of  John 
ston.  On  the  29th  of  April,  the  command  left  Raleigh,  and  marching  by 
Petersburg  and  Richmond,  reached  Alexandria,  Virginia,  a  few  miles  below 
the  national  capital,  on  the  19th  of  May.  Near  the  former  city  the  brigade 
went  into  camp  in  a  dense  pine  chapparel,  where  the  sun  never  shone  and 
the  winds  never  blew.  It  seemed  the  very  spot  where  all  the  hot  air  of 
the  nation  was  concentrated.  Here  officers  and  men  perspired  and  groaned 

5  The  men  of  Stone's  brigade,  who  with  great  difficulty  and  under  much  danger,  had  made  a  cross 
ing  of  the  river  above  the  city,  felt  no  little  pardonable  chagrin  on  the  subject,  which,  however, 
was  much  mollified  by  the  fact  that  it  was  Iowa  troops  who  ran  in  ahead  of  them.  One  of  them,  I 
remember — a  member  of  the  Twenty-fifth — insisted,  however,  that  the  Thirteenth  boys  did  not  put 
the  fUg  on  the  Capitol.  "  It  was  not  the  State  House  at  all,"  said  he,  "  but  a  fine  large  building, 
with  all  the  modern  improvements,  Doric  chicken-coop  on  top,  looking  like  a  cupola,  and  all  that 
sort  of  thing,  but  no  State  House.  It  was  a  house  '  no  better  than  it  should  be  !'  "  I  happened  to 
meet  General  Giles  Smith,  about  the  time  of  the  great  review,  at  the  public  room  of  Willard's  Hotel, 
just  east  of  the  fountain,  and  told  him  this  joke.  "  Well,"  said  he,  "  I  didn't  think  any  body  in 
Sherman's  army  could  have  made  such  a  mistake.  It  is  incredible." 

Private  C.  Gartin  of  Company  C  was  quite  severely  wounded  on  this  enterprise  which  caused  so 
many  jokes  to  others. 


THIRTEENTH     INFANTRY.  245 

— our  army  swore  terribly  in  Flanders — till  the  day  before  the  grand  review 
of  all  the  armies  in  front  of  the  Executive  Mansion.  In  that  magnificent 
military  display,  the  most  imposing,  perhaps,  of  modern  times,  the  Iowa 
Brigade  bore  a  conspicuous  part.  In  all  those  grand  armies,  commanded 
by  Grant,  Sherman,  Meade,  Sheridan,  Logan,  Slocum,  and  which,  together, 
formed  a  broad  column  nearly  fifty  miles  in  length,  there  was  not  a  brigade 
which  surpassed  the  Iowa,  and  if  there  was  one  which  equaled  it,  it  was 
only  the  brigade  of  Iowa  troops  in  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  commanded  by 
Colonel  George  A.  Stone,  25th  Iowa,  the  next  day  brevetted  a  Brigadier- 
General.  The  Thirteenth  attracted  special  attention  on  this  gala-day,  and 
all  the  more  because  Mrs.  Thomas,  wife  of  the  surgeon,  rode  at  the  head 
of  the  regiment  in  fine  style,  receiving  the  huzzas  of  multitudes  of  specta 
tors,  and  more  bouquets  than  her  prancing  steed  could  well  carry. 

After  the  review,  the  regiment  marched  with  the  brigade  a  short  distance 
north  of  Washington  City,  and  encamped  on  one  of  the  most  picturesque 
hills  of  Rock  Creek,  where  it  remained  till  the  7th  of  June,  when  it  moved 
by  rail  to  Parkersburg,  Virginia,  and  thence  by  steamer  to  Louisville, 
Kentucky.  Here,  under  orders  of  the  War  Department  mustering  out  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee,  it  finished  its  long  and  honorable  career,  and  soon 
after  moved  by  rail  to  Davenport,  where,  July  28th  and  29th,  officers  and 
men  were  paid  off,  and  the  regiment  disbanded. 

At  the  date  of  muster-out  the  field  officers  were: — James  Wilson,  colonel 
and  brevet  brigadier-general ;  Justin  C.  Kennedy,  lieutenant-colonel ;  A.  J. 
Pope,  major.  Lieutenant  C.  A.  Meyers  was  adjutant,  and  Dr.  Moses  W. 
Thomas  surgeon.  The  line  officers  were: — Company  A,  Captain  C.  W. 
Kepler,  Lieutenant  J.  W.  Fitz;  Company  B,  Captain  L.  L.  Newcomer, 
Lieutenant  E.  J.  Evans ;  Company  C,  Captain  John  J.  Safely,  Lieutenants 
J.  S.  Vincent,  G.  H.  Ruple;  Company  D,  Captain  John  T.  Parker,  Lieu 
tenants  W.  B.  McGahey,  W.  H.  Orton;  Company  E,  Captain  W.  A. 
Shirk,  Lieutenants  John  Forsythe,  W.  Penn ;  Company  F,  Captain  Jonas 
Ganby,  Lieutenant  E.  V.  Miller ;  Company  G,  Captain  James  E.  White, 
Lieutenants  J.  W.  Starkweather,  H.  N.  Palmer ;  Company  H,  Captain  C. 
H.  Haskin,  Lieutenants  M.  P.  Bush,  C.  C.  Sullenbarger ;  Company  I, 
Captain  D.  E.  Cocklin,  Lieutenants  Adolph  Miller,  Joseph  Bcerstler; 
Company  K,  Captain  H.  W.  McCaulley,  Lieutenants  D.  A.  Robertson,  and 
J.  W.  Smiley. 

Having  thus  been  disbanded,  the  men  of  the  regiment  from  Scott  County 
immediately  proceeded  to  their  homes,  others  going  to  Linn,  Jasper,  Lucas, 
Keokuk,  Benton,  Marshall,  Washington,  and  other  counties,  where  the 
command  had  been  principally  enrolled,  and  where  they  met  with  a  recep 
tion  which  showed  them  that  their  gallant  history  would  long  live  in  the 
grateful  recollection  of  their  fellow-countrymen. 


CHAPTER    XIY. 

FIFTEENTH     INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZATION  AT  KEOKUK— MOVE  TO  THE  FRONT— BATTLE  OF  SHILOH— THE  SIEGE 
OF  CORINTH-QUIET— A  MIDSUMMER'S  CAMPAIGN— BATTLE  OF  IUKA-BATTLE  OF 
CORINTH— THE  CENTRAL  MISSISSIPPI  CAMPAIGN— WINTER  AT  "MEMPHIS  AND 
BELOW"— THE  CAMPAIGNS  OF  VICKSBURG  AND  OF  JACKSON— A  MARCH  IN  HOT 
WEATHER— REPOSE— THE  MARCH  TO  AND  FROM  MERIDIAN— HOME  ON  VETERAN 
FURLOUGH— RETURN  TO  THE  THEATRE  OF  WAR— KENESAW  MOUNTAIN— NICKA- 
JACK  CREEK— THE  BATTLE  OF  ATLANTA,  JULY  ££<Z— THE  SIEGE— THE 
LAST  OF  THE  FLANKING  MOVEMENTS— PURSUIT  OF  HOOD— THE  CAMPAIGN  OF 
SAVANNAH— «  SLASHING  THROUGH  THE  CAROLINAS "— AT  THE  NATIONAL  CAPI 
TAL—MUSTERED  OUT. 

THE  Fifteenth  Regiment  Iowa  Volunteer  Infantry,  composed  of  more 
than  a  thousand  men,  from  more  than  a  score  of  counties  in  the  State,  re 
cruited  in  the  fall  of  1861  and  the  winter  of  1861-2,  was  as  slow  in  its  en 
rollment  as  the  cotemporaneous  movements  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
which,  but  for  its  splendid  parades,  would  have  appeared  to  stand  still 
and  quiet  like  a  stockade.  The  rendezvous  was  at  Keokuk,  whither  some 
of  the  companies  proceeded  in  the  autumn  of  1861,  and  where,  from  time 
to  time  between  the  first  of  November  and  the  latter  part  of  February, 
1862,  all  the  companies  were  mustered  into  the  service  of  the  general 
government.  But  it  was  in  the  month  of  March  that  the  regiment  was 
fully  organized,  and  became  a  recognized  part  of  the  grand  volunteer  army 
of  the  Union.  Hugh  T.  Reid,  of  Lee  County,  was  the  commanding 
officer,  William  Dewey,  of  Fremont,  lieutenant-colonel,  and  William  W. 
Belknap,  of  Lee,  major.  These  had  all  been  commissioned  before  the  com 
mand  was  filled  up,  and  the  staff  was  also  organized  in  advance  of  the  com 
plete  formation  of  the  regiment.  George  Pomutz,  an  Hungarian  of  De- 
catur  County,  who  had  seen  service  on  the  plains  of  Europe,  where  he 
fought  for  his  country's  nationality,  was  adjutant;  John  M.  Hedrick,  quar 
termaster;  Dr.  Samuel  B.  Davis,  surgeon;  William  H.  Gibbon,  assistant; 
and  Rev.  William  W.  Eastabrook,  chaplain.1 

l  Company  A  was  recruited  chiefly  in  Clinton  and  Linn  counties :  Captain  J.  W.  Kittle,  Lieutenant* 
246 


FIFTEENTH     INFANTRY.  247 

Before  the  regiment  left  ' '  Camp  Halleck ' '  for  the  field,  the  companies 
which  had  reached  the  rendezvous  received  thorough  instruction  and  some 
lessons  in  the  battalion  drill,  for  the  most  part  under  the  supervision  of 
Major  Belknap,  a  natural  soldier,  who,  however,  received  willing  assistance 
from  the  colonel  and  lieutenant-colonel,  so  that  it  may  be  safely  said  there 
were  few  regiments  left  Iowa  which  had  attained  a  greater  efficiency  in 
drill,  or  a  better  notion  of  discipline  than  the  Fifteenth. 

The  19th  of  March,  the  regiment  left  the  rendezvous  for  the  seat  of  war* 
It  was  a  stormy  day.  It  rained,  and  the  streets  of  Keokuk  were  muddy. 
Nevertheless,  there  was  a  large  concourse  of  citizens  at  the  levee  to  witness 
the  departure.  "Never  shall  I  forget,"  says  a  correspondent,  "that 
memorable  and  sacred  moment,  when  the  boat,  bearing  the  precious  load 
of  that  noble  regiment  of  patriots  called  the  Fifteenth  Iowa  Volunteers, 
pushed  off  shore  amid  the  huzzas,  Grod-bless-yous,  and  floating  of  hand 
kerchiefs  from  houses  and  steeples  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach.  It  was 
indeed  a  moment  worth  a  life-time. ' '  The  regiment  moved  on  down  the 
majestic  river,  and  the  rain  continued  to  patter  on  the  windows  of  the  Gate 

M.  A.  Higley,  William  M.  Swanson.  Company  B,  recruited  in  Polk  and  neighboring  counties,  was 
to  be  embodied,  by  order  of  General  Fremont,  in  Colonel  Birge's  regiment  of  Sharp-shooters.  The 
place  of  enlistment  for  this  company  was  at  Des  Moines.  When  it  had  received  nearly  its  full  com 
plement  of  men,  bearing  the  name  of  "  Iowa  Central  Sharp-shooters,"  Captain  Wilson  T.  Smith 
brought  about  a  change  in  the  original  destination  of  his  command,  and  it  became  a  part  of  the 
Fifteenth  Iowa;  A.  G.  Studer  and  C.  E.  Lanstrum  were  the  lieutenants.  Company  C,  enrolled  in 
"  Proud  Mahaska,"  was  commanded  by  Captain  James  A.  Seevers — Lieutenants  John  D.  Shannon,  E. 
E.  Herbert.  Company  Z>,  from  Wapello  County,  Captain  G.  A.  Madison,  Lieutenants  John  M.  He- 
drick,  C.  M.  J.  Reynolds.  Company  E  was  recruited  in  Van  Buren  and  Lee — Captain  R.  W.. Hutch- 
craft,  Lieutenant  John  P.  Craig,  Hugh  G.  Brown.  Company  F,  from  Fremont  and  Mills  on  the 
Missouri — Captain  Edwin  C.  Blackmar,  Lieutenants  James  G.  Day,  Philip  II.  Goode.  Marion  and 
Warren  counties  contributed  most  of  the  men  to  Company  G.  William  T.  Cunningham,  afterwards 
major  of  the  regiment,  was  captain,  R.  L.  Hanks  and  H.  Fisk,  lieutenants.  Company  H,  largely 
from  Pottawattamie  and  Harrison  counties,  Daniel  B.  Clark,  captain,  Lieutenants  Stephen  W.  King, 
John  A.  Danielson.  Company  7,  from  Lee,  Clarke,  and  several  other  counties,  was  commanded  by 
Captain  Lloyd  D.  Simpson — Lieutenants  J.  M.  Reid,  Robert  W.  Hamilton.  Now,  several  of  these 
companies  contained  more  than  the  maximum  number  of  men  allowed  by  the  regulations.  These 
and  others,  nearly  all  from  Wapello,  Marion,  and  Van  Buren,  were  formed  into  Company  X,  in  Feb 
ruary,  1862,  and  John  M.  Hedrick  was  appointed  to  the  command.  Edwin  Davis  and  Frederick 
Christofel  were  his  lieutenants.  So  that  while  the  regiment  was  preparing  for  the  field  Hedrick 
was  lieutenant  of  the  line,  quartermaster,  and  captain. 

It  may  be  well  to  state,  that  before  the  regiment  left  the  rendezvous,  Lieutenant  M.  A.  Higley, 
of  Company  A,  became  quartermaster  in  place  of  Hedrick,  promoted,  whereupon  Sergeant  Robert 
II.  Whitenack  became  second  lieutenant,  vice  Swanson,  promoted  to  the  first  lieutenancy.  Upon 
the  promotion  of  Hedrick  to  the  staff  from  a  lieutenant  of  Company  D,  Sergeant  James  S.  Porter 
was  -appointed  to  the  vacancy.  Lieutenant  James  G.  Day,  of  Company  F,  being  promoted  Captain 
of  Company  I,  was  succeeded  by  Second  Lieutenant  Goode,  and  Sergeant  Job  Throckmorton  was 
made  second  lieutenant.  Captain  Simpson  of  Company  I,  a  thorough  scholar  and  thinker,  resigned 
before  the  command  went  into  the  field,  because  he  had  the  sense  to  see  that  his  talents  did  not  lie 
in  the  military  line,  as  then  understood.  Lieutenant  Day,  of  Company  F,  succeeded  to  the  command 
and  rank,  as  above  stated. 

It  may  be  stated  further  that,  though  the  companies  of  the  regiment  were  entered  the  service  at 
different  times  as  stated  in  the  text,  the  regiment  as  an  entire  command,  was  mustered  on  the  14th 
of  March,  1862. 


248  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

City,  as  though  nothing  had  happened;  the  handkerchiefs  continued  to 
wave  till  long  after  the  boat  passed  beyond  the  vision,  and  it  was  some 
time  before  the  citizens  of  the  hospitable  city  realized  that  the  Fifteenth 
was  gone — many  to  return  with  new  honors  and  pleasing  fame,  others  to 
find  ' '  glory  and  the  grave ' '  on  the  battle-fields  of  the  South. 

Arrived  at  St.  Louis  the  regiment  marched  to  Benton  Barracks,  then  a 
vast  camp  of  instruction,  where  it  received  arms  and  a  complete  outfit  for 
the  field,  and  for  some  days  employed  all  possible  time  in  drill.  Colonel 
Reid  received  orders  to  move  to  the  Department  of  the  Tennessee,  which 
were  read  to  the  regiment  on  dress  parade  on  the  evening  of  the  last  of 
March,  and  received  with  right  lusty  cheers  along  the  whole  line.  The 
next  day,  the  command  marched  to  the  levee  and  embarked  on  the  steamer 
"Minnehaha"  for  Savannah,  Tennessee,  then  General  Grant's  head 
quarters.  It  was  assigned  to  Prentiss'  Division,  at  this  time  encamped 
near  Shiloh  Church,  some  miles  beyond  Pittsburg  Landing,  on  the  road  to 
Corinth.  The  regiment  reached  that  now  famous  landing  on  the  morning 
of  April  6th,  the  memorable  Sunday  on  which  was  fought  the  first  day's 
battle  of  Shiloh.  The  contest  had  already  been  raging  some  time  at  the 
front.  Halting  the  regiment  at  the  landing,  Colonel  Reid  reported  in 
person  to  General  Prentiss  and  received  orders  to  bring  his  command  at 
once  to  the  front.  Before  reaching  the  field  of  actual  battle,  the  regiment 
was  met  by  large  numbers  of  stragglers  seeking  the  rear,  and  both  the 
Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth  regiments  were  halted  in  line  by  order  of  General 
Grant,  for  the  purpose  of  stopping  these  stampeders  and  sending  them 
back  again  to  where  they  belonged.  But  this  seemed  to  be  impossible,  and 
our  regiment  moved  to  the  front,  and  taking  position  on  McClernand's 
line  in  the  right  centre,  went  into  battle.  Here  it  fought  bravely  and  well, 
though  unskilfully  posted  by  one  of  McClernand's  staff  officers,  till  ordered 
to  retreat,  when  the  men  fell  back  with  rapidity  and  in  confusion.  Portions 
of  the  command  were  rallied  and  took  part  in  the  battle  during  the 
remainder  of  the  day  and  on  Monday. 

Col.  Reid,  who  was  here  severely  wounded,  speaks  in  high  terms  of  the 
bravery  of  his  command,  which,  being  unassigned,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  to 
brigade  or  division,  fought  independently,  as  it  were,  and  at  a  disadvan 
tage.  He  mentions  specially  Major  Belknap,  as  being  always  in  the  right 
place  at  the  right  time,  directing  and  encouraging  officers  and  men  with 
the  utmost  coolness ;  Adjutant  Pomutz,  as  distinguished  for  coolness  and 
courage ;  Captains  Kittle,  Smith,  Seevers,  Madison,  Hutchcraft,  Cunning 
ham,  Day,  and  Hedrick,  for  gallantry  and  courage  in  leading  forward  and 
encouraging  their  men ;  Lieutenants  Studer,  Porter,  Craig,  Hanks,  Reid, 
and  Eldredge,  as  deserving  of  special  praise ;  Captain  Blackmar,  Lieuten 
ants  King,  Goode,  and  Danielson,  severely  wounded,  while  acting  well 


FIFTEENTH     INFANTRY.  249 

their  part ;  and  lie  also  notes  with  commendation  the  conduct  of  Lieuten 
ants  Lanstrum,  Brown,  and  Herbert,  Sergeant-Major  Brown,  and  the 
Color-Sergeant,  Newton  J.  Rogers,  "who  fought  in  the  First  Iowa  at 
Springfield,  gallantly  bore  our  standard  forward  and  planted  it  among  the 
enemy  where  it  was  bravely  maintained  and  defended. ' '  Lieutenants  Jesse 

B.  Penniman  and  Robert  W.  Hamilton  were  slain  on  the  field,  with  them 
fell  nineteen  others  killed  and  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  wounded. 
Captain  Hedrick  was  captured  in  a  charge  upon  the  enemy.     The  total  loap 
in  killed,  wounded  and  missing  was  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight.     Such 
was  the  sacrifice  of  the  Fifteenth  at  its  first  battle.2 

*  LIST  OF  CASUALTIES.  Killed,  Lieutenants  Jesse  B.  Penneyman,  Robert  W.  Hamilton ;  Sergeant 
Edward  C.  Fowler;  Corporals  Jared  W.  Fouts,  Isaac  N.  Troth,  Benjamin  P.Russell,  Merrick  W. 
Thayer,  Granville  Feagans,  Aaron  Crill;  Privates  Patrick  H.  Kennedy,  William  Wood,  Conrad 
Wcnzel,  Charles  W.  Bardrick,  George  F.  Frick,  Joseph  Ryne,  John  McLeod,  George  Peyton,  Marshal 
H.  Wilson,  James  Doyle,  John  D.  Holmes,  John  W.  Winkler. 

Wounded,  Fidd  and  Staff— Colonel  Hugh  T.  Reid,  Major  William  W.  Belknap,  Adjutant  Pomutz, 
Sergeant-Major  Alexander  Brown. 

Company  A — Corporals  William  McLannehan,  John  A.  Kimbrough,  William  E.  Elsroad,  William 

C.  Hersberger,  Marius  Rhynsburger;  Privates  Dick  Rhynsburger,  Elisha  Hopkins,  Charles  Stewart, 
John  D.  Moore,  Frank  Lambert,  John  D.  Sims,  Jacob  Sellers,  Jacob  Brown,  Charles  Wheelock,  New 
ton  Dawson,  Henry  Barnes  Helmick. 

Company  B— Sergeant  Henry  Morlaiid;  Privates  John  Payne,  Harry  Edmonson,  Daniel  Skinner, 
Benjamin  F.  Stoughton. 

Company  C—  Israel  S.  Warner,  David  Heoff,  Simon  P.  Autry,  Henry  Boval,  Caleb  L.  Kirrs,  Da 
vid  Devore,  William  H.  Brown,  Charles  Johnson,  James  Youngblood,  Isaiah  Dore,  Eden  Hunt, 
Samuel  Lloyd,  Jacob  F.  Trimbell,  Ezra  B.  Whitlack, 

Company  D — Lieutenant  James  S.  Porter ;  Corporal  John  Holloway ;  Privates  John  Angel,  An 
drew  Clark,  Henry  Elmer,  James  H.  Nosier,  William  B.  Winters,  William  F.  Gray,  Lycurgus  F. 
Bird,  Marion  Bayburn,  William  Maserva,  George  Zimmerman,  Charles  Shreeves,  John  Williman, 
Samuel  Buchanan,  Andrew  T.  Roach,  Madison  Wellman. 

Company  E— Captain  Richard  W.  Hutchcraft ;  Corporals  Vear  Porter,  Mel vin  Sweet;  Privates 
Benjamin  Davis,  John  Miller,  George  Dehart,  Aaron  Clingman,  Robert  Hardman,  Nicholas  Zaehan ; 
Sergeants  William  C.  Stidger,  William  P.  Muir;  Privates  William  D.  Carver,  Isaac  B.  Thatcher, 
Jonathan  R.  Porter,  John  J.  Wilson,  Charles  Dufur,  William  H.  Harryman,  Silas  Grove. 

Company  J7— Captain  Edwin  C.  Blackmar;  Lieutenant  Philip  H.  Goode;  Sergeant  Jonah  W. 
Parsons;  Corporal  John  Y.  Stone;  Privates  Francis  A.  Blackman,  Watson  Cooper,  Francis  M. 
Hainmou,  Archibald  W.  McKee,  John  D.  Rynson,  Lewis  Kelley,  William  Gillard,  William  H.  Irwin, 
George  B.  Murray,  Daniel  W.  Scott,  William  Blair,  Lewis  Kin,  John  A.  C.  Whiting. 

Company  G— Oscar  Ford,  Nathan  Hays,  Clark  S.  Mathews,  Joseph  Arnon,  Daniel  Fisher,  Henry 
Horton,  Miles  Judkins,  Harrison  Moris,  William  W.  James,  Freeman  Stone,  John  Toverea,  John 
White,  Jacob  McVay. 

Company  H—  Lieutenants  Stephen  W.  King,  John  A.  Danielson ;  Sergeants  James  M.  Platt,  Jo 
seph  S.  Cole;  Privates  James  Clark,  Samuel  Dicus.  John  W.  Ellis,  Henry  Franz,  Andrew  Mosier, 
Hiram  G.  Vincent,  Joseph  Whaley,  Nelson  G.  Boyton,  Jonathan  Johnson,  Samuel  Clark,  David 
Knaus,  Levi  I.  Streeter. 

Company  /—Captain  James  G.  Day;  Lieutenant  James  M.  Reid;  Sergeant  Henry  Schuvers; 
Corporal  George  H.  Kuhn,  Benjamin  F.  Keck;  Privates  Robert  Brisbin,  Elkanah  Chandler,  Albert 
Homewood,  George  Haner,  John  B.  Jones,  Henry  Morgan,  James  McMurphy,  Melvin  R,  Palmer, 
Henry  V.  Vanderwall,  Jackson  Gracey,  Isaac  Johnson,  Garrett  W.  Hall,  William  Ward,  Adam  A. 
Rogers,  Daniel  Buckley. 

Company  JT— Corporals  Humphrey  B.  Wyatt.  Alfred  B.  Wilcox;  Privates  William  Bixler,  David 
Chrismore,  William  R.  Edmond,  Jacob   Ketchum,  James  M.  Long,  Levi  W.  Randolph,  George  W. 
Wallace,  Milton  M.  Young,  John  Johnson,  William  S.  Grove,  George  L.  Hunt,  James  Smith,  Thomas 
W.  Howard. 
32 


250  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

It  is  proper  to  observe  that  throughout  this  battle  Colonel  Reid  acted 
with  the  most  praiseworthy  courage  and  coolness.  His  command  did  not 
receive  mention  from  superior  officers  because  it  was  not  regularly  under 
the  notice  of  any ;  fighting  throughout,  as  so  many  commands  at  Shiloh 
fought,  a  good  deal  on  its  " own  hook."  A  correspondent  says:  "Amongst 
the  officers  of  the  regiment  conspicuous  for  their  gallant  conduct,  Colonel 
Reid  stands  foremost.  He  displayed  an  iron  energy  equal  to  the  emer 
gency  of  the  situation,  inciting  the  men  to  stand  their  ground,  and  impart 
ing  his  contempt  of  danger  to  the  officers  and  men  of  the  entire  command. 
He  received  a  severe  wound  in  the  neck,  the  ball  passing  through,  close  to 
the  jugular  vein,  and  though,  paralyzed  by  the  wound,  he  fell  from  his 
horse,  he  was  soon  seen  remounted,  and  continued  in  command  through 
the  remainder  of  the  fight." 

The  work  of  reorganizing  the  army  began  immediately  after  the  battle. 
For  a  short  time,  our  regiment,  the  Sixteenth  Iowa,  and  the  Eighteenth 
Wisconsin,  were  in  the  same  brigade,  Colonel  Reid  commanding,  but  on 
the  27th  of  April,  "the  Iowa  Brigade,"  Colonel  M.  M.  Crocker  command 
ing,  was  organized,  to  continue  in  being  as  it  turned  out  till  the  overthrow 
of  the  rebellion — a  period  of  more  than  three  years,  crowded  full  of  big 
achievements  by  the  army,  in  many  of  the  greatest  of  which  this  very  com 
mand  bore  no  inconsiderable  part.  Two  days  after  the  formation  of  this 
now  famous  brigade,  and  while  the  army  was  slowly  advancing  its  camps 
toward  Corinth,  Samuel  G.  Bridges,  Esq.,  of  Keokuk,  visited  the  com 
mand,  and  in  behalf  of  the  citizens  of  that  city  presented  the  officers  and 
men  of  the  Fifteenth  with  a  beautiful  flag  ' '  in  acknowledgment  of  their 
bravery  and  good  conduct  on  the  battle-field  of  Shiloh. ' ' 

The  movement  on  Corinth  very  soon  afterwards  began  in  earnest,  though 
it  was  conducted  so  slowly  as  to  seem  to  the  impatient  troops  and  the 
impatient  country  to  carry  with  it  little  of  the  quality  of  earnestness. 
General  Beauregard  had  a  large  army,  well  supplied,  the  flower  of  the 
southern  chivalry,  the  vaunted  pride  and  bulwark  of  the  confederacy. 
Major-General  Halleck,  who,  in  his  gorgeous  and  bloodless  head-quarters 
at  St.  Louis  had  acquired  a  great  part  of  the  glory  of  Fort  Henry,  of  Fort 
Donelson,  of  Island  No.  Ten,  and  of  Shiloh.  was  now  personally  upon  the 
field,  or  at  any  rate  hovering  along  the  horizon  of  its  rear,  directing  the 
movements  of  the  Union  forces.  The  march  on  Corinth,  less  than  twenty 
miles  from  the  field  of  Shiloh,  began  in  the  latter  part  of  April,  and  closed 
a  month  afterwards  by  our  occupation  of  the  place,  entirely  evacuated  by 
the  enemy  on  the  30th  of  May.  Wherefore,  the  movement  has  been  called 

Missing  and  prisoners,  Henry  A.  Palmer,  Martin  V.B.Barnes;  Corporal  Eraanuel  M.  Gebhert; 
Lieutenant  Hezekiah  Fisk;  Captain  John  M.  Hedrick;  Privates  Albert  U.  Crosby,  Rockwell  Jewell, 
G.  W.  Colenbrunder. 


FIFTEENTH     INFANTRY.  251 

the  "siege  of  Corinth."  from  that  day  to  this,  but  whether  Halleck  besieged 
Beauregard,  or  Beauregard  Halleck  the  more,  is  a  question  of  more  than 
one  side. 

Our  regiment  in  this  advance  was  generally  on  the  left  of  the  right  wing 
of  the  army,  commanded  by  General  Thomas.  The  approach  was  gradual, 
the  troops  advancing  by  parallels  of  intrenchment  as  in  regular  siege  for 
many  miles,  and,  especially  on  the  extreme  right  and  left,  having  many 
combats,  both  behind  works,  and  in  sortie,  with  the  enemy.  After  the 
army,  about  the  middle  of  May,  took  position  round  Corinth,  from  the  north 
to  the  southeast,  the  wings  about  four  miles  distant,  the  centre  advanced  a 
mile  nearer  the  stronghold,  there  was  scarcely  a  day  in  which  there  was  not 
considerable  fighting.  General  Sherman  on  the  right  and  General  Pope  on 
the  left  carried  forward  their  lines  through  a  constant  series  of  skirmishes, 
in  some  of  which  the  firing  grew  well  nigh  into  battle.  The  enemy's  sharp 
shooters,  posted  in  every  advantageous  position,  many  concealed  in  the 
trees,  annoyed  and  galled  our  lines,  so  that  frequent  sorties  and  cannonading 
on  our  part  were  necessary  to  clear  the  way.  In  every  division  on  the  front 
line  reconnoissances  were  of  daily  occurrence,  so  that  the  continual  roar  of 
artillery  and  rattle  of  musketry  almost  ceased  to  attract  attention,  except  as 
to  those  in  close  proximity  to  the  scene  of  action.  It  was  a  constant  suc 
cession  of  battles  on  a  small  scale,  the  engagement  of  Farmington  in  the 
earlier  part  of  the  movement,  where  the  Second  Iowa  Cavalry  made  the 
most  gallant  charge  of  the  war,  scarcely  excepting  that  of  Zagonyi  at 
Springfield,  and  that  on  our  right  by  Sherman  on  the  Union  side,  near  the 
close  of  the  siege,  being  the  most  important.  The  last  fortified  position  of 
the  division  to  which  our  regiment  belonged  was  within  half  a  mile  of  the 
enemy's  main  works,  and  the  order  for  final  advance  and  assault  on  the 
30th  was  out,  when  it  was  discovered  that  the  rebels  had  evacuated  their 
lines,  and  were  already  in  full  retreat  southward. 

In  all  these  operations  the  Iowa  Brigade  performed  its  part  well,  but 
without  noticeable  loss.  It  must  be  conceded,  admitting  the  mode  of  war 
fare  adopted  here  by  Halleck  as  correct,  that  his  advance  was  handsomely 
made  up  to  the  last  two  or  three  days  before  the  evacuation.  He  was  then 
at  fault  in  points  of  vigilance  and  activity,  allowing  the  enemy  to  escape  in 
safety  with  his  main  body.  The  campaign  had  its  chief  merits  in  bringing 
about  a  general  advance  of  the  Union  lines  southward,  and  in  schooling  the 
Union  troops  engaged  in  lessons  of  field  fortifications  and  intrenchments — 
lessons  which  saved  many  lives  afterwards  and  made  those  troops  much 
more  formidable  throughout  the  war. 

During  the  greater  part  of  June,  the  Fifteenth,  in  common  with  the  other 
regiments  of  the  brigade,  was  engaged  in  the  performance  of  important 
picket  and  guard  duties  west  of  Corinth,  along  the  line  of  railway  towards 


252  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Chewalla,  where  several  detached  forts  were  in  process  of  construction. 
Near  the  end  of  the  month  the  regiment  was  detailed  as  provost-guard  in 
Corinth,  Major  Belknap  being  Provost  Marshal,  General  Ord  in  command 
of  the  post  and  troops  in  the  vicinity.  In  the  latter  part  of  July  the  regi 
ment  moved  to  Bolivar,  where  and  in  the  vicinage  thereof,  it  was  engaged 
for  more  than  a  month — reconnoitering,  building  fortifications,  and  stand 
ing  to  arms  ready  to  repel  threatened  attacks.  General  Tuttle  going  hence 
to  Cairo,  Crocker  took  command  of  the  division,  and  Colonel  Reid  of  the 
brigade.  The  first  half  of  September  had  not  passed,  when  the  command 
marched  to  Corinth,  whence  our  regiment  moved  with  the  column  under 
Ord  against  Price  at  luka.  It  did  not  take  direct  part  in  the  battle  near 
that  place  on  the  19th. 

The  regiment  countermarched  to  Corinth,  after  a  halt  of  some  days  near 
luka,  arriving  at  the  former  place,  on  the  evening  of  October  2d,  and, 
taking  position  some  two  miles  west  of  town,  and  south  of  the  Chewalla 
road,  there  took  gallant  part  in  the  battle  which  followed,  Crocker  being 
again  in  command  of  the  brigade.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Dewey  had  some 
time  before  left  the  Fifteenth  to  take  command  of  the  Twenty-third  regi 
ment,  and  his  place  was  now  filled  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Belknap,  who 
had  command  during  the  battle  of  the  3d,  Colonel  Reid  being  sick.  The 
regiment  was  handled  with  great  skill,  and  fought  with  conspicuous 
bravery.  ' '  I  cannot  too  highly  commend  the  bravery  and  courage  of  the 
officers  and  men  of  the  regiment,"  says  Lieutenant-Colonel  Belknap,  "  and 
am  convinced  that  had  the  whole  brigade  been  together  in  the  fight,  the 
repulse  of  the  enemy  would  have  been  complete  in  that  part  of  the  field." 
He  speaks  of  the  gallant  conduct  of  Major  Cunningham,  Adjutant  Pomutz, 
Captains  Kittle,  Seevers,  Madison,  Hanks,  Lieutenants  Whitenack,  Wil- 
kins,  Porter,  Rogers,  Throckmorton,  Miller,  and  King,  and  states  that  the 
three  officers  killed,  Lieutenants  Eldridge,  Kinsman,  and  Cathcart,  were 
among  the  best  in  the  service.  He  also  notes  the  great  gallantry  of  Color- 
Corporal  Black,  of  Company  E,  who,  being  severely  wounded,  was  suc 
ceeded  by  Color-Corporal  Wells  of  Company  I,  who  bore  the  standard 
bravely  through  the  remainder  of  the  fight.  Colonel  Reid,  notwithstand 
ing  his  illness,  had  his  martial  spirit  aroused  by  the  battle,  and  though 
really  unable  to  do  so,  took  command  on  the  morning  of  the  4th.  But  the 
battle  of  this  day  was  not  severe  on  that  part  of  the  field  occupied  by  the 
Iowa  Brigade,  our  regiment  suffering  a  loss  of  only  two  wounded.  Out  of 
three  hundred  and  fifty  men  of  the  Fifteenth  engaged  in  the  battle  of  Cor 
inth,  the  regiment  lost  eighty-five,  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing.8 


'Namely :  Wounded.  Field  and  Staff—  Major  William  T.  Cunningham ;  Sergeant-Major  Alexander 
Brown. 


FIFTEENTH     INFANTRY.  253 

The  regiment  joined  in  the  pursuit  of  the  retreating  rebels,  marching 
beyond  Ripley  in  the  chase.  It  formed,  with  the  Eleventh  Iowa,  the  rear 
of  the  army,  and  reached  camp  near  Corinth  on  the  13th  of  the  month. 
Here  the  command  remained  something  more  than  a  fortnight,  employed 
much  of  the  time  in  strengthening  the  interior  lines  of  fortifications  about 
Corinth.  The  28th  General  Hamilton  succeeded  General  Rosecrans  in 
command  of  the  troops  at  Corinth,  the  latter  being  sent  into  another  de 
partment.  The  2d  of  November  these  troops  moved  in  the  direction  o£  ' 
Grand  Junction,  our  regiment  reaching  that  place  on  the  evening  of  the 
5th.  Whilst  the  army  was  gathering  at  this  place  for  the  winter's  cam 
paign  against  Vicksburg,  there  was  much  drilling  of  the  troops  in  large 
bodies,  the  division  to  which  our  regiment  belonged  being  now  for  the  first 
time  practically  instructed  in  all  the  different  movements  incident  to  brigades 
in  line  of  battle  by  division. 

The  campaign  began  the  latter  part  of  November.  Joining  therein,  the 
regiment  moved  into  central  Mississippi,  as  far  as  Yocana  station.  Falling 
back  upon  the  abandonment  of  the  enterprise  by  General  Grant,  it  reached 
Holly  Springs  the  22d  of  December,  and  resuming  the  march  on  the  30th, 
reached  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  railroad  at  Lafayette,  Tennessee,  the 
next  day.  At  this  place  the  command  remained  about  a  fortnight,  in  guard 
of  the  railway,  when  it  moved  to  Memphis,  and  went  into  camp,  the 
weather  being  intensely  cold. 

The  18th  of  January,  1863,  the  Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth  Iowa  regiments 

Company  A — Wounded,  Corporal  John  Gunning;  Privates  John  Khnbrough,  John  Mara,  John 
Malany,  Samuel  Bailey. 

Company  B— Killed,  Corporal  Anson  D.  Morgan.  Wounded,  Privates  Robert  Lyon,  David  Win 
ters,  August  F.  Barger,  John  P.  Polser.  Missing,  Jacob  L.  Kelsey. 

Company  C— Killed,  Lieutenant  John  D.  Kinsman ;  Privates  Samuel  Lloyd,  Oliver  Smith,  Walter 
A.  Tanner.  Wounded,  Sergeant  David  Hoff,  Israel  S.  Warner;  Corporals  Noah  Griffis,  Greenburgh 
W.  Wymore ;  Privates  James  A.  Heller,  Jerome  R.  Hawley,  William  Jackson,  John  C.  Rea. 

Company  D — Wounded,  Corporal  Gregg  A.  Madison;  Privates  Samuel  P.  Reid,  Andrew  Clark, 
Stephen  Wilkins,  Samuel  Kuhns. 

Company  E— Wounded,  Sergeants  William  P.  L.  Muir,  William  C.  Stidger;  Corporal  James  W. 
Henry,  Color-bearer  Eldridge  G.  Black;  Privates  John  W.  Pierce,  Isaac  B.Thatcher,  James  S. 


Company  F— Killed,  Wesley  Irwin.  Wounded,  Corporal  James  W.  Sipple;  Privates  Philip  Benner, 
Francis  W.  Tarpenning,  Aaron  Mowat,  William  Boyer,  William  Fitzgerald,  Lewis  Hessimer, 
Hiukley  S.  Woodmansee. 

Company  G— Killed,  Lieutenant  William  Cathcart;  Corporal  James  B.  Heatley.  Wounded, 
Captain  Romulus  L.  Hanks;  Privates  Bartholomew  Middleswath,  William  Clark,  George  B.  Cum- 
mings,  David  Elliott,  Hiram  Essex,  Timothy  Ridden,  Elias  Reid,  Charles  B.  Vinton.  Missing,  Henry 
Horton,  Samuel  Roberts. 

Company  H— Wounded,  Lieutenant  Logan  Crawford;  Corporal  James  E.  Rice;  Private  Richard 
G.  Boyd.  Missing,  Alfred  L.  Stone,  Stephen  J.  Gordon. 

Company  I— Killed,  Thomas  H.  Davenport.  Wounded,  Patrick  Bane,  William  Bush,  John  A. 
McGee,  John  Davenport,  George  Hanner,  Isaac  M.  Christy,  Asa  Z.  Parker. 

Company  K—  Killed,  Lieutenant  Rufus  H.  Eldridge :  Private  William  C.  Dixon.  Wounded,  Ser 
geant  David  Myers ;  Corporal  Cyrus  J.  Morayer ;  Privates  John  Brady,  Benjamin  F.  Momyer,  Lewis 
Warren,  William  H.  H.  Williams.  • 


254  IOWA      AND     THE     REBELLION. 

were  embarked  on  the  steamer  "Minnehaha" — the  same  on  which  the 
former  had  moved  from  St.  Louis  to  Pittsburg  Landing  in  April,  1862 — 
and  on  the  20th  started  down  the  river,  the  fleet  conveying  the  division 
consisting  of  fifteen  vessels.  Disembarking  at  Milliken's  Bend,  the  com 
mand  went  into  camp.  Here  details  from  the  Iowa  Brigade  made  several 
reconnoissances  in  the  direction  of  Richmond,  but  on  February  8th  the 
command  was  again  embarked  on  steamers,  and  soon  on  its  way  to  Lake 
Providence,  where  it  remained,  performing  some  labor  on  the  "canal,"  but 
otherwise  in  pleasant  quietude  till  the  campaign  of  Vicksburg  opened  in 
earnest.  Early  in  April,  Brigadier-General  Lorenzo  Thomas,  adjutant- 
general  of  the  army  of  the  United  States,  arrived  in  camp.  He  and  others 
addressed  the  troops  on  the  subject  of  forming  an  army  of  negro  soldiers, 
and  it  is  stated  that  Colonel  Reid's,  whose  speech  concluded  the  proceedings 
of  the  meeting,  was  one  of  the  most  convincing  arguments  ever  uttered  in 
behalf  of  the  policy  which  Thomas  was  practically  inaugurating.  About 
this  time  Captain  J.  M.  Hedrick,  who  after  a  long  captivity  had  rejoined 
the  regiment  just  after  the  central  Mississippi  campaign,  received  his  com 
mission  as  major,  in  the  place  of  Cunningham,  resigned. 

The  21st  of  April,  the  regiment  left  Lake  Providence,  and  arrived  that 
night  at  Milliken's  Bend.  Early  in  May  General  Crocker  took  command 
of  the  Seventh  (Quinby's)  Division,  Seventeenth  Corps,  and  Brigadier- 
General  Hugh  T.  Reid,  late  colonel  of  the  Fifteenth,  having  at  Lake 
Providence  assumed  command  of  the  First  Brigade,  Sixth  Division,  Colonel 
Hall,  of  the  Eleventh,  in  the  absence  of  Colonel  Chambers,  Sixteenth,  the 
senior  officer,  assumed  command  of  the  Iowa  Brigade.  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Belknap,  who  for  some  time  had  been  on  staff  duty,  was  in  command  of 
the  regiment.  And  it  may  be  well  enough  to  state  here  that  before  the 
close  of  the  campaign  he  was  promoted  to  the  colonelcy,  Major  Hedrick 
succeeding  as  second  in  command,  and  Adjutant  Pomutz  being  appointed 
major.* 

The  26th,  our  regiment  took  up  line  of  March  in  the  campaign  of  Vicks 
burg.  The  history  of  the  Iowa  Brigade  in  this  grand  campaign,  as  well 
as  its  connexion  with  the  campaign  of  Jackson  promptly  following,  has 

*  GENERAL  HUGH  T.  REID. — The  direct  connection  of  this  officer  with  the  Fifteenth  Iowa  ceased  at 
Lake  Providence.  Without  any  of  what  we  call  the  "  military  air,"  or  "  style,"  he  was  nevertheless 
an  excellent  officer.  He  did  not  trouble  his  head  about  mere  military  formulae — the  words  of  com 
mand  as  laid  down  in  the  books — but  he  knew  how  to  take  care  of  his  men  as  well  in  battle  as  out 
of  it  almost  to  perfection.  Except  as  to  the  forms,  he  was  a  superior  soldier.  His  promotion  to  the 
rank  of  general  officer  was  a  deserved  recognition  of  his  services  and  of  his  ability.  He  raised  the 
Fifteenth  regiment  at  a  time  when,  on  account  of  the  Potomac  quietude,  it  was  difficult  to  recruit 
troops  in  Iowa.  He  had  been  constantly  with  it  since  its  organization,  leading  it  through  bloody 
battles  and  active  campaigning  with  great  success,  and  had  on  several  important  occasions  com 
manded  the  brigade.  His  great  energy,  and  courage,  and  decision  of  character  were  universally 
acknowledged.  He  continued  in  the  service  some  time  after  the  Vicksburg  campaign,  and  retired 
with  dignity  and  honor,  to  serve  the  public  in  another  capacity. 


FIFTEENTH     INFANTRY.  255 

been  set  forth  in  my  account  of  the  Thirteenth  regiment,  so  that  I  need 
only  state  here  that  in  all  the  operations  there  noted,  the  Fifteenth  took  its 
full  part.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  though  the  regiment  was  often 
under  fire — though  details  therefrom,  as  from  all  the  other  regiments 
engaged  in  the  siege  were  in  trenches  by  night  and  engaged  by  day ;  though 
at  one  time  the  entire  command  was  under  a  direct  and  heavy  fire  of  grape 
and  canister ;  though  it  sharply  skirmished  at  Mechanicsville  and  Messen 
ger' s  Ferry — it  did  not  have  a  single  casualty  to  report  during  the  entire 
siqge. 

The  latter  part  of  July,  the  command  moved  from  Camp  near  Messen 
ger's  Ferry  over  Big  Black  River,  and  marched  to  Vicksburg,  where 
encampment  was  established  north  of  the  city,  between  Sherman's  old  line 
of  investment  and  the  rebel  fortifications,  and  less  than  one  mile  from  the 
Mississippi  River.  Here  officers  and  men  of  regiment  and  brigade  were 
paid  off  by  Major  Thaddeus  H.  Stanton,  no  less  known  in  the  army  as  a 
faithful,  obliging  officer,  than  he  had  been  in  Iowa  as  a  scholar,  thinker, 
writer,  legislator.  The  command  remained  here  till  August  21st,  when  it 
started  on  General  Stevenson's  ill-starred  expedition  to  Monroe,  Louisiana. 
On  this  march  and  countermarch  Major  Pomutz  was  detailed  as  division 
picket  officer.  The  exhausted  column  returned  to  Vicksburg,  September 
3d,  when  our  regiment,  with  the  brigade,  went  into  camp  south  of  the 
town,  and  there,  with  the  exception  of  one  or  two  unimportant  expeditions, 
rested,  till  February,  1864 ;  drilled,  and  regained  health,  and  became  a 
veteran  organization.  Captain  James  M.  Reid's  company  of  the  Fifteenth 
was  the  first  of  the  whole  division  to  reenlist,  and  the  regiment  was  reported 
as  a  veteran  organization  on  the  5th  of  January.  On  the  3d  of  the  follow 
ing  month  it  took  up  line  of  march  eastward,  and  having  accompanied 
Sherman's  column  on  the  famous  Meridian  raid  throughout,  returned  to 
Vicksburg,  March  4th.  Shortly  afterwards  the  veterans  returned  to  Iowa 
on  furlough,  and  at  Keokuk  and  elsewhere,  were  received  with  the  utmost 
possible  kindness  and  cordiality. 

Meantime,  the  non-veterans  of  the  brigade  were,  by  order  of  General 
McPherson,  organized  into  a  command  called  "The  Iowa  Battalion  of  the 
Seventeenth  Army  Corps,"  Major  George  Pomutz  commanding.  The 
battalion  remained  at  Vicksburg  about  one  month,  and  then  proceeded  by 
steamer  to  Cairo,  Illinois — that  post  having  been  designated  rendezvous  of 
troops  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps — in  charge  of  a  large  quantity  of  arms. 
Arriving  at  Cairo,  it  was  ordered  to  garrison  Mound  City.  The  25th  of 
April  the  battalion  was  increased  by  detachments  from  the  Third  Iowa  and 
two  Illinois  regiments,  and  made  part  of  General  Gresham's  forces  which 
moved  up  the  Tennessee  River  to  Clifton,  and  thence  by  Athens  to  Hunte- 
ville,  Alabama,  being  the  advance  guard  of  the  Corps.  The  battalion 


256  IOWA    AND     THE      REBELLION. 

arrived  at  Huntsville,  the  20th  of  May,  and  was  soon  afterwards  discon 
tinued,  the  men  and  line  officers  taking  their  places  in  their  regiments, 
and  Major  Pomutz  reporting  to  General  Blair,  as  Provost  Marshal  of  the 
Corps. 

When  the  Fifteenth  reached  Cairo  on  return  from  veteran  furlough,  it 
was  temporarily  assigned  to  General  Force's  division,  with  the  Eleventh 
Iowa  and  Fifty-third  Indiana  constituting  a  brigade  therein.  Remaining  at 
Bird's  Point,  and  at  Paducah,  till  May  6th,  it  moved  by  steamer  to  Clifton, 
whence  it  marched  by  Pulaski  to  Huntsville,  arriving  on  the  23d.  Mean 
while,  the  original  regiments  of  the  Iowa  Brigade — Eleventh,  Thirteenth, 
Fifteenth,  and  Sixteenth — had  again  been  formed  into  a  brigade,  which,  at 
Huntsville,  was  officially  designated  the  Third,  of  the  Fourth  Division. 
Colonel  Hall,  Eleventh,  commanded  the  brigade,  and  General  M.  M. 
Crocker  the  division. 

The  reorganization  of  the  several  brigades  and  divisions  of  the  Seventeenth 
Corps  being  rapidly  completed,  the  whole  was  in  motion  from  Huntsville 
on  the  25th,  to  join  Sherman's  army  of  the  Military  Division  of  the  Mis 
sissippi,  already  engaging  the  enemy  under  Johnston  along  the  railway 
south  of  Dalton,  Georgia.  At  Decatur,  the  27th,  General  Crocker  was 
compelled  by  reason  of  extreme  ill  health  to  relinquish  the  command  of  the 
Fourth  Division.  He  was  succeeded  by  General  W.  Q.  Gresham.  March 
ing  by  Rome,  Kingston,  and  Allatoona,  the  command  arrived  at  Ackworth 
the  8th  of  June,  and  joining  McPherson's  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  took 
position  on  the  left  thereof,  McPherson  being  at  this  time  on  the  left  of  the 
grand  army. 

It  here  commenced  its  career  in  the  campaign  of  Atlanta,  throughout 
which  thenceforth  until  the  close  thereof  it  participated  with  as  much 
credit  and  honor,  as  any  like  command.  Of  several  important  operations 
and  engagements  of  this  campaign  I  have  already  spoken,  and  shall  have 
occasion  to  speak  of  others  hereafter,  so  that  I  need  not  now  enter  into 
details  touching  the  manoeuvres  in  front  of  Kenesaw  Mountain,  the  assault, 
the  heavy  skirmishing  by  Nickajack  Creek,  or  the  battle  of  July  21st,  in 
front  of  Atlanta.  In  all  the  engagements  of  this  important  period  in  which 
the  Seventeenth  Corps  took  part,  the  Fifteenth  Iowa  participated,  and 
between  Big  Shanty  and  Atlanta,  before  the  great  battle  of  the  22d  of 
July,  it  had  lost  in  killed  and  wounded  nearly  one  hundred  of  its  officers 
and  men.6  It  so  happened  that,  throughout  all  this  portion  of  the  cam- 

&  Namely :  AT  KENESA.W  MOUNTAIN.— Killed,  Greenville  Fallen,  Lewis  Hessemer,  James  D.  Sellers. 
Woimdfd,  Sergeant  William  W.  Seater ;  Corporal  James  G.  Chapin ;  Privates  Erastus  II.  Nordyke? 
Cyrus  E.  Furgeson,  James  J.  Moss,  Patrick  Murphy,  Oliver  P.  Fleming,  Charles  Harvey,  Charles 
11.  Shreeves,  Martin  McNiece,  Jerome  Davis,  Carl  Finn,  John  F.  St.  John,  Joseph  II.  Paul,  Alonzo 
Klemp,  James  Sweeney. 

NICKAJACK  CREEK. —  Wounded,  Sergeants  James  C.  Bonar,  William  Lumpkin;  Corporal  Abijiah  H. 


FIFTEENTH     INFANTRY.  257 

paign  the  Iowa  Brigade  was  called  upon  to  do  much  marching,  skirmish 
ing,  and  fighting.  But  the  occasion  on  which  the  command  was  called 
upon  to  fight  the  most  gallantly,  as  well  as  to  suffer  the  most  severely 
was  at 

THE  BATTLE  OF  ATLANTA,  JULY  22d. 

The  reader  should  recall  to  mind,  in  order  to  gain  a  clear  view  of  this 
engagement,  the  manoeuvres  which  preceded  it.  It  will  be  recollected,  , 
then,  that  General  Sherman,  having  given  his  armies  several  days'  rest  on*  " 
the  banks  of  the  Chattahoocb.ee,  put  them  again  in  motion  on  the  17th. 
Inasmuch  as  his  encampments  had  been  along  the  river,  which  here  flows 
in  a  general  southwesterly  course — McPherson  on  the  left  at  Roswell, 
Schofield  in  the  centre,  and  Thomas  on  the  right  by  Paice's  Ferry — it  was 
necessary,  in  order  to  approach  Atlanta  in  line  of  battle,  that  Sherman 
should  march  by  a  general  right  wheel  of  his  whole  force.  Thus  moving, 
the  armies  closed  in,  converging  toward  Atlanta,  on  the  20th.  General 
Johnston,  whose  Fabian  warfare  had  been  disapproved  by  the  pretended 
government  at  Richmond,  was  now  displaced  from  the  command  of  the 
rebel  army,  and  General  J.  B.  Hood  substituted  in  his  stead.  The  change 
of  commanders  was  followed  by  a  change  in  the  mode  of  warfare.  The 
offensive  was  at  once  adopted.  On  the  20th,  before  the  lines  of  Thomas 
and  Schofield  had  been  entirely  closed  up,  Hood  hurled  a  column  into  the 
gap,  and  a  severe  battle  ensued,  in  which  the  rebels  were  indeed  gallantly 
repulsed  with  heavy  loss  by  General  Hooker,  General  Johnson,  of  Palmer's 
Corps,  and  General  Newton,  of  Howard's  Corps,  though  not  before  our 
own  troops  had  sustained  a  considerable  casualty  in  killed  and  wounded. 
On  the  21st,  the  Union  army  felt  the  enemy  in  his  intrenched  position, 
which  was  found  to  crown  the  heights  overlooking  the  comparatively  open 
ground  of  the  valley  of  Peach  Tree  Creek,  his  right  beyond  the  Augusta 
road  to  the  east,  and  his  left  resting  near  Turner's  Ferry  on  the  Chatta- 

Johnson ;  Privates  Richard  Sanders,  (mortally),  John  H.  Reaves,  Andrew  Lee,  Perry  M.  Gephart, 
William  Watson,  William  Alloway,  James  Arnold,  Oliver  Orm,  William  C.  Laird,  Melville  C.  Davis, 
William  S.  Clearwaters,  (mortally),  Luke  Half  hill,  William  Miller,  William  G.  Bisk,  John  W.  Rich 
mond,  William  A.  Rhamy,  Andrew  J.  Roach,  Clark  Marshall,  James  Martin,  Lewis  H.  Burkhalter. 

ATLANTA,  July  20th  and  list.— Kitted,  Corporals  C.  Orm,  A.  Smith,  A.  A.  Bean.  Wounded,  Corporal 
Isaac  McChristy;  Privates  Samuel  Van  Arsdal,  John  Rowe;  Sergeant-Major  James  W.  Henry  ;  Ser 
geant  James  Bird ;  Privates  A.  Mefford,  William  H.  Davis,  Daniel  McKinster,  Isaac  D.  Hubbard, 
Alfred  Broadstone,  Thomas  Rayger,  Levi  Wells :  Sergeant  R.  M.  Wilson,  (mortally) ;  Privates  Andrew 
McConnell,  Eden  Hunt,  A.  C.  Fenderson,  S.  E.  Hawkins,  Thomas  Wright,  (mortally) ;  Sergeant  J.  N. 
Roberts ;  Corporals  S.  H.  Johnson,  S.  Holcoinb ;  Privates  0.  E.  Stewart,  H.  Elmore,  J.  W.  Cheney, 
C.  W.  Jameson,  B.  F.  Thomas,  J.  S.  Vantrese,  John  Bowen,  J.  Orm,  J.  H.  Henderson,  R.  Orra,  Wil 
liam  Fitzgerald,  J.  A.  Esley,  J.  D.  Fullenwider,  (mortally),  J.  Cox,  Patrick  Murphy,  J.  II.  Forges, 
John  Davenport,  C.  Woolorvus,  John  White,  H.  Louthan ;  Sergeant  William  B.  McDowell ;  Corporal 
J.  H.  Wood,  (mortally) ;  Private  William  A.  Walker,  (mortally).  Lieutenant  H.  C.  McArthur  was 
severely,  and  Lieutenants  Henry  Schevers  and  E.  M.  Gephart,  (killed  next  day),  were  slightly 
wounded. 

33 

.^- —  ~  *~ 

•    '   •.. 
/ 


258  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

hoochee.  This  intrenched  line  was  at  a  general  distance  of  about  four 
miles  from  Atlanta.  On  this  day,  General  McPherson  gained  a  command 
ing  position  on  the  left  of  the  Union  lines  by  a  short  but  heroic  combat,  of 
which  I  gave  some  account  in  the  preceding  chapter.  But  when,  on  the 
morning  of  the  22d,  General  Sherman  discovered  that  the  enemy  had 
abandoned  his  strong  line  of  the  day  before,  he  was  no  little  surprised. 
He  put  his  troops  in  motion,  and  the  advancing  ranks  swept  across  the 
works  of  the  enemy,  unresisted,  so  that  Sherman  at  first  thought  the  rebels 
had  decided  to  give  him  Atlanta  without  further  struggle.  But  when  his 
troops  had  closed  in  upon  the  city  until  they  occupied  a  line  in  the  form  of 
an  arc  of  a  circle  of  about  two  miles  radius,  they  discovered  the  enemy  in 
force,  occupying  a  line  of  heavy  redoubts,  covering  all  the  roads  leading 
into  Atlanta.  The  redoubts  were  being  connected  with  curtains,  strength 
ened  by  trenches  for  riflemen,  by  abatis  and  chevaux-de-frise. 

Now,  in  the  course  of  these  manoeuvres  of  a  converging  nature,  General 
G.  M.  Dodge,  with  the  Sixteenth  Corps,  on  the  right  of  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee,  had  been  thrown  out  of  line — squeezed  out,  as  it  were — so  that 
Logan,  Fifteenth  Corps,  connected  on  his  right  with  Schofield's  Army  of 
the  Ohio.  Wherefore,  Dodge  was  ordered  to  move  from  right  to  left,  and 
taking  the  strong  position  gained  by  McPherson  the  day  before,  form  the 
left  flank  of  the  whole  army.  Whilst  General  Dodge  was  in  motion  to 
execute  this  order,  and  while  the  head  of  his  column  was  yet  at  the  distance 
of  half  a  mile  from  the  left  of  Blair's  Seventeenth  Corps,  the  rebel  General 
Hardee  delivered  impetuous  attack  on  Blair's  flank.  He  had  sallied  with 
his  corps  from  Atlanta,  and  with  the  object  of  attacking  before  our  lines 
had  been  protected  by  the  works  which  the  troops  had  learned  to  throw  up 
at  every  new  position.  He  had  enveloped  the  flank,  and  swinging  round 
his  right  came  in  contact  with  Dodge,  who  with  the  swiftness  of  lightning 
disposed  his  troops,  who  at  once  went  into  battle  with  an  impetuosity  equal 
to  that  by  which  they  had  been  attacked.  But  the  gap  between  him  and 
Blair  was  still  open,  and  the  rebels  rushing  in  attacked  the  Seventeenth 
Corps  in  rear  of  its  left.  The  last  order  General  McPherson  ever  gave  was 
one  directing  Colonel  Wangelin's  Brigade  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps  to  move 
rapidly  up  from  the  railroad  and  occupy  this  gap.  It  moved  across  on  the 
double-quick  and  checked  the  enemy. 

It  was  now  twelve  o'clock,  noon,  and  the  battle  was  raging  all  along  the 
line  of  the  Sixteenth  Corps,  the  flank,  part  of  the  rear  and  the  front  of  the 
Seventeenth  Corps,  whilst  the  artillery  along  the  lines  of  the  Ohio  and 
Cumberland  armies  kept  up  a  thundering  fire  on  the  enemy' s  works  in  their 
front.  Presently,  Stewart's  rebel  corps,  massed  in  heavy  bodies,  sallying 
from  Atlanta,  dashingly  moved  against  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  and  at  first 
met  with  considerable  success.  The  enemy  broke  through  our  lines,  and 


FIFTEENTH     INFANTKY.  259 

just  at  this  time  heavy  firing  being  heard  in  rear,  our  troops  were  seized 
with  a  momentary  panic,  and  fled  in  confusion.  The  firing  in  rear  was 
explained  as  an  attack  upon  our  trains  at  Decatur,  bravely  repulsed  by 
Colonel  Sprague's  brigade  of  Dodge's  Corps;  and  General  Logan,  now  in 
command  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  rode  amongst  his  troops  shouting 
in  a  voice  that  rang  clear  and  loud  even  above  all  the  din  of  battle, 
"  McPherson  and  revenge!"  so  that  the  panic  was  stayed.  Wood's  Division 
of  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  in  which  there  were  many  Iowa  regiments,  and  a 
brigade  composed  exclusively  of  Iowa  troops,  was  ordered  to  restore  the 
broken  line  and  regain  the  position  lost.  This  was  done  in  the  finest  style, 
the  rebels  driven  off  with  fearful  loss,  and  all  our  guns  here  captured  but 
two  retaken.  Here  the  battle  closed  in  a  complete  victory  about  four 
o'clock.  It  was  Williamson's  Iowa  Brigade  that  made  the  splendid  charge. 

We  left  Dodge  and  Blair  sorely  pressed,  the  latter,  as  to  part  of  his  lines 
on  front,  flank,  and  rear.  There  never  was  a  more  deadly  or  singular  com 
bat  than  that  waged  by  the  division  of  Giles  A.  Smith,  on  the  extreme  left 
of  the  Seventeenth  Corps.  Part  of  his  division,  embracing  the  Iowa 
Brigade,  fought  from  a  half  dozen  different  positions,  and  in  almost  as 
many  directions.  First,  the  troops  from  behind  a  line  of  works,  would 
repel  a  charge  of  the  enemy  and  send  him  to  the  right  about  with  fearful 
slaughter;  then  they  would  "jump"  right  over  that  same  line  of  works, 
and  repulse  a  charge  made  from  the  opposite  direction  in  like  manner. 
After  describing  one  of  these  combats  in  which  the  brigade  of  Colonel 
Potts,  aided  by  the  Eleventh  Iowa,  repulsed  the  enemy,  General  Smith 
thus  speaks  of  that  part  of  the  engagement  which  immediately  followed : 

"It  was  now  past  four  o'clock,  and  only  two  regiments  in  front  of  our 
main  line  had  yet  been  given  up.  Not  five  minutes  elapsed  from  the 
repulse  of  the  last  assault,  when  another  still  more  desperate  attempt  was 
made  from  the  opposite  or  east  side,  in  the  present  rear  of  Colonel  Hall's 
Brigade.  Again  the  men  jumped  over  their  works,  and  the  most  desperate 
fight  of  the  day  now  took  place.  The  enemy,  having  the  cover  of  the 
woods,  could  approach  within  fifteen  or  twenty  yards  of  our  works  without 
discovery.  Rebel  commanders,  with  such  men  as  would  follow  them, 
would  not  unfrequently  occupy  one  side  of  the  works  and  our  men  the 
other.  Many  individual  acts  of  heroism  here  occurred.  The  flags  of  two 
opposing  regiments  would  meet  on  the  opposite  sides  of  the  same  works, 
and  would  be  flaunted  by  their  respective  bearers  in  each  other's  faces; 
men  were  bayoneted  across  the  works,  and  officers  with  their  swords  fought 
hand  to  hand  with  men  with  bayonets.  Colonel  Belknap,  of  the  Fifteenth 
Iowa  Volunteers,  took  prisoner  Colonel  Lampley  of  the  Forty-fifth  Ala 
bama,  by  pulling  him  over  the  works  by  his  coat  collar,  being  several  times 
fired  at  by  men  at  his  side.  The  colors  of  his  regiment  were  taken  at  the 


260 


IOWA    AND     THE     EEBEI 


OPERATIONS   OF    FOURTH    DIVISION,    SEVENTEENTH    ARMY   CORPS, 


FIFTEENTH     INFANTRY.  261 

same  time.    The  enemy  "loss  in  this  attack  must  have  been  very  severe. 
It  lasted  nearly  three-quai  rers  of  an  hour,  when  they  reluctantly  retired." 

There  were  other  assaul>  on  this  part  of  the  line,  so  that  General  Smith 
truthfully  declared  the  eng  «ient  here  lasted  seven  hours  with  scarcely  any 
cessation,  the  only  change  b  .-ing  in  the  fury  with  which  it  raged.  On  other 
parts  of  the  field  the  battle  closed  some  hours  earlier,  all  that  continued 
after  about  four  o'clock  being  like  the  pattering  of  rain  which  succeeds  the  , 
wild  thunder-storm. 

The  battle  of  Atlanta  was  a  warfare  of  giants.  In  the  impetuosity, 
splendid  abandon,  and  reckless  disregard  of  danger  with  which  the  rebel 
masses  rushed  against  our  lines  of  fire,  of  iron,  and  of  cold  steel,  there 
had  been  no  parallel  during  the  war,  not  even  before  the  fortunate  death 
of  Stonewall  Jackson.  Nor  did  the  Union  troops  ever  exhibit  on  any  other 
field  a  more  determined,  sturdy  courage,  or  more  admirable  dash  in  the 
charge,  when  a  charge  was  ordered,  as  in  the  case  of  Wood's  division  of 
the  Fifteenth  Corps,  and  in  other  scarcely  less  noted  instances  during  the 
engagement.  The  rebel  dead  lay  thickly  strewn  all  over  the  ground  in 
front  of  our  lines,  and  on  both  sides  on  the  left.  Here  indeed  Union  men  and 
rebels  lay  commingled  in  the  cold  embrace  of  death.  In  front  of  the  Anny 
of  the  Tennessee,  when  the  enemy  had  been  driven  off  at  all  points,  there 
were  three  thousand  two  hundred  and  forty  dead  rebels.  The  total  loss  of 
the  enemy,  in  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners,  was  probably  not  far  from 
ten  thousand.  The  loss  of  the  Unionists  was  three  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  twenty-two,  killed,  wounded  and  captured.  But  among  the  slain  was 
Major-General  McPherson.  At  the  commencement  of  the  fight,  he  rode 
from  General  Sherman's  head-quarters  toward  the  left,  and,  learning  the 
dispositions  General  Dodge  had  made  to  meet  the  enemy  exclaimed  { '  Good 
for  Dodge,"  and  rode  on,  accompanied  by  a  single  orderly,  in  the  direction 
of  General  Giles  A.  Smith's  position.  He  unwittingly  passed  within  the 
enemy's  lines  and  was  killed  by  a  ball  through  the  side.  "  He  was  a  noble 
youth  of  striking  personal  appearance,"  says  Sherman,  "of  the  highest 
professional  capacity,  and  with  a  heart  abounding  in  kindness  that  drew  to 
him  the  affections  of  all  men."  He  was  the  most  beloved  by  his  troops  of 
all  our  generals.6 

6There  are  thousands  of  instances  of  bravery  displayed  by  the  heroes  of  this  war — the  gallant  pri 
vates — that  never  find  their  way  into  print,  but  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  occupy  sufficient  space  to 
eulogize  the  unusual  gallantry  displayed  by  Private  George  D.  Reynolds,  Company  D,  Fifteenth 
Iowa  regiment,  on  the  battle-field  before  Atlanta  yesterday  afternoon.  This  tried  and  trusty  veteran 
had  been  engaged  in  the  savage  contest  for  several  hours,  and  at  last  was  severely  wounded  in  the 
arm,  the  bullet  fracturing  the  bone  so  that  amputation  of  the  fore-arm  may  be  necessary  to  save  his 
precious  life.  This  George  Reynolds  saw  the  noble  McPherson  when  he  fell  mortally  wounded,  and 
remained  with  his  General  till  the  brave  heart  ceased  to  beat  longer  for  the  land  he  loved,  and  the 
pulse,  which  ever  throbbed  with  heroic  blood,  grew  silent.  The  storm  of  shot  and  shell  did  not 
intimidate  the  soldier,  but  growing  faint  from  the  loss  of  blood  and  the  pain  of  his  wound,  he  was 


262  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

The  State  of  Iowa  was  represented  in  this  engagement  by  no  less  than 
thirteen  regiments  of  infantry.  The  Second  and  Seventh  fought  under 
Dodge,  and  in  the  brigade  which  General  Elliott  W.  Rice  so  long  and  so 
well  commanded.  Lieutenant- Colonel  Howard,  commanding  Second,  was 
severely  wounded  during  the  battle,  and  the  command  devolved  upon  Major 
Hamill.  Captain  George  Heaton  was  also  severely  wounded.  Both  the 
Second  and  the  Seventh  met  with  considerable  loss,  and  fought  with  their 
accustomed  gallantry.  What  was  left  of  the  gallant  "old  Third,"  here 
fought  till  it  was  well  nigh  wholly  immolated,  and  as  an  organization 
passed  out  of  existence  in  the  fine  flames  of  patriotic  martyrdom.  The 
Sixth  here  added  a  bright  page  to  its  record,  whilst  the  Fourth,  the  Ninth, 
the  Twenty-fifth,  the  Twenty-sixth,  and  the  Thirtieth,  fighting  in  Wood's 
Division,  performed  as  valuable  and  as  brilliant  service  as  any  troops  on  the 
field,  and  yet,  though  they  inflicted  terrible  loss  upon  the  enemy  in  the 
splendid  onset  by  which  the  line  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps  was  restored,  they 
did  not  suffer  heavy  loss. 

No  command  ever  fought  better  than  the  Iowa  Brigade  at  the  Battle  of 
Atlanta.  It  was  a  hand-to-hand  fight  between  thousands  of  infuriated 
combatants  contending  for  the  vital  position  of  the  field.  The  Sixteenth 
regiment,  meeting  the  first  onslaught  of  the  enemy,  fought  with  desperate 
valor  for  some  time,  but  was  compelled  to  succumb  to  overwhelming  num 
bers,  and  passed  out  of  the  battle  in  captivity  in  the  earlier  part  of  the 
conflict.  The  remaining  regiments,  being  the  Eleventh,  the  Thirteenth, 
and  the  Fifteenth,  fought  throughout  as  though  the  salvation  of  the  grand 
army  depended  upon  their  strong  right  arms.  During  the  day  these  regi 
ments  repelled  seven  several  charges  of  the  enemy  which  were  only  less 
determinedly  made  than  that  which  has  been  already  described  in  the 
words  of  General  Smith's  official  report.  The  command  captured  two 
stands  of  colors,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty-seven  prisoners — one  colonel, 
one  lieutenant-colonel,  one  major,  two  captains,  three  lieutenants  and  one 
hundred  and  thirty  enlisted  men,  being  the  trophies  of  the  Fifteenth ;  one 
colonel,  one  captain,  and  ninety-one  men,  of  the  Eleventh,  whilst  the  Thir 
teenth  captured  twenty  enlisted  men. 

"  Where  all  officers  and  men,"  says  Colonel  Hall,  "  devotedly  did  their 
whole  duty,  I  can  make  special  mention  of  but  few.  Among  them,  Colonel 

compelled  to  start  for  the  hospital  to  get  his  wound  properly  dressed.  After  marching  nearly  a 
mile  in  the  hot  sun  and  dust,  he  met  Lieutenant-Colonel  Strong,  Inspector-General  on  General 
McPherson's  staff,  and  Captain  Bucll,  Chief  Ordnance  officer  of  the  Department  and  Army  of  Ten 
nessee,  who  were  anxiously  inquiring  for  the  General's  body.  Reynolds  volunteered  to  pilot  them 
to  the  spot  where  he  had  left  the  body,  notwithstanding  the  enemy  were  rapidly  advancing  and  the 
bullets  whistled  through  the  branches  of  the  trees. 

The  entire  party  had  a  very  narrow  escape  from  death  and  Capture,  for  they  had  barely  placed 
the  body  of  their  inanimate  chieftain  in  an  ambulance  when  a  squad  of  rebels  fired  several  shots 
after  them. — Correspondence  of  the  New  York  Tribune. 


FIFTEENTH     INFANTRY.  263 

John  Shane,  Thirteenth  Iowa,  cool  and  brave,  fearlessly  rallying  his  men 
in  the  thickest  of  the  fire ;  Colonel  Belknap,  Fifteenth  Iowa,  displayed  at 
all  times  the  highest  qualities  of  the  soldier,  cheering  his  men  by  his  voice, 
and  encouraging  them  by  his  personal  disregard  of  danger ;  Lieutenant-Colo 
nel  J.  C.  Abercombie,  commanding  Eleventh  Iowa,  who  with  a  quiet  and 
calm  determination,  inspired  his  men  with  his  own  steadfast  spirit ;  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Hedrick,  Fifteenth,  wounded  in  the  noble  discharge  of  his 
duty ;  Major  Foster,  Eleventh,  also  wounded,  bravely  rallying  his  men ;: 
Major  Walker,  Thirteenth,  killed  at  his  post  where  the  brave  should  die ; 
Adjutants  King,  Fifteenth,  Prescott,  Eleventh,  and  Rood,  Thirteenth,  for 
gallant  and  efficient  services ;  also  Sergeant-Major  Myers,  Thirteenth,  Cap 
tain  Anderson,  Company  A,  Eleventh,  whose  gallant  defence  of  the  crest 
of  the  hill  has  already  been  mentioned ;  Sergeant-Major  J.  G.  Safely,  who, 
with  First  Sergeant  J.  A.  Buck,  Company  K,  Eleventh  (afterwards  killed) 
with  a  party  of  picked  up  men,-  numbering  thirty  or  forty,  made  a  dash  on 
the  works  held  by  the  rebels,  bringing  back  with  them  more  than  their  own 
number  of  prisoners,  among  them  a  colonel  and  a  captain,  Safely  being 
wounded."  The  colonel  also  mentions  Lieutenant  0.  D.  Kinsman, 
Captain  Bassett,  Lieutenants  Kellogg,  Stone  and  Safely,  of  the  staff, 
as  deserving  of  the  warmest  thanks.  General  Smith  also  takes  occasion 
to  mention  Colonel  Belknap,  Colonel  Shane,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Aber- 
crombie,  and  Captain  Anderson,  as  well  as  Captain  Cornelius  Cadle,  Jr., 
A.  A.  General  and  Captain  John  C.  Marvin,  Acting  Inspector  General,  on 
the  division  staff. 

The  losses  of  the  brigade  were  very  severe,  amounting  in  the  aggregate 
to  six  hundred  and  sixty-five,  of  whom  thirty- seven  were  slain,  one  hundred 
and  fifty  wounded,  many  of  whom  afterwards  died,  and  four  hundred  and 
seventy-eight  captured.  Of  the  captured  more  than  half  belonged  to  the 
Sixteenth  regiment.  The  Fifteenth  here  lost  one  hundred  and  thirty-two, 
of  whom  ten  were  killed,  forty  wounded,  and  eighty-two  captured  by  the 
enemy.  Lieutenant  E.  M.  Gephart  was  the  only  officer  killed.  "Wounded 
severely  at  Shiloh,  captured  there,  and  a  prisoner  for  months,  he  returned 
to  the  regiment,  bravely  did  his  duty,  and  died  a  soldier's  death." 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Hedrick,  whose  conspicuous  bravery  is  specially  men 
tioned  by  Colonel  Belknap,  was  well  nigh  mortally  wounded,  and  his 
brother,  Captain  Thomas  H.  Hedrick,  of  Company  K,  was  also  severely 
wounded.  Neither  has  entirely  recovered  to  this  day.7 

7  LIST  OP  CASUALTIES,  rx  THE  FIFTEENTH  IOWA,  AT  THE  BATTLE  op  ATLANTA.  Killed,  Lieutenant 
Emanuel  M.  Gephart;  Corporal  C.  B.  Vinton;  Privates  John  Lovejoy,  Harrison  Morris,  John  P.  Moss, 
E.  Coleman,  E.  S.  Julien ;  Sergeant  Stephen  H.  Gilespie ;  Corporals  Joshua  P.  Davis,  B.  F.  Momyer, 
Sergeant  John  A.  Tovey ;  Wounded,  Lieutenant-Colonel  John  M.  Hedrick,  Lieutenant  John  F. 
Evans;  Sergeants  Andrew  Mitchell,  James  Bird;  Corporal  William  Majors;  Private  N.  B.  Kindred, 
M.  Rhynesberger ;  Musician  William  H.  Boles;  Privates  Patrick  Norton.  G.  T.  Hughes,  B.  F.  Lovejoy 


264  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

The  Fifteenth  remained  on  the  field  of  battle  for  a  few  days,  strengthen 
ing  the  position  by  fortifications.  The  wounded  were  taken  to  the  hos 
pitals,  the  dead  were  buried.  At  midnight  of  the  26th,  the  corps  moved 
from  the  left  to  the  right  of  the  army,  passing  along  the  rear  of  the  lines, 
and  reaching  its  position  beyond  Proctor's  Creek  on  the  evening  of  the 
27th,  General  Giles  A.  Smith's  division  falling  into  line  and  at  once 
erecting  works  on  the  extreme  right  of  the  army,  save  Leggett's  Division 
on  its  flank.  The  next  day,  while  the  Fifteenth  Corps  was  moving  into 
position  on  the  right  of  Leggett,  Hood  again  hurled  forth  his  masses 
against  it,  in  the  vicinity  of  Ezra  Church,  whereupon  the  battle  of  that 
name  ensued,  resulting  in  a  loss  of  five  thousand  to  the  enemy  who  were 
repulsed.  The  Fifteenth  Corps  fought  the  battle  on  the  Union  side,  with 
detached  reinforcements  from  other  corps.  Among  these  were  the  Thirty- 
second  Ohio  of  the  First  Brigade,  and  the  Fifteenth  Iowa,  both  under 
command  of  Colonel  Belknap,  who  reenforced  the  division  of  General 
Morgan  L.  Smith,  and  being  called  into  action  received  the  warm  thanks 
of  that  general  for  efficient  service.  The  regiment  lost  two  killed  and  nine 
wounded  in  the  engagement,  and  returned  to  position  next  day.8 

Two  days  after  the  battle  of  Ezra  Church,  Colonel  Belknap  received 
notice  of  his  appointment  to  the  rank  of  brigadier-general.  On  the  last 
day  of  July,  he  bade  farewell  to  the  Fifteenth,  and  assumed  command  of 
the  brigade.  Major  Pomutz,  who  had  been  serving  on  the  staff  of  General 
Blair  during  the  campaign,  now  returned  to  his  regiment,  being  relieved 

Corporal  John  Stackley,  Privates  Jacob  T.  Timbrel,  Henry  Vancleave,  Jason  R.  Lathrop,  Squire 
Martz,  George  J.  Reynolds,  F.  M.  Philips,  R.  Wilson,  Silas  W.  Grove,  Corporals  William  II.  Sellers, 
J.  Sloneker,  0.  A.  Warner;  Privates  T.  J.  Morris,  J.  W.  Cox,  J.  S.  Tresler;  Sergeant  John  Harger ; 
Private  Elias  M.  Reed ;  Sergeant  Warren  W.  Rose ;  Privates  B.  E.  Sley,  Henry  Frantz,  B.  F.  Brcnmn, 
Elkana  Chandler;  Sergeant  William  L.  Watson;  Privates  J.  Ballenger,  William  Morrow,  Isaac 
Hauer;  Captain  Thomas  H.  Hedrick;  Privates  William  Gibson,  W.  Stalcop;  Missing,  Sergeant-Major 
James  W.  Henry ;  Sergeant  Charles  R.  Hawley ;  Wounded  and  Missing,  Corporals  John  Mara,  J. 
Primrose,  John  A.  Kimbrough ;  Privates  Samuel  Reed,  William  Moore,  William  Davis,  B.  F.  Gep- 
hart ;  Missing,  W.  Dye,  J.  Getty,  Ellis  Smith,  Elihu  Smith,  D.  Sargent,  A.  Ferguson  ;  Corporal  J.  F. 
Gunning ;  Privates  S.  Wilson,  Amos  Overmire  ;  Corporal  Edward  D.  Lunt;  Privates  Thomas  Fennesty, 
W.  A.  Boudinot,  Columbus  P.  Fox ;  Sergeant  William  S.  Winters ;  Privates  C.  B.  Ililer,  Charles 
Johnston,  S.  Knowles,  J.  Little,  John  Rea,  James  W.  Hawkins ;  Sergeant  Joseph  Heckart;  Wouiided 
and  Missing,  Corporal  W.  S.  McLean,  Lieutenant  William  P.  Muir ;  Private  L.  T.  Bird,  A.  C.  Barnes ; 
Missing,  G.  W.  Crouch,  Philip  Gifford,  George  W.  Farlan,  Peter  Hoover,  William  Maserva,  A.  Mc- 
Connell,  Marion  Rayburn,  S.  Stevens,  A.  Van  Voast,  William  R.  Harny,  Philip  Benner,  Felix  Pool, 
W.  Cooper,  B.  South ;  Wounded  and  Missing,  Lieutenant  Logan  Crawford ;  Privates  C.  Woolorvus, 
George  Haner ;  Missing,  Sergeant  S.  C.  Harris ;  Corporal  John  H.  Forges ;  Privates  I.  J.  Laflesh, 
Patrick  Murphy,  T.  II.  B.  Marshal,  L.  J.  Streeter,  Sergeant  Daniel  Verrips ;  Corporal  G.  W.  Colon- 
brand  ;  Privates  Benjamin  F.  Reek,  L.  B,  Thomas,  Robert  Brisbin,  John  W.  Cramer,  C.  W.  Elrick,  A. 
Homewood,  Henry  Kirby,  Simon  Neromiah,  L.  Rowell,  W.  H.  Rowell,  S.  C.  Thomas,  Isaiah  White, 
S.  F.  Zomes  ;  Sergeants  John  G.  Davis,  C.  J.  Momyer ;  Privates  John  Riley,  J.  F.  Clearwaters,  A.  Horn, 
W.  A.  Mathis,  H.  D.  Pope,  J.  Rankin,  M.  Young. 

8  Killed,  Corporal  Erastus  Nordyke;  Thomas  Lenehan.  Wounded,  Lieutenant  H.  Schievers  ;  R. 
T.  Spaits,  Lewis  Crowder,  Thomas  Palmer ;  Corporal  George  Harbaugh ;  George  Kearnes ;  Sergeant 
Charles  W.  Kitchell,  Samuel  L.  Roberts,  Stephen  Forman. 


FIFTEENTH     INFANTRY.  265 

from  duty  at  corps  head-quarters  at  his  own  request,  and,  in  absence  of 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Hedrick,  took  command  of  the  regiment.  Hedrick 
was  afterwards  promoted  colonel,  but  did  not  sufficiently  recover  from  his 
wounds  to  take  command  of  the  regiment  during  the  war,  and  Pomutz, 
promoted  lieutenant-colonel,  remained  in  command  throughout.  The 
colonel,  whose  mental  energies  were  in  no  degree  impaired  by  his  physical 
sufferings,  and  who  never  gave  up  his  warm  interest  in  the  command,  sent 
many  recruits  to  the  regiment,  so  that  its  ranks  were  well  nigh  filled  up  $o 
the  maximum.  For  his  long  gallant  and  meritorious  services  he  was  bre- 
vetted  brigadier-general  early  in  1865,  and  retained  in  the  service  many 
months  after  the  honorable  discharge  of  his  comrades  of  the  Fifteenth, 
being  all  the  while  employed  on  important  duty  at  the  national  capital. 

General  Hood's  attack  of  July  28th  closed  the  series  of  his  offensive 
operations  against  General  Sherman's  army.  The  Union  general  pro 
ceeded  with  his  investing  operations,  extending  his  lines  of  fortifications  on 
the  right,  west  and  south  of  Atlanta.  Hood  remained  on  the  defensive, 
but  met  Sherman's  extensions  to  the  south  by  lines  of  forts  and  rifle-pits, 
rapidly  but  strongly  constructed,  and  extending  between  the  Union  lines 
and  railway  down  to  East  Point.  About  the  1st  of  August,  General  Scho- 
field,  with  the  Twenty-third  Corps,  and  General  Palmer,  with  the  Four 
teenth,  moved  round  to  the  right,  and,  Schofield  furthest  south,  extended 
the  lines  to  a  point  opposite  East  Point.  With  the  close  of  the  first  week 
in  August  the  siege  was  fully  begun.  Our  lines  were  near  those  of  the 
enemy,  and  though  from  this  time  forth  until  the  26th,  when  General 
Sherman  raised  the  siege  to  move  against  the  enemy's  communications 
south  of  Atlanta,  there  was  no  battle,  there  was  almost  constant  fighting 
at  some  part  or  other  or  several  parts  of  the  long  lines.  The  boom  of  the 
artillery  and  the  crack  of  the  sharp-shooters'  rifles  were  constantly  heard, 
during  all  this  time,  and  the  troops  might  almost  be  said  to  have  lived, 
moved,  and  had  their  being  in  an  atmosphere  surcharged  with  deadly  mis 
siles.  Casualties  daily  occurred,  and  our  regiment  lost  during  the  siege 
about  twenty  men.9 

When  General  Sherman  raised  the  siege  of  Atlanta,  he  played  one  of  the 
sublimest  games  of  logistics  ever  witnessed.  It  is  perhaps  true  that  in  this 
branch  of  warfare,  General  Sherman  was  the  equal  of  any  captain  who  ever 
lived.  On  this  occasion  his  genius  was  splendidly  illustrated.  Taking  his 
army  in  hand,  he  moved  one  corps  here,  another  there,  another  still  in  a 
different  direction,  so  that  the  country  round  about  Atlanta  seemed  to  be 

»  Namely  -.—Killed,  Sergeant  Alva  C.  Tanner;  Corporals  William  Major,  A.  L.  Stone.     Wounded, 
Assistant  Surgeon  Hezekiah  Fisk,  (mortally);  Sergeants  Jonathan  Vincent,  Isaac  Cooper;  Corporal 
William  II.  Romesha;  Privates  Joshua  F,  Lock,  Isaiah  A.  Smith,  Samuel  Bailey,  Henry  More, 
William  D.  Carver,  Thomas  Murphy,  John  Fisher,  James  B.  Hardin,  James  Cooly. 
34 


IOWA     AND     THE     EEBELLION. 

alive  with  glistening  bayonets.  The  dazzling  array  blinded  our  own  troops, 
who,  unacquainted  with  the  secrets  of  head-quarters,  seemed  lost  in  the 
bewildered  maze  of  grand  manoeuvres  which  they  were  themselves  perform 
ing.  The  various  corps  seemed  to  be  all  in  motion  without  apparent  ob 
ject — crowding  the  roads,  some  moving  rapidly,  some  more  slowly,  passing, 
repassing,  and  meeting  each  other,  till  the  soldiers'  minds  were  lost  in 
amazement,  and  began  to  suspect  that  ' '  Old  Tecumseh ' '  had  gone  crazy 
after  all !  If  his  own  troops  were  ignorant  of  his  designs,  it  may  readily  be 
supposed  the  enemy  was  at  fault.  The  rebels  were  indeed  completely  de 
ceived.  They  believed  the  siege  had  been  raised,  and  that  Sherman  had 
put  himself  in  retreat  northward.  They  rejoiced  accordingly,  and  had  a 
grand  ball. 

"  There  was  a  sound  of  revelry  by  night, 

And  Georgia's  capital  had  gathered  then 
Her  beauty  and  her  chivalry,  and  bright 

The  lamps  shone  o'er  fair  women  and  brave  men ; 
A  thousand  hearts  beat  happily ;  and  when 

Music  arose  with  its  voluptuous  swell, 
Soft  eyes  looked  love  to  eyes  which  spake  again, 

And  all  went  merry  as  a  marriage-bell." 

But  the  gaiety  of  the  military  capital  was  interrupted  speedily.  It  gave 
place  to  battle's  magnificently-stern  array.  Sherman  had  indeed  raised  the 
siege,  but  only  for  the  purpose  of  executing  his  designs  in  another  mode. 
The  result  of  the  magnificent  manoeuvres  of  the  25th  and  26th  was,  that 
the  Twentieth  Corps  alone  returned  to  our  fortified  lines  on  the  Chatta- 
hoochee  to  cover  the  communications  northward,  while  the  main  army, 
moving  while  the  rebels  danced,  marched  against  the  enemy's  communi 
cations,  and  soon  delivered  battle  at  Jonesboro  and  Lovejoy.  Atlanta 
fell  in  consequence,  and  the  Twentieth  Corps  entered  the  city  on  the  2d 
of  September.  Having  participated  in  this  last  of  the  flanking  movements, 
taking  part  in  both  battles,  our  regiment  returned  to  the  vicinity  of  East^ 
port,  and  went  into  encampment.  Since  entering  on  the  campaign  of  At 
lanta,  it  had  been  under  the  enemy's  fire  on  eighty-one  days,  and  had  been 
engaged,  with  its  associates  of  the  Iowa  Brigade,  in  nearly  all  the  principal 
battles  of  this  era  of  activity.1 

Having  taken  part,  after  a  considerable  rest  at  East  Point,  in  a  recon- 
noissance  to  some  distance  southwest  thereof,  the  regiment  joined  in  the 

1  The  losses  of  the  regiment,  after  the  siege  of  Atlanta,  were  not  severe.  The  following  list  em 
braces  all :  Wounded.  Christopher  Warren,  Lewis  Kelley,  Frederic  Bergcr ;  Corporal  James  E.  Mor 
gan;  Captain  Roger  B.  Kellogg,  (mortally);  Sergeant  James  Love;  Private  Matthew  Wertz,  William 
Slate,  D.  C.  Benedict,  James  T.  Griffin,  the  first  four  of  which  were  wounded  at  Jonesboro  and  Love- 
joy;  Captain  Kellogg,  at  Pocotaligo,  South  Carolina;  Wertz,  at  Columbia  (mortally),  and  the  others 
at  the  battle  of  Bentonville,  Sergeant  Love  afterwards  dying  at  New  York  from  the  effects  of  his 
wound. 


FIFTEENTH     INFANTRY. 


267 


SIEGE   OF  ATLANTA, 


268  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

pursuit  of  Hood  in  October,  and  during  this  month,  and  the  first  part  of 
November,  marched  more  than  three  hundred  miles.  It  also  performed 
the  march  to  Savannah,  the  Iowa  Brigade  being  on  this  campaign  in 
creased  by  the  addition  of  the  Thirty-second  Illinois,  a  gallant  regiment 
commanded  by  Colonel  John  Logan  (cousin  to  the  general),  a  gallant  offi 
cer,  frequently  called  "Butter  John,"  whereby  hangs  a  tale.  This  regi 
ment  also  continued  with  the  brigade,  as  it  went  "slashing  through  the 
Carolinas"  on  the  northward  march.  This  march  had  but  just  com 
menced,  when  our  regiment  met  with  a  sad  loss  in  the  death  of  Captain 
Roger  B.  Kellogg,  who  was  mortally  wounded  at  Pocataligo,  South  Caro 
lina,  January  14th,  1865.  He  was  a  noble  youth,  the  personification  of 
courage,  and  as  gentle-hearted  as  a  woman.  At  Columbia  and  at  Benton- 
ville,  the  regiment  met  slight  loss. 

It  moved  to  Goldsboro ;  to  Raleigh  ;  to  Washington  City  by  Petersburg 
and  Richmond ;  to  Louisville,  Kentucky,  where  it  was  mustered  out  of 
service  on  the  24th  of  July,  then  numbering  an  aggregate  of  seven  hun 
dred  and  twelve  on  the  rolls,  with  the  following  roster  of  officers : 

Colonel,  (Brevet  Brigadier-General),  J.  M.  Hedrick;  Lieutenant-Colonel, 
George  Pomutz ;  Major,  James  S.  Porter ;  Adjutant,  W.  C.  Stidge** ; 
Quartermaster,  E.  W.  Elliott;  Chaplain,  E.  H.  King.  Company  A— 
Captain  A.  Mitchell ;  First  Lieutenant  M.  Glynn ;  Second  Lieutenant  W. 

C.  Herschberger.     Company  B — Captain  W.  H.  Goodrell ;  First  Lieutenant 

D.  King;  Second  Lieutenant  R.  Lyon.     Company  C — Captain  Sylvester 
Rynearson;  First  Lieutenant  C.  M.  Stuart.     Company  D — Captain  Wil 
liam  Fairbarn;    First  Lieutenant  C.  Smock;  Second  Lieutenant  Edward 
A.  Chambers.     Company  E — Captain  N.  J.  Rogers ;  First  Lieutenant  W. 
P.  L.  Muir;  Second  Lieutenant  D.  C.  Hicks.     Company  F — Captain  J. 
Throckmorton ;    First  Lieutenant  Isaac  Cooper;    Second  Lieutenant  D. 
Burwell.     Company  G— Captain  E.  P.  Bye ;  First  Lieutenant  J.  W.  Welch ; 
Second  Lieutenant  J.  McVay.     Company  H— Captain  N.  W.  Edwards ; 
First  Lieutenant  J.  W.  Welch ;    Second  Lieutenant  J.   M.    Hoffnagle. 
Company  I — Captain  James  M.  Reid;  Second  Lieutenant  William  W. 
Williams.     Company  K — Captain  W.  B.  McDowell;  First  Lieutenant  J. 
G.  Shipley ;  Second  Lieutenant  J.  Momyer. 

Moving  on  cars  by  Chicago  to  Davenport,  the  command  reached  that 
place  on  the  29th,  and  having  been  handsomely  received,  marched  to  Camp 
Kinsman  for  final  discharge.  This  it  was  not  long  in  receiving,  and  in  a 
few  days  the  men  of  one  of  Iowa's  best  regiments  were  welcomed  to  their 
homes  all  over  the  State  which  they  had  honored,  and  which  can  never 
cease  to  honor  them. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

SIXTEENTH    INFANTRY. 

OKGANIZATION  — IMMEDIATELY  MOVE  TO  THE  THEATRE  OF  WAR  — BATTLE  OP 
SHILOH— RECONNOISSANCE  TO  PURDY— FORM  PART  OF  THE  IOWA  BRIGADE- 
SIEGE  OF  CORINTH— ACTIVE  OPERATIONS  AROUND  BOLIVAR,  TENNESSEE— BAT 
TLE  OF  IUKA  — PURSUIT  OF  PRICE  — BATTLE  OF  CORINTH  — PURSUIT  OF  THE 
REBELS  — THE  CENTRAL  MISSISSIPPI  CAMPAIGN  —  RETURN  TO  TENNESSEE- 
MOVE  TO  LOUISIANA— THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  VICKSBURG— THE  LOUISIANA  EXPE 
DITION—QUIET—THE  MERIDIAN  RAID  — VETERAN  FURLOUGH  — REJOIN  THE 
ARMY— THE  ATLANTA  CAMPAIGN— BATTLE  OF  KENESAW  MOUNTAIN-BATTLE 
OF  ATLANTA,  JULY  2IST  —  JULY  22o  — THE  REGIMENT  CAPTURED  — ITS  SUBSE 
QUENT  HISTORY. 

THE  Sixteenth  Regiment  of  Infantry  from  Iowa  was  the  last  of  those 
regiments  from  the  State  which  were  mustered  into  the  service  of  the 
general  government  under  the  proclamations  of  the  President  calling  for 
volunteers,  during  the  first  year  of  the  war.  Of  the  fifteen  regiments  of 
foot  which  preceded  this,  fourteen  had  entered  the  service  for  three  years, 
and  a  majority  of  them  had  been  mustered  by  Captain  Alexander  Cham 
bers,  Eighteenth  United  States  Infantry,  general  mustering  and  disbursing 
officer  for  the  State.  No  man  could  have  well  performed  the  functions 
pertaining  to  that  office  without  making  many  enemies.  Captain  Chambers 
had  graduated  with  honor  at  the  national  military  academy,  and  had 
performed  meritorious  and  gallant  services  in  the  field.  He  was  well 
qualified  by  talents  for  almost  any  military  position,  and  he  did  his  duty 
well  in  Iowa,  but  not  without  bringing  upon  himself  considerable  animad 
version. 

By  the  first  proclamation,  Iowa  was  called  upon,  as  wt  have  seen,  for  but 
one  regiment  of  three-months  men.  Governor  Kirkwood  and  Adjutant- 
General  Jesse  Bowen  both  resided  at  Iowa  City,  in  the  interior  of  the  State, 
remote  from  telegraphs.  Captain  Chambers  was  posted  at  Keokuk,  in  the 
extreme  southeastern  part  of  the  State.  The  people  were  at  first  aroused 
by  a  martial  enthusiasm  amounting  to  furor,  and  besieged  the  Governor  and 

269 


270  IOWA    AND     THE     KEBELLION. 

the  Adjutant-General  as  vigorously  as  Grant  ever  besieged  Vicksburg  or 
Richmond.  The  Governor  was  equal  to  the  emergency,  but  General 
Bowen,  as  good,  as  worthy  a  man  as  we  had  in  the  State,  could  not  tell  the 
difference,  perhaps,  between  an  epaulette  and  a  cockade,  and  was  not  suited 
to  the  office  in  time  of  war.  But  the  Governor,  the  Adjutant-General,  and 
the  mustering  officer  all  came  in  for  a  good  share  of  complaint  and  vituper 
ation,  and  the  mustering  officer  for  most  of  all.  The  government  ration  of 
bread  was  only  twenty-two  ounces,  and  Captain  Chambers  was  denounced 
for  that.  He  could  not  find  it  in  the  regulations  to  pay  for  officers'  white 
vests  under  the  appropriation  for  army  clothing,  and  he  was  denounced  for 
that.  In  short,  the  Captain  received  quite  as  many  curses  as  ever  fell  upon 
the  head  of  any  mustering  and  disbursing  officer,  and  that  is  saying  a  great 
deal.  Nevertheless,  he  continued  in  the  performance  of  his  duties  with 
great  imperturbability,  and  the  Sixteenth  being  supposed  to  be  the  last 
which  the  State  would  be  required  to  raise,  Governor  Kirkwood  asked  him 
to  take  command  of  it,  which  he  consented  to  do. 

No  better  class  of  men  than  those  who  composed  this  regiment  ever  en 
tered  the  army.  They  came  from  nearly  every  portion  of  the  State,  but 
Muscatine  County,  with  her  usual  patriotic  generosity,  enrolled  two  com 
panies  within  her  borders,  and  her  citizens  predominated  in  the  regiment 
in  point  of  numbers.  The  counties  of  Scott,  Clinton,  Dubuque,  and  Clay 
ton  also  contributed  liberally  to  its  ranks,  whilst  about  forty  others  were 
represented  less  or  more  liberally  in  the  organization.  The  formation  of 
the  companies  which  made  up  the  regiment  began  in  the  fall  of  1861,  and 
continued  throughout  the  succeeding  winter.  The  campaign  of  the  sum 
mer  had  depressed  the  spirits  of  the  people,  and  the  new  Commander-in- 
chief,  having  exhausted  his  genius  by  the  splendid  organization  of  the 
grand  army  around  Washington,  seemed  to  be  content  with  ' '  all  quiet  on 
the  Potomac,"  and  imposing  reviews.  Of  the  new  style  of  Napoleonic 
warfare  the  country  became  quite  sick  at  the  stomach.  Enlistments  went 
on  very  nearly  as  slowly  as  McClellan.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that 
though  the  first  company  of  the  regiment  in  Iowa  formed  during  this 
"quiet"  period  went  into  quarters  in  September,  the  last  was  not  filled  till 
six  months  thereafter.  The  companies  were  mustered  into  the  service  at 
various  times,  from  the  10th  of  December,  1861,  to  the  24th  of  March,  1862, 
— seven  at  Davenport,  one  at  Keokuk,  and  the  others  at  Benton  Barracks, 
Missouri,  where  the  organization  of  the  regiment  was  completed  at  the  date 
last  mentioned.  The  incomplete  regiment  had  left  Camp  McClellan,  near 
Davenport,  about  three  weeks  before. 

Upon  organization,  the  roster  of  officers  was  as  follows :  Alexander  Cham 
bers,  Colonel ;  Addison  H.  Sanders,  Lieutenant-Colonel ;  William  Purcell, 
Major;  George  E.  McCosh, Adjutant;  Charles  W.  Fracker,  Quartermaster; 


SIXTEENTH     INFANTRY.  271 

Dr.  J.  H.  Camburn,  Surgeon,  with  Dr.  Josiah  L.  Phillips,  Assistant.  Com 
pany  A,  Captain  J.  H.  Smith,  Lieutenants  William  H.  Hoyt,  M.  D.  Madden ; 
Company  B,  Captain  David  Stuhr,  Lieutenants  Lewis  Bunde,  Frederic 
Wiedemann ;  Company  C,  Captain  Alpheus  Palmer,  Lieutenants,  Jesse  H. 
Lucas,  Thomas  Purcell ;  Company  D,  Captain  C.  W.  Williams,  Lieutenants 
Robert  Alcorn,  George  H.  Holcomb ;  Company  E,  Captain  John  D.  Turner, 
Lieutenants  George  Lawrence,  John  A.  Hines ;  Company  F,  Captain  E.  S. 
Frazer,  t  Lieutenants  Josiah  Heavner,  Peter  Miller ;  Company  G,  Captain 
John  Ruehl,  Lieutenants  Henry  Meyer,  Leo  Schumacher ;  Company  H,  Cap 
tain  E.  M.  Newconib ;  Lieutenants  Frank  N.  Doyle,  John  F.  Conyngham ; 
Company  I,  Captain  M.  C.  Fuller ;  Lieutenants  Henry  D.  Williams,  William 
C.  Wilson ;  Company  K,  Captain  Michael  Zettler,  Lieutenants  J.  F.  Alex 
ander,  and  A.  N.  Stringer.  The  regiment  was  without  a  chaplain.  A 
waggish  correspondent  afterwards  wrote  :  ' '  There  never  was  a  chaplain  in 
the  Sixteenth,  for  several  reasons.  1st.  Because  it  was  a  moral  regiment,  and 
the  office  would  have  been  a  sinecure  ;  2d.  The  regiment  was  always  either 
marching  or  fighting,  and  in  this  way  got  sufficient  exercise ;  3d.  Because  the 
form  of  prayer  adopted  by  the  colonel  was  such  that  it  could  be  said  by  any 
one,  being  in  fact  the  Episcopal  collect  for  storms  at  sea,  and  our  regiment 
never  was  at  sea ;  4th.  There  was  only  one  deck  of  cards  allowed  in  the 
regiment." 

The  regiment  was  but  just  organized,  when  it  was  ordered  to  the  theatre 
of  war.  Immediately  embarking,  the  command  moved  to  Pittsburg  Land 
ing,  Tennessee,  and  there  disembarking,  had  its  first  experience  in  actual 
warfare  in  the  bloodiest  contest  which  occurred  during  the  four  years  of 
terrible  hostilities.  We  have  seen  how  the  regiment  passed  through  that 
dreadful  ordeal.  When  we  reflect  that  the  men  went  into  the  battle,  and 
that  they  were  at  once  ordered  into  an  exposed  position  by  an  aid-de-camp 
of  General  McClernand,  who  did  not  know  his  military  A.  B.  C's,  and  that 
they  had  not  previously  had  any  battalion  training,  we  must  conclude,  since 
they  fought  so  well,  that  they  were  men  of  great  native  courage  and  nerve. 
The  regiment  came  out  of  its  first  battle  with  thinned  ranks,  having  here 

lost  in  death  and  wounds  a  large  number  of  both  officers  and  men.1 

j 

1  LIST  OF  CASUALTIES. — Colonel  Alexander  Chambers,  wounded. 

Company  A— Killed,  Privates  Wm.  Bloor,  Geo.  Jarhl,  Reuben  Root,  Chas.  L.  Whitnell.  Wounded, 
Sergeant  Jos.  C.  Kelley ;  Privates  George  N.  Day,  Jeremiah  Nolan,  James  Smith,  David  M.  Switzer. 
Prisoners,  Frederick  Dawes,  Smith  Spore. 

Company  B — Wounded,  Lieutenant  Lewis  Bunde,  Sergeant  Henry  Lefeldt,  Nicholas  Dase,  Wil- 
helm  Ehlers,  Jacob  Jacobson.  Prisoners,  Jochim  Bielefildt,  Fritz  August  Silvester. 

Company  C— Killed,  Adam  Brown,  James  H.  Howell.  Wounded,  Captain  Alpheus  Palmer,  Lieu 
tenant  Jesse  H.  Lucas,  Sergeant  John  Hayes,  Sergeant  John  A.  Harriman,  Corporal  Wm.  Manley, 
Corporal  George  B.  Beomor,  Peter  Blanchard,  Henry  W.  Blessing,  Abner  B.  Corrill,  Peter  Esmoil, 
Henry  W.  Hale,  Joseph  Horseley,  Alex.  E.  McConnell,  Josiah  Sellors,  Henry  L.  Sipbury,  Arnold 
Twiggs,  Calvin  Weeks.  Missing,  Alfred  N.  Mosier. 

Company  D— Kitted,  Corporal  Edward  F.  Cutting,  Harrison  Boone,  Nicholas  Claybaugh.  Wounded, 


272  IOWA    AND     THE     EEBELLION. 

Though  the  regiment  had  been  thrown  into  some  confusion  at  Shiloh,  it 
was  only  for  a  short  time,  and  unaccompanied  by  demoralization.  It  was 
very  soon  rallied,  and  the  last  firing  of  the  expiring  battle  was  scarcely  over 
till  it  might  have  again  presented  an  unbroken  front  to  the  enemy.  Upon  the 
organization  of  "  The  Iowa  Brigade,"  shortly  after  the  battle,  the  Sixteenth 
was  assigned  thereto,  and  continued  ever  afterwards  therein,  doing  its  full 
share  in  making  u'p  the  bright  and  glorious  record  of  that  distinguished 
command.  The  first  movement  of  the  regiment  on  foot  of  sufficient  magni 
tude  to  be  dignified  with  the  name  of  march  took  place  about  this  time, 
the  command  accompanying  a  column  which  made  a  strong  reconnoissance 
to  Purdy,  some  eight  or  ten  miles  distant  from  camp.  Its  next  march  was 
the  slow  one  on  Corinth.  After  the  evacuation,  the  regiment  had  two 
months  of  quiet  on  a  fine  plantation  of  a  noted  rebel,  situated  about  two 
miles  from  Corinth.  Here  it  suffered  much  from  heat,  the  want  of  vege 
table  food,  and  diseases  resulting  from  both  causes. 

Near  the  close  of  July,  tents  were  struck,  and  a  march  for  Bolivar,  Ten 
nessee,  began.  The  command  reached  that  place  on  the  last  day  of  the 
month,  the  march  being  impeded  only  by  jiggers,  "which,"  says  a  cor 
respondent  of  the  grand  military  order,  "attacked  us  in  front,  flank,  and 
rear. ' '  Regimental  encampment  was  most  of  the  time  at  Bolivar  through 
out  the  whole  of  August  and  nearly  half  the  following  month.  But  the 
regiment  was  much  of  the  time  on  the  march,  scouting,  reconnoitering,  observ 
ing  the  enemy  who  during  a  considerable  portion  of  the  period  were  raiding 
in  the  vicinity  of  Bolivar  and  threatening  it  with  attack.  On  one  of  the 

Lieutenant  George  H.  Holcomb,  Sergeant  William  C.  Crooks,  Sergeant  Amos  S.  Collins,  Harry  II. 
Bowling,  Albert  G.  Corbin  (mortally),  David  Holcomb,  Ninien  Lindsay,  Daniel  Madden,  Joseph  0. 
Tuffs,  Spear  S.  Zenor.  Prisoner,  Josiah  M.  Thrift. 

Company  E— Killed,  Sergeant  Austin  A.  McDowell.  Wounded,  Sergeant  Wm.  S.  Stafford,  Corporal 
Wm.  Butler,  Thomas  Brumage,  Daniel  James,  Legrand  B.  Kinkade,  Jackson  A.  Kuder,  John  Luckey. 
Prisoners  and  wounded,  Patrick  Moran,  Wesley  Smice.  Prisoners,  Michael  Fitzpatrick,  Nicholas  W. 
UcNemer. 

Company  F— Wounded,  Captain  Edward  S.  Frazer,  Lieutenant  Peter  Miller,  Sergoant  William  J. 
Sawyer,  Corporal  John  Spear,  James  M.  Barnes,  John  Carpenter,  James  C.  Devault,  Thomas  Gun 
ning,  Scott  Page,  Kimbal  L.  Page,  Wm.  Patterson,  Wm.  Rimmer,  Wm.  H.  II.  llenfro,  Irvin  W. 
Scranton,  Norman  D.  Younkin,  Joseph  II.  Young,  Hezekiah  Carpenter. 

Company  G— Killed,  Captain  John  Ruehl,  Sergeant  Rudolph  Mohrmann,  Jacob  Rein,  Martin  Zim 
merman.  Wounded,  Lieutenant  Henry  Meyer,  Eichman  Nicholas,  Sergeant  Ernst  Pitschnor,  Anton 
Baertsch,  Patrick  Boyle,  Anton  Benesch,  Charles  Corsout,  Jacob  Lehmann,  Theodore  Mikesch,  Ber 
nard  Pelz,  W.  Westermann,  George  Wieland. 

Company  H — Killed,  Lieutenant  Frank  N.  Doyle,  James  M.  Preston.  Wounded,  Captain  Edwin 
M.  Newcomb,  Sergeant  Lemuel  Burns,  Corporal  Allen  F.  Miller,  Corporal  Solomon  Zook,  James 
Blake,  Simon  Drake,  James  M.  Riland,  John  Redden,  Wm.  T.  Scheib,  Isaac  Zook.  Missing,  Corporal 
Wm.  McKeon,  Emulous  Doty. 

Company  I— Wounded,  Sergeant  James  M.  Gunning,  Corporal  William  Spencer,  Corporal  James  G. 
Wilson,  Frank  E.  Bowers,  Henry  II.  Barger,  Henry  M.  Beicle,  John  Dunlap,  Charles  Turner. 
Missing,  Benjamin  Keith,  Owen  Russell. 

Company  K— Killed,  Karl  Graak.  Wounded,  Captain  Michael  Zettler,  Corporal  Henry  Karstens, 
Henry  Brundsick,  Frederick  Kudebe,  Samuel  Parks,  Newton  Shaffer,  David  Squire.  Missing,  Ludwig 
Btahl. 


SIXTEENTH     INFANTRY.  273 

numerous  scouting  expeditions  which  the  regiment  was  called  upon  to  make, 
it  came  to  the  pleasant  town  of  Somerville,  about  twenty-five  miles  east  of 
Bolivar,  "  abounding  in  chickens  and  turkeys,  and  overflowing  with  peach- 
brandy,  and  honey,  and  darkies  yearning  for  freedom."  The  regiment 
returned  to  Bolivar  laden  with  the  rich  spoils  of  war — cotton,  horses,  mules, 
colored  people,  and  a  luscious  commissariat.  Marching  through  Tennessee 
in  those  days,  though  somewhat  tiresome,  was  in  many  respects  pleasant. 
In  the  open  cultivated  country,  the  road-sides  were  shaded  with  peach, 
pear,  and  apple  trees,  burdened  with  rich  fruit,  ripe  to  falling.  If  the  line 
of  march  were  on  the  less  frequented  roads  through  the  forests,  the  deli 
cious  paw-paw  and  muscadine  seduced  the  soldier  from  the  path  of  duty 
and  the  highway.  When  the  rebel  cavalry  attempted  to  raid  into  Bolivar, 
and  were  repulsed  by  our  cavalry,  supported  by  a  few  regiments  of  foot, 
there  was  none  more  prominent  among  the  latter  then  the  Sixteenth  Iowa. 
It  is  but  simple  justice  to  that  officer  to  say  that,  during  the  whole  time 
in  which  the  rebels  threatened  Bolivar,  no  man's  judgment  as  to  the  proper 
means  of  defence  was  more  sought  than  that  of  Colonel  Chambers. 

On  the  12th  of  September,  the  command  bade  a  last  farewell  to  Bolivar, 
and  marched  to  Corinth  in  two  days.  Here  it  rested  twenty-four  hours, 
luka  had  been  abandoned  in  a  most  cowardly  manner  by  that  same  Colonel 
Murphy  who  afterwards  likewise  abandoned  Holly  Springs,  and  the  rebel 
General  Price  now  had  full  possession.  In  the  movement  and  battle  which 
followed,  the  Sixteenth,  as  has  been  heretofore  noted,  was  temporarily 
detached  from  the  brigade.  Instead  of  marching  with  the  column  under 
Ord,  which  did  not  take  an  active  part  in  the  engagement,  it  marched  with 
the  column  under  Rosecrans,  which  fought  the  desperate  battle  of  luka  on 
the  evening  of  the  19th.  For  its  intrepid  gallantry  in  that  combat,  the 
regiment  received  the  most  glowing  encomiums  from  Rosecrans.  And,  pre 
vious  to  the  battle,  the  regiment  had  made  a  reconnoissance,  by  direction  of 
General  Grant,  for  the  purpose  of  discovering  the  strength  and  position  of 
the  enemy,  up  to  the  very  gates  of  luka,  skirmishing  all  the  way  thither 
after  leaving  Burnsville.  The  command  returned  in  safety,  its  reconnois 
sance  admitted  on  all  hands  to  have  been  one  of  the  most  daring  of  the 
war.  It  speedily  fell  in  line,  to  take  part  in  the  battle  where  it  gained 
such  high  honors,  but  with  a  sad  sacrifice  of  life  and  blood.2 


*  Colonel  Chambers  was  here  almost  fatally  wounded,  and  captured.  If  he  ever  made  a  report  of 
the  part  taken  by  his  regiment  in  the  battle,  I  have  not  seen  it.  Adjutant  George  Lawrence  was 
killed,  and  other  gallant  officers  and  brave  men  killed  or  wounded.  The  following  list  of  casualties 
is  probably  not  complete : 

Company  A— Kitted,  Sergeant  Jacob  Shambaugh ;  Richard  B.  Kelly.     Wounded,  Sergeant  Isaac 
V.  Lawrence;  Corporal  James  W.  Stallcop,  (prisoner);  Privates  Michael  Conley,  Alexander  Gordon, 
Henry  Horn,  H.  Marrahan,  George  Miller,  Frederick  L.  Osborn,  James  Smith,  Alonzo  Spore,  Edward 
Cassidy,  Joseph  Beatty,  Franklin  Milton,  James  S.  Troop. 
35 


274  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

For  some  days  after  the  battle,  the  regiment  was  kept  constantly  moving 
hither  and  thither,  in  pursuit  of  Price,  whose  eccentric  course  would  have 
puzzled  the  most  accomplished  astronomer  or  chess-player,  and  quite 
baffled  the  pursuing  column.  The  "artful  dodger"  eluded  the  Union 
general,  and  formed  a  junction  with  Van  Dorn.  The  regiment  returned  to 
Corinth,  and  in  just  two  weeks  from  the  battle  of  luka  again  went  into 
battle.  In  the  severe  engagement  of  Corinth  continuing  through  two  days, 
the  regiment  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Sanders,  an  officer 
brave  almost  to  a  fault,  until  he  fell  severely  wounded,  on  the  evening  of 
October  3d,  when  the  command  devolved  upon  Major  Purcell,  an  officer 
of  considerable  experience.  The  battle  of  Corinth,  as  we  shall  here 
after  see,  was  remarkable  for  the  skill  and  effect  with  which  our  artillery 
was  handled,  and,  inasmuch  as  the  rebels  insisted  upon  butting  their  heads 
against  our  batteries  and  forts,  there  were  portions  of  the  line  of  battle  in 
which  our  infantry  did  not  severely  suffer,  albeit  the  engagement  was  one 
of  the  bloodiest  which  had  yet  occurred.  The  losses  of  the  Sixteenth  were 
comparatively  light.3 

As  soon  as  the  rebel  generals  concluded  they  did  not  want  Corinth, 
"Old  Rozey,"  as  the  troops  familiarly  called  General  Rosecrans,  politely 
assisted  them  to  make  their  retreat  on  Holly  Springs  lively,  by  goading 

Company  B — Wounded,  Corporals  Jachina  Arp,  Hans  F.  Hartman. 

Company  C— Wounded,  Captain  Alpheus  Palmer;  Privates  Henry  W.  Blessing,  James  Coriell, 
James  King,  William  H.  Smith. 

Company  D — Killed,  Private  Samuel  T.  Simmons.  Wounded,  Lieutenant  Robert  Alcorn ;  Corporals 
David  Carroll,  James  H.  Ellis ;  Privates  John  Berry,  William  K.  Goss,  Levi  R.  Hester,  John  L.  Hager, 
Theulieus  McNeely,  Thomas  J.  Parr,  (prisoner),  Harmon  Seely. 

Company  E— Killed,  Privates  Franklin  Woodruff,  Alexander  Britt.  Wounded,  Francis  A.  Forbee, 
George  Y.  Gillespie. 

Company  F— Killed,  Corporal  Harvey  E.  Whiteman  ;  Privates  George  Bedford,  John  Conrad,  John 
M.  Grau,  Michael  McGowan.  Wounded,  Sergeant  Madison  R.  Laird ;  Privates  James  M.  Barnes, 
John  Carpenter,  Enoch  Hawarth,  Oliver  P.  Shepard,  Norman  D.  Younkin. 

Company  G —  Wounded,  Corporal  Adolph  Peik,  George  B.  Quick. 

Company  H— Killed,  Corporal  Solomon  Zook.  Wounded,  Corporal  Philip  M.  Weigel,  (missing), 
John  Robbins. 

Company  I— Killed,  Private  Elhaman  W.  Watson.  Wounded,  Lieutenant  Henry  D.  Williams ; 
Sergeant  Hugh  S.  Killings;  Corporal  Isaac  C.  Mnnger;  Private  Henry  II.  Barger,  (prisoner). 

Company  K — Wounded,  Sergeant  William  S.  Defere;  Corporal  Henry  Karstens ;  Privates  James 
Deel,  David  Siquim.  Missing,  Corporal  William  Kinkade;  Private  Henry  Hilbert. 

8  We  have  seen  that  Lieutenant-Colonel  Sanders  was  severely  wounded.  Major  Purcell  was  also 
wounded,  but  continued  to  command  the  regiment.  I  find  the  following  casualties  reported  in  th« 
line: 

Company  B— Wounded,  Corporals  Henry  Moller,  Carl  Geoble. 

Company  C— Wounded,  Charles  F.  Harl,  Adam  Hettinger,  David  T.  Weld,  John  Brawand.  JMitsing, 
Nicholas  Banse. 

Company  D— Prisoner,  Captain  Crandall  W.  Williams. 

Company  E— Wounded,  Corporals  James  S.  Gillespie,  Philip  McNemer,  Martin  0.  Halleck,  Jackson 
A.  Kuder,  Olds  Briggs. 

Company  G— Wounded,  Ernst  Amberg,  Wilhelra  Dietrich. 

Company  H— Wounded,  Martin  Coltenbaugh,  William  T.  Scheib. 

Company  I— Wounded,  Henry  H.  Barger. 


SIXTEENTH  INFANTRY.  275 

their  rear  with  the  bayonet  The  chivalrous  rebels,  no  doubt  grateful  for 
this  politeness,  kept  giving  us  their  guns,  small  arms,  and  wagons  all  the 
way  to  Ripley.  The  Sixteenth  took  part  in  this  pursuit,  thereby  making  a 
march  which,  on  account  of  its  rapidity,  the  rain,  and  the  horrible  condition 
of  the  roads,  is  universally  pronounced  by  those  who  made  it  as  one  of  the 
most  toilsome  marches  of  the  war.  Our  regiment  returned  to  camp  at 
Corinth  in  about  ten  days,  and  there  remained  in  quiet  until  the  beginning  . 
of  the  following  month. 

On  the  1st  of  November  the  regiment  struck  tents,  and  moved  to  Grand 
Junction,  now  properly  so  called  for  the  first  time,  for  here  General  Grant 
formed  a  grand  junction  of  his  western  armies,  wherewithal  to  move  against 
Vicksburg  through  central  Mississippi.  The  army  commenced  this  cam 
paign  near  the  close  of  November.  It  failed.  Our  regiment,  taking  part 
therein,  marched  to  Abbeville,  where  it  remained  a  considerable  time,  and 
then  marched  to  the  "Yockeney."  The  right  about  having  been  made 
necessary,  the  regiment  ate  its  Christmas  turkey  and  mince  pie,  this  time 
consisting  of  very  short  rations  of  salt  pork  and  hard  bread,  at  Holly 
Springs,  whence  it  marched  to  Lafayette,  Tennessee,  arriving  there  on  the 
1st  of  January,  1863.  Here,  a  few  days  afterwards,  the  regiment  sustained 
a  painful  loss  in  the  death  of  Captain  Heavner,  who  died  of  small-pox. 
An  officer  and  two  soldiers  attended  him  during  his  illness,  and  performed 
the  rites  of  burial  when  he  died.  It  was  just  sunset  as  they  lowered  his 
coffin  to  the  grave,  and  at  this  instant  the  report  of  the  evening  gun,  fired 
thirty  miles  off,  in  Memphis,  was  distinctly  heard.  There  was  no  other 
volley  fired  over  this  gallant  and  modest  young  soldier's  grave.  Up  to  the 
time  of  his  sickness,  he  had  acted  as  adjutant  of  the  regiment,  since  the 
death  of  Lieutenant  Lawrence  at  luka.  On  the  next  day  the  command 
marched  for  Memphis,  and  arrived  there  on  the  day  after.  Colonel  Cham 
bers  now  rejoined  the  regiment. 

Here  officers  and  men  received  pay,  and  spent  a  "comfortable  week  in 
the  snow !"  Then  they  embarked  on  steamers,  and  moved  to  Young's  Point, 
Louisiana,  where  they  disembarked.  But,  happily,  they  were  not  required 
to  endure  the  noted  discomforts  of  the  encampment  here  more  than  a  fort 
night.  They  moved  up  the  river,  and  went  into  pleasant  encampment  on 
the  banks  of  Lake  Providence.  Here  the  regiment,  and  the  brigade,  re 
mained  until  the  grand  campaign  of  Vicksburg  had  been  fairly  inaugu 
rated.  During  the  encampment  here,  Major  William  E.  Strong,  Inspector- 
General  Seventeenth  Army  Corps,  visited  the  brigade,  and  in  his  official 
report  has  the  following  highly  complimentary  paragraphs  in  relation 
thereto : 

u  Iowa  may  well  be  proud  of  the  Third  Brigade,  of  the  Sixth  Division, 
Colonel  M.  M.  Crocker,  commanding.  It  is  composed  of  the  following 


276  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

troops,  viz. :  Eleventh  Iowa  Infantry*,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Abercrombie 
commanding;  Thirteenth  Iowa,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Shane  commanding; 
Fifteenth  Iowa,  Colonel  Reid,  commanding;  and  the  Sixteenth  Iowa, 
Colonel  Chambers.  It  turned  out  for  inspection  one  thousand  nine  hun 
dred  and  thirty-five,  rank  and  file ;  it  was  alight  to  see  and  a  sight  sel 
dom  seen.  I  have  no  desire,  nor  is  it  proper,  to  pronounce  a  eulogy  on 
the  Third  Brigade,  but  it  would  not  be  doing  that  command  and  its  gal 
lant  commander  justice  should  I  fail  in  giving  them  credit  and  praise, 
which  are  justly  and  honestly  due  them,  or  should  I  fail  in  expressing,  so 
far  as  I  am  capable,  my  satisfaction  and  admiration  at  the  manner  in  which 
the  brigade  acquitted  itself  throughout  the  entire  inspection. 

"  Since  I  have  been  a  soldier  it  has  happened  that  I  have  seen  many 
brigades  of  many  different  army  corps,  both  in  the  Eastern  and  Western 
armies,  but  never  have  I  seen  a  brigade  that  could  compete  with  this  Iowa 
Brigade. 

"  I  am  not  prejudiced  in  the  slightest  degree.  I  never  saw  any  of  the 
officers  or  soldiers  of  the  command  until  the  day  on  which  I  saw  them  in 
line  of  battle,  prepared  for  inspection. 

"It  made  my  heart  swell  with  honest  pride,  and  I  envied  the  colonel 
commanding  the  brigade,  and  the  commanding  officers  of  these  four  Iowa 
regiments,  when  I  stood  on  the  right  of  their  lines,  one  after  another,  and 
saw  them  drill,  and  go  through  their  different  evolutions  in  the  manual  of 
arms.  Every  rifle  flashed  in  the  sunlight,  and  all  moved  as  one.  When 
they  ordered  arms,  it  was  ordered  arms ;  and  nothing  else — one  sound  and 
no  more.  When  they  charged  bayonets  in  line  of  battle,  the  point  of  every 
bayonet  was  at  the  height  of  the  eye,  and  the  small  of  the  stock  rested 
against  the  hip  at  exactly  the  same  instant.  When  they  broke  into  column 
of  companies,  wheeling  upon  fixed  pivots,  it  was  like  clock-work — perfect. 

"  In  every  regiment  will  be  seen  many  large  men ;  but  take  this  brigade 
together,  and  I  never  saw  such  a  splendid  body  of  men/  I  passed  down 
the  ranks  in  front  and  rear,  I  saw  every  man  in  the  brigade,  and  I  can 
fully  say  that  I  saw  no  small  men,  no  '  pony  squad  ; '  the  fourth  section  of 
every  company  was  just  as  large  as  the  first.  The  guns,  ammunition,  ac 
coutrements,  and  equipments  were  in  most  excellent  condition:  nothing 
was  needed,  everything  was  complete.  I  cannot  say  that  any  one  regiment 
of  the  brigade  appeared  better  than  another,  they  all  appeared  so  well. 
The  Eleventh  was  the  strongest ;  it  had  five  hundred  and  twenty-eight  en 
listed  men  and  twenty  officers  present  for  duty ;  the  Thirteenth  had  four 
hundred  and  seventy  enlisted  men  and  twenty-two  commissioned  officers ; 
the  Fifteenth  had  four  hundred  and  twenty-eight  enlisted  men  and  twenty- 
nine  commissioned  officers ;  the  Sixteenth  had  four  hundred  and  five  en 
listed  men  and  thirty-three  commissioned  officers.  In  the  entire  brigade 


SIXTEENTH     INFANTRY.  277 

there  was  not  to  exceed  a  dozen  men  unable  to  be  present  on  inspection. 
In  the  different  hospital  tents  of  the  brigade,  I  counted  eleven  men,  and 
not  one  of  these  was  confined  to  his  cot.  In  this  connection  there  is  one 
thing  I  wish  to  mention,  and  that  is  the  intelligence  and  ability  of  the  line 
officers  of  the  brigade.  Every  one  of  them  was  fully  posted,  knew  all 
about  his  company,  the  number  of  men  present  for  duty,  the  number  ab 
sent  and  where  they  were,  the  number  sick  and  those  on  detached  service. 
I  speak  of  this  for  the  reason  that  many  of  the  commanding  officers  o£ 
companies  whom  I  have  heretofore  met  on  inspection  are  not  in  the  slight 
est  degree  acquainted  with  their  companies,  and  cannot  account  for  their 
men  without  referring  to  their  Orderly  Sergeants.  Of  the  hospitals,  the 
commissary  and  quartermaster's  departments,  the  company  and  regimental 
books,  the  transportion  also,  it  is  useless  for  me  to  say  anything.  Look  at 
the  army  regulations  and  see  what  instructions  are  laid  down,  and  what  is 
required  of  troops  in  the  field,  and  then  you  will  exactly  know  how  I  found 
the  Third  Brigade  of  the  Sixth  Division  of  the  Seventeenth  Army  Corps. 

"  Once  more  I  say,  that  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  Third  Brigade, 
commanded  by  Colonel  M.  M.  Crocker,  are  an  honor  to  the  division  and 
corps  to  which  they  are  attached,  and  an  honor  to  the  Army  of  the  Tennes 
see,  an  honor  to  their  friends  at  home,  to  their  State  and  to  their  country,  and 
I  know  from  their  record  in  the  field  that  they  must  be  a  terror  to  the  foe. ' ' 

Praises  like  these,  coming  from  an  old  soldier  who  knew  better  how  to 
handle  swords,  and  muskets,  and  artillery,  than  the  pen  of  a  ready  writer — 
praises  so  manifestly  sincere  and  enthusiastic — are  worth  much  to  the 
troops  receiving  them.  Inspector-General  Strong  seemed,  indeed,  as 
thoroughly  pleased  with  the  Iowa  Brigade  as  we  rgay  suppose  Frederick 
the  Great  would  have  been  upon  beholding  a  division  of  six-footers. 

In  the  Vicksburg  campaign  the  Sixteenth  was  all  the  time  with  the 
brigade,  Colonel  Chambers  commanding  a  considerable  part  of  the  time, 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  performed  many  difficult  and  arduous  services 
before  settling  down  into  the  duties  of  the  siege.  And  after  it  sat  down 
before  the  rebel  works,  it  was  constantly  exposed  to  the  enemy's  fire,  and 
its  gallant  men  were  called  upon  to  perform  as  many  deeds  of  daring,  to 
suffer  as  many  hardships,  as  the  troops  of  any  other  command.  In  all 
which  our  regiment  made  an  honorable  record.  During  the  long  siege, 
there  were  many  combats  which  called  forth  severe  and  heroic  fighting,  and 
there  was  not  a  day  or  an  hour  of  absolute  quiet  or  freedom  from  danger. 
Medals  of  honor  were  afterwards  presented  to  the  three  men  in  each  corps, 
whose  conduct  had  been  most  meritorious  during  the  siege.*  The  first 

*  It  is  proper  to  state  that  many  medals  were  awarded,  and  that  this  whole  scheme  of  rewarding 
merit  by  medals,  was  practically  abandoned  on  account  of  the  difficulty  in  distinguishing  tho  meri 
torious,  who  were  so  numerous. 


278  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

medal  of  honor  for  the  Seventeenth  Corps  was  awarded  to  Lieutenant 
Samuel  Puffin,  of  Company  K,  Sixteenth  Iowa.  He  was  a  citizen  of 
Davenport,  and  the  Gazette,  more  than  a  year  afterwards,  and  when 
Duffm  had  sealed  his  patriotic  devotion  with  his  life,  thus  speaks  of  the 
distinguished  honor  won  at  Vicksburg  by  this  brave  officer  of  the  Sixteenth : 

"Davenport  has  the  honor  to  contain  within  its  boundaries  the  'Gold 
Medal, '  presented  by  the  War  Department  to  the  bravest  and  best  soldier 
of  the  Seventeenth  Army  Corps  during  its  operations  around  the  city  of 
Vicksburg  in  1863.  When  it  is  remembered  that  the  bold  and  chivalrous 
McPherson  was  the  commander,  the  honor  of  being  the  recipient  of  the 
medal  will  be  enhanced.  Three  medals,  one  of  gold  and  two  of  silver,  were 
bestowed,  by  the  recommendation  of  the  corps  commander,  upon  three 
soldiers  of  the  corps  who  most  distinguished  themselves  for  bravery. 
Lieutenant  Samuel  Duffin,  of  Company  K,  Sixteenth  Iowa  Infantry,  was, 
of  all  the  heroes  of  the  Seventeenth  Army  Corps  which  gathered  at  Vicks-- 
burg,  the  one  designated  by  G  eneral  McPherson  as  the  '  bravest  of  the 
brave '  and  most  worthy  to  receive  the  gold  medal.  It  is  semi-elliptical  in 
shape,  the  top  ornamented  with  a  bunch  of  leaves,  the  centre-piece  in  the 
usual  shape  of  the  shield  with  the  stars  and  stripes,  and  on  the  outer  edge 
the  words  'Vicksburg,  July  4,  1863;'  pendant  is  a  gold  star  engraved 
'Seventeenth,'  and  attached  to  a  narrow  piece  of  red,  white,  and  blue 
ribbon,  with  a  pin  that  it  may  be  worn  on  the  coat  or  vest.  It  is  very 
beautiful  in  design  and  workmanship.  But  the  brave  officer  was  not 
permitted  to  live  to  enjoy  his  honors  so  nobly  won.  At  the  battle  of 
Kenesaw  Mountain,  June  27th,  1864,  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty,  this 
officer  received  a  mortal  wound. ' ' 

After  the  stronghold  fell  into  our  hands,  the  regiment  went  into  encamp 
ment  near  Vicksburg,  and  there  remained  in  quiet — except  during  the 
severe  march  in  the  latter  part  of  August  and  first  part  of  September,  to 
Monroe,  Louisiana,  and  return,  whereby  it  suffered  heavily  in  common 
with  all  the  unfortunate  troops  who  took  part  in  that  ill-advised  and  cruel 
expedition — until  G9neral  Sherman's  raid  to  Meridian.  It  joined  this 
expedition  on  February  4th,  1864,  and  one  month  afterwards  was  again  at 
Vicksburg,  having  participated  throughout  in  that  bold  stroke  of  war, 
which  originated  a  new  system  of  campaigning  in  America,  and  placed 
William  T.  Sherman  on  the  advance  line  of  modern  warfare. 

The  regiment  had  reenlisted  before  the  raid,  and  shortly  after  its  return 
to  Vicksburg,  it  embarked  for  Iowa  on  veteran  furlough.  When  Iowa  had 
extended  a  hearty  welcome  home,  and  all  those  generous  hospitalities  for 
which  her  people  are  noted,  the  command,  now  increased  by  many  additions 
to  its  ranks,  again  sought  the  theatre  of  war.  Moving  by  steamer,  rail, 
and  a  long  march,  the  Sixteenth  again  found  itself  at  the  front  early  in 


SIXTEENTH     INFANTRY.  279 

June,  when  it  came  up  with  Sherman's  grand  army  thundering  through 
Georgia.  On  the  llth,  the  regiment  was  in  line  of  battle  in  face  of  the 
enemy,  near  Ackworth,  and  from  that  time  till  the  ever  memorable  22d  of 
July — sadly  memorable  from  the  death  of  the  great  and  chivalric  McPher- 
son  and  the  braves  whose  blood  hallowed  the  same  field,  and  joyously  mem 
orable  from  the  glorious  victory  achieved  by  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  over 
the  body  of  its  beloved  commander — when  the  principal  part  of  the  regi 
ment  was  surrounded  and  compelled  to  pass  under  the  yoke  of  capture, 4t 
bore  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  fine  history  made  in  this  campaign  by  the 
Iowa  Brigade. 

When  Major-General  'Blair  reenforced  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  with 
the  Seventeenth  Corps  he  just  about  compensated  for  the  losses  which  the 
grand  army  had  sustained  in  the  campaign  up  to  that  time  by  the  casualties 
of  battle  and  by  detachments  left  in  guard  of  the  line  of  communications 
at  Rome,  Dallas,  Resaca,  and  Allatoona.  When  Blair  joined  the  army, 
General  Sherman  had  just  made  his  movement  by  the  left  flank  from  Dallas 
to  Ackworth — on  the  railroad,  some  sixteen  miles  northwest  of  Marietta  by 
rail,  but  not  nearly  so  far  by  a  straight  line.  He  was  in  sight  of  the  rebel 
signal  stations  at  Lost  Mountain,  and  at  Kenesaw,  ten  miles  a  little  east  of 
north  from  Lost  Mountain.  These  two  points  were  the  right  and  left  of 
the  enemy's  position.  "Kenesaw,  the  bold  and  striking  twin  mountain, 
lay  before  us,"  says  Sherman,  "with  a  high  range  of  chestnut  hills  trend 
ing  off  to  the  northeast,  terminating  to  our  view  in  another  peak  called 
Brush  Mountain.  To  our  right  was  the  smaller  hill  called  Pine  Mountain, 
and  beyond  it  in  the  distance  Lost  Mountain.  All  these,  though  links  in  a 
continuous  chain,  present  a  sharp,  conical  appearance,  prominent  in  the 
vast  landscape  that  presents  itself  from  any  of  the  hills  that  abound  in  that 
region.  Kenesaw,  Pine  Mountain,  and  Lost  Mountain  form  a  triangle, 
Pine  Mountain  the  apex  and  Kenesaw  and  Lost  Mountain  the  base,  cover 
ing  perfectly  the  town  of  Marietta,  and  the  railroad  back  to  the  Chattahoo- 
chee.  On  each  of  these  peaks  the  enemy  had  his  signal  stations.  The 
summits  were  covered  with  batteries,  and  the  spurs  were  alive  with  men, 
busy  in  felling  trees,  digging  pits,  and  preparing  for  the  grand  struggle  im 
pending." 

By  the  1  ]  th  of  June,  our  lines  had  moved,  with  continual  skirmishing, 
close  up  to  the  enemy's  position,  and  dispositions  were  made  to  break  the 
line  between  Kenesaw  and  Pine  Mountain.  At  this  time,  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee  was  on  our  left,  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  in  the  centre,  and 
the  Army  of  the  Ohio  on  the  right.  On  the  15th  a  considerable  battle 
occurred,  in  which  Hooker's  corps  was  principally  engaged.  After  this, 
until  the  assault  of  the  27th,  there  was  no  fighting,  save  the  affair  of  the 
Kulp  House  on  the  22d,  and  skirmishing  on  the  most  extended  scale. 


280  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

"But  our  skirmishing,"  says  a  correspondent  of  the  Cincinnati  Gazette, 
u is  of  a  kind  fearfully  destructive  to  human  life;  and  when  continued  from 
day  to  day,  as  this  is  being  continued,  wastes  the  energy  of  an  army  as 
much  as  a  terrible  battle.  The  enemy  seems  to  have  marked  out  this 
whole  country,  from  the  Allatoona  Mountains  to  the  Chattahoochee,  with 
line  after  line  of  rifle-pits,  and  intrenchments,  and  fortifications.  No  sooner 
do  we  take  possession  of  one  formidable  line  of  works  than  another  con 
fronts  us ;  and  each  seems  to  be  stronger  than  the  preceding.  All  day  on 
the  16th  we  skirmished  incessantly  with  the  rebels,  establishing  no  advance 
anywhere.  On  the  17th  we  advanced  everywhere,  chasing  the  enemy  from 
long  lines  of  secondary  works,  and  forcing  him  back  on  what  we  fondly 
hoped  were  his  last  entrenchments  this  side  of  the  Chattahoochee. ' '  And 
thus  the  grand  skirmish  continued  from  day  to  day,  both  sides  sustaining  a 
heavy  loss,  but  without  an  engagement  which  might  properly  be  called  a 
battle.  The  enemy  now  driven  from  Lost  Mountain  and  Pine  Mountain, 
was  concentrated  on  Kenesaw,  from  whose  lofty  heights,  impregnable  by 
assault,  he  looked  down  upon  our  movements,  himself  apparently  safe  from 
all  attempts  that  might  be  made  against  him. 

During  the  operations  about  Kenesaw,  the  weather  was  extremely  bad ; 
the  rain  fell  almost  continuously  for  three  weeks,  rendering  the  narrow 
wooded  roads  mere  mud  gulleys.  Nevertheless,  the  troops  day  by  day  and 
night  by  night,  pressed  closer  up  to  the  rebel  works,  the  pickets  all  the 
while  galling  the  enemy,  and  occasionally  taking  considerable  numbers  of 
prisoners.  Up  to  this  time  General  Sherman  had  driven  the  enemy  from 
many  strong  entrenched  positions,  but  not  by  assault.  He  had  "out 
flanked"  him.  He  now  determined  to  assault.  In  coming  to  this  deter 
mination  he  was  doubtless  influenced  to  a  great  degree  by  the  consideration 
of  the  moral  effect  which  a  successful  assault  would  have  upon  his  own 
army.  It  was  the  dictate  of  wisdom  to  show  his  own  troops  that  he  did  not 
rely  upon  a  single  mode  of  offence,  but  was  prepared  to  execute  any  plan 
promising  success.  And  though  it  is  certain  that  no  mode  of  offence  could 
have  had  more  of  a  demoralizing  effect  upon  the  enemy  than  that  which 
General  Sherman  had  heretofore  in  the  campaign  so  successfully  used,  yet 
he  doubtless  considered  that  if  to  the  vague  fear  which  his  out-flanking 
manoeuvres  had  already  caused  were  superadded  the  knowledge  of  an 
assault  audaciously  conceived  and  bravely  executed,  the  demoralizing  effect 
would  be  well  nigh  fatal  to  his  antagonist.  Considerations  such  as  these 
would  be  proportionably  valuable,  should  the  assault  not  entirely  succeed. 

At  any  rate,  having  determined  upon  the  assault,  General  Sherman 
planned  it  in  just  such  way  as,  if  successful,  would  result  in  the  most  pos 
sible  damage  to  the  enemy.  The  general  point  selected  was  the  left  centre ; 
because,  if  Sherman  could  thrust  a  strong  head  of  column  through  at  that 


SIXTEENTH     INFANTRY.  281 

point,  by  pushing  it  boldly  and  rapidly  through  two  and  one-half  miles  it 
would  reach  the  railroad  below  Marietta,  cut  off  the  enemy's  right  and 
centre  from  their  line  of  retreat,  leaving  them  to  be  overwhelmed  and 
pulverized  between  the  assaulting  column  and  the  left  of  McPherson's  army 
swinging  in  upon  them.  Accordingly  on  the  morning  of  June  27th,  the 
whole  army  advanced  for  the  purpose  of  covering  the  assaulting  columns. 
The  Seventeenth  Corps,  (Blair's),  circled  the  eastern  point  of  the  mountain 
and  threatened  the  enemy's  right.  The  Sixteenth  Corps,  (Dodge's),  nrxr 
on  the  right,  assaulted  the  heights  on  the  northern  slope  of  the  mountain. 
The  Fifteenth,  (Logan's),  the  western  slope.  In  the  centre,  Davis'  Divi 
sion  of  the  Fourteenth  Corps,  (Palmer's),  and  Newton's  of  the  Fourth, 
constituted  the  assaulting  column,  supported  on  the  right  by  Geary  and 
Butterfield  of  Hooker's  Corps.  On  the  extreme  right  was  the  Army  of  the 
Ohio,  working  up  against  the  enemy's  left. 

The  position  to  be  attempted  was  one  which  might  have  appalled  the 
stoutest  heart.  On  the  summit  of  the  rugged  mountain,  covered  with  a 
dense  growth  of  underbrush,  the  rebels  had  stationed  a  battery  of  twelve 
guns,  from  which  they  maintained  a  withering  cross-fire  on  our  troops 
engaged  in  forcing  a  passage  up  the  steep  sides  of  the  mountains,  and  over 
the  abatis  and  rifle  pits  behind  which  the  enemy  were  sheltered.  There 
were  parts  of  the  mountain  over  which  it  would  have  been  impossible  for 
troops  to  move  in  line,  had  there  not  been  an  enemy  within  an  hundred 
miles.  The  men  climbed  from  point  to  point,  by  taking  hold  of  bushes, 
the  roots  of  trees,  and  the  points  of  rocks,  and  yet  many  of  them  fell  head 
long,  and  with  arms  and  accoutrements  went  clanging  down  the  steep 
declivity.  There  was  no  part  where  the  ascent  was  not  difficult  by  reason 
of  natural  obstructions,  and  extremely  so  since  to  these  were  added  formi 
dable  obstructions  made  by  the  enemy — abatis,  rifle-pits  lined  with  sharp 
shooters,  the  summit  frowning  with  many  guns.  But  with  that  dashing 
bravery  for  which  the  army  under  Sherman  was  so  distinguished,  our 
troops  charged  up  the  mountain,  through  the  tangled  thickets,  and  in  the 
face  of  the  deadly  missiles  from  above.  Two  lines  of  abatis  were  forced, 
and  the  enemy  driven,  with  the  loss  of  many  prisoners,  from  a  line  of  rifle 
pits.  But  human  courage  could  do  no  more.  Exposed  to  a  murderous 
enfilading  fire  of  artillery  and  a  terrible  direct  fire  of  musketry,  the  assault 
ing  columns  halted ;  but,  determined  to  hold  what  they  had  gained  with 
such  difficulty  and  loss,  they  threw  up  works  so  near  the  rebel  defences  that 
the  men  oast  stones  at  each  other,  and  held  them  with  the  most  stubborn 
determination.  This  brave  assault  had  cost  us  Generals  Harker  and 
McCook,  and  at  least  three  thousand  others  in  killed  and  wounded. 

Whilst  the  assault  was  being  made,  the  whole  army,  pressing  up  in  sup 
port,  was  less  or  more  engaged.  Thus,  though  the  Sixteenth  Iowa  did  not 
36 


282  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

take  part  in  the  direct  assault,  it  moved  in  the  general  advance,  and  on 
this  day  lost  more  than  a  score  of  men  in  killed  and  wounded.  It  was  here 
that  the  gallant  Lieutenant  Duffin,  whose  bravery  had  won  the  golden 
medal  of  honor  at  Yicksburg,  was  mortally  wounded,  and  in  all  the  opera 
tions  in  front  of  Kenesaw,  the  regiment  lost  about  forty  men.  Lieutenant 
Thomas  A.  Burke  fell  during  the  advance  of  the  Ffteenth,  and  with  him 
fell  many  others,  whose  graves  now  hallow  the  soil  of  the  rugged  country 
of  which  Kenesaw  Mountain  forms  the  most  prominent  and  picturesque 
feature.* 

The  assault  had  failed,  but  not  entirely.  It  had  inflicted  a  grievous  loss 
upon  Sherman's  army,  with  comparatively  light  damage,  in  killed  and 
wounded,  to  the  enemy.  But  it  had  not  been  without  good  results.  It 
had  placed  the  Union  army  so  close  to  the  rebel  army  that  the  latter  was 
almost  like  being  in  a  vice,  with  Sherman  at  the  handle,  a  turn  or  two  more 
of  which  would  crush  the  very  life  out  of  his  opponent.  The  moment  the 
Union  general  commenced  to  turn  the  crank — sending  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee  from  the  left  around  to  the  right,  his  wily  antagonist  evacuated 
Kenesaw,  and  retired  with  his  main  body  beyond  the  Chattahoochee. 
Leaving  the  Corps  of  Hardee  entrenched  on  the  Nickajack,  Johnston  put 
the  river  between  him  and  Sherman.  In  the  reconnoissances  arid  skir 
mishes,  which  took  place  in  front  of  this  last  rebel  position  on  the  hither 
side  of  the  Chattahoochee,  the  Sixteenth  was  engaged,  and  between  the 
4th  and  10th  of  July,  lost  one  killed  and  sixteen  wounded.5 

While  McPherson  was  operating  on  the  Nickajack,  Schofield  and  Thomas 
were  effecting  passage  of  the  river  higher  up  the  stream,  while  General 
Garrard,  in  command  of  the  cavalry  on  the  left  seized  the  fords  near  Ros- 
well,  still  higher  up.  Hardee  retired  across  the  river  on  the  morning  of 
the  10th,  thus  leaving  Sherman  undisputed  master  north  and  west  of  the 
Chattahoochee.  McPherson  again  made  the  circuit  of  the  army,  going 
from  extreme  right  to  extreme  left.  The  whole  army  then  went  into  camp 
on  the  banks  of  the  river,  and  for  a  few  days  the  troops  rested  from  their 
labors. 

*  List  of  casualties,  Sixteenth  Iowa,  in  Front  of  Kenesaw  : 

Killed,  Private  Charles  M.  Stark ;  Sergeant  John  Lodestein;  Corporal  A.  K.  Bair;  Privates  Mar 
shall  Ange,  Frank  McDuff,  John  Knoeke,  Albert  Wilson,  Alvis  Gravener.  Wounded,  Lieutenant 
Thomas  A.  Burke;  Sergeants  Joseph  Murray,  Henry  P.  Cole;  Corporal  Henry  Ellis;  Privates 
August  Gottbrecht,  Fritz  Peterson,  Christian  Wolf,  Philip  Tucker,  Jacob  Lehman,  John  Knoeke, 
Jamea  W.  Higbee,  Ancel  Stark;  Lieutenant  Samuel  Duffin ;  Sergeants  Thaddeus  C.  Purcell,  John 
Emery ;  Corporals  Henry  Limm,  August  Sckmedr;  Privates  Edward  Caseby,  Samuel  Mullen,  William 
MoLaughlin,  Serene  Davidson,  Lloyd  Pocock,  John  Kughn,  Henry  P.  Brown,  Calvin  Wicks,  Philip 
Hettinger,  Conrad  Kerst,  Eli  McConnell,  John  M.  Harris,  Nicholas  Sich. 

&  Namely :  Killed,  Quartermaster  Sergeant  John  W.  Denny.  Wounded,  Sergeants  William 
Maney,  James  W.  Stalcup;  Corporals  David  Hiller,  Jacob  Kun;  Sergeant  George  Hoxford;  Pri 
vates  John  W.  Hook,  John  Rodenhoffer,  Charles  H.  Bowers,  Williiam  J.  Brown,  Henry  M.  Biecle, 
Elias  Blake;  Sergeant  Philip  McNeamor;  Corporal  William  Baldwin;  Privates  Frederick  Kern, 
Charles  A.  Darling,  Herbert  Shaw. 


SIXTEENTH     INFANTRY.  283 

On  the  17th,  the  army  was  again  in  motion,  and  making  a  general  right 
wheel,  all  the  armies,  on  the  20th,  closed  in,  converging  toward  Atlanta. 
Rather  late  in  the  afternoon  of  this  day,  the  rebels,  now  commanded  by 
General  Hood,  sallied  from  their  works  and  attacked  our  lines  with  great 
impetuosity.  Hooker's  corps,  from  its  exposed  position,  bore  the  principal 
loss  consequent  upon  this  attack,  which  was  repulsed  with  heavy  loss  to  the 
enemy,  but  considerable  losses  were  sustained  all  along  the  lines.  Our 
regiment  here  lost  ten  wounded,  one  mortally.6 

On  the  next  day,  General  Sherman  felt  the  enemy  in  his  entrenched 
position,  but  there  was  no  general  battle.  In  gaining  a  certain  commanding 
position,  however,  General  McPherson  had  a  severe  fight  on  this  day. 
This  fighting  was  done  principally  by  the  division  of  General  Giles  A. 
Smith,  in  which  was  the  Iowa  Brigade.  The  combat,  though  short,  was 
very  severe,  and  resulted  in  a  heavy  loss  to  that  brigade  especially.  I  have 
heretofore  described  it.  In  this  gallant  fight,  the  Sixteenth  was  not  by 
position  in  the  front  line,  but  the  ardor  of  battle  drew  it  into  an  exposed 
position,  and  it  lost  more  than  fifty  men  in  less  than  thirty  minutes. 
Among  them  were  Lieutenant  George  H.  Holcomb,  killed,  and  Captain 
Hugh  Skilling,  wounded.7 

In  the  great  battle  of  Atlanta,  July  22d,  the  Sixteenth  was  sadly  unfor 
tunate,  being  compelled  to  surrender  in  a  body,  but  not  till  it  had  fought 
with  the  greatest  courage  and  effectiveness,  and  had  placed  many  more 
rebels  hors-du-combat  than  there  were  men  in  the  command.  In  the 
chapter  next  preceding  this  I  have  given  a  somewhat  detailed  account  of 
this  engagement,  but  the  part  taken  therein  by  the  Sixteenth  was  so 
peculiar,  and  its  position  so  isolated  from  the  general  battle,  that,  at  the 
risk  of  a  repetition  of  something  that  has  already  been  said,  I  will  here 
quote  the  official  report  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Sanders,  commanding  the 
regiment,  and  who  here,  as  in  all  his  battles,  fought  with  the  greatest 
pluck  and  enthusiasm.  His  report  is  without  date,  but  was  no  doubt 
prepared  after  his  return  from  rebel  imprisonment.  It  is  addressed  to 
Colonel  N.  B.  Baker,  adjutant-general  of  Iowa,  and  is  as  follows : 

6  Corporal  Benjamin  Priest,  (mortally  wounded).  Wounded,  Privates  R.  C.  Durthick,  Lyman 
Blakely,  Adna  Batchelder,  William  Blakely,  John  Collins,  Alfred  Merritt,  Thomas  Sullivan,  Albert 
Mix,  and  Solomon  Johnson. 

1  The  following  is  the  full  list,  as  reported  at  the  time : 

Killed,  Lieutenant  George  H.  Holcomb ;  Sergeants  Finlan  Beatty,  Philip  McNamer,  James  N. 
Gunning;  Corporals  Peter  Schlister,  Ancel  Stark.  Francis  Roger;  Hans  F.  Haman,  Wallace  Weaver; 
TFc/urH&d,  Captain  Hugh  Skilling;  Sergeants  Charles  M.  Pierce,  Thaddous  C.  Purcell;  Joseph  Lu 
cas,  William  G.  Fearing,  Joseph  Murray,  Peter  Becker,  George  Whitemore,  Charles  Geddes,  Henry 
P.  Coe;  Corporals  J.  C.  Harris  George  T.  Gillespio,  A.  Thomson,  August  Schnieder;  Jacob  J. 
Lepper,  Caleb  S.  Jordan,  Andrew  J.  Kindred,  Henry  Fullert,  Charles  Flugge,  A.  J.  Markley,  Calvin 
Wicks,  William  Shook,  Henry  P.  Brown,  Thomas  Millard,  Columbus  Custar,  George  R.  Howard. 
Newton  Cromwell,  Lyman  Fairfield,  L.  V.  Chrisman,  Elijah  Dills,  Francis  M.  Hester.  Willaby 
Adkerson.  Thomas  G.  Pierce,  Jr.,  H.  H.  Smice,  Orlando  Matteson,  John  Kromelbien,  William  F. 
Fletcher,  Alexander  Hamilton,  Ransom  Laning,  James  Carter,  David  M.  Bass,  Nicolaus  Pierce. 


284  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 


"  SIR:— I  have  the  honor  to  report  the  action  of  the  Sixteenth  Iowa  Veteran  Infantry,  in  the  battle 
before  Atlanta,  Georgia,  July  22d,  1864,  resulting  in  the  capture  of  nearly  all  of  said  regiment  and 
myself. 

"On  the  morning  of  July  21st  my  regiment  charged  on  rebel  batteries,  and  after  a  desperate  as- 
eault,  lost  sixty-five  men.  The  regiment  was  complimented  by  General  McPhersoii  for  its  daring 
bravery.  General  McPhersou's  last  words  to  me  the  day  he  was  killed,  were :  '  The  old  Sixteenth 
shall  be  remembered.'  On  the  afternoon  of  the  21st  the  Old  Iowa  Brigade  was  removed  to  the  ex 
treme  left  flank  of  Sherman's  army,  about  two  miles  from  Atlanta.  The  Sixteenth  Iowa  formed  a 
lino  at  right  angles  with  the  main  line  of  the  army.  Immediately  on  the  right  of  the  Sixteenth's 
works  the  Eleventh  Iowa  established  themselves  in  rifle-pits;  on  a  road  running  between  the 
Eleventh  and  Sixteenth  Iowa's  works  were  planted  two  Napoleon  guns  of  the  Second  Illinois  Bat 
tery  protected  by  heavy  works.  On  the  left  of  the  Sixteenth  and  a  little  to  the  rear,  the  Fifteenth 
Iowa  had  rifle-pits.  About  oiie  hundred  yards  to  the  rear  of  the  Sixteenth  the  Thirteenth  Iowa  had 
breastworks.  During  the  night  of  the  21st  each  regiment  of  the  brigade  built  substantial  rifle-pits 
along  the  line  that  I  have  designated,  and  each  cleared  a  space  of  fifty  yards  in  front  of  its  works. 
Still  the  heavy  underbrush  concealed  the  works  of  the  different  regiments  from  each  other's  view. 

"On  the  22d  we  were  under  arms  at  daj'-light,  but  no  enemy  appeared.  The  afternoon  before,  im 
mediately  on  our  arrival,  I  had  thrown  out  two  companies  (Companies  B  and  G),  several  hundred 
yards  in  front,  to  act  as  pickets  and  skirmishers.  About  noon  on  the  22d  I  received  an  of  der  from 
General  Smith,  in  person,  to  have  my  regiment  ready  to  fall  in  at  a  minute's  notice,  and  that  he  ex 
pected  me  to  hold  those  works  to  the  last,  as  the  safety  of  the  division  might  depend  on  the  delay 
we  could  occasion  the  enemy  at  that  point.  This  was  the  last  order  that  I  received  that  day  from 
any  commanding  officer. 

"  About  one  and  a  half  o'clock,  P.  M.,  our  skirmishers  in  front  commenced  a  brisk  firing.  I  im 
mediately  formed  the  regiment  in  the  entrenchments,  and  soon  after  the  skirmishers  were  driven 
in  upon  us.  I  again  sent  them  out,  but  a  strong  line  of  the  enemy  forced  them  back.  Lieutenant 
Powell,  commanding  the  battery,  opened  his  fire  on  the  advancing  enemy,  but  I  requested  it 
stopped  until  the  enemy  should  got  nearer.  I  ordered  my  men  not  to  fire  a  gun  until  they  received 
my  command,  no  matter  how  close  the  enemy  came.  The  rebel  line  advanced  steadily  to  the 
charge,  and  I  permitted  them  to  approach  to  the  open  space  of  fifty  yards  in  front  of  my  works, 
when  cautioning  my  men  to  fire  low  and  aim  well,  I  ordered  the  rear  rank  to  fire,  and  then  the 
front  rank.  The  response  was  a  terrific  and  deadly  volley  from  one  rank,  followed  immediately  by 
another,  and  then  a  continuous  rapid  firing,  fast  as  eager  and  experienced  soldiers  could  load  and 
discharge  their  guns.  The  result  of  our  fire  was  terrible ;  the  enemy's  line  seemed  to  crumble  to 
the  earth,  for  even  those  not  killed  or  wounded  fell  to  the  ground  for  protection.  Lieutenant 
Powell's  battery  here  did  excellent  execution.  Another  heavy  line  of  the  enemy  advanced  and 
were  repulsed  in  the  same  terrible  manner.  Officers  and  men  worked  enthusiastically ;  guns  be 
came  so  heated  that  they  could  not  be  handled,  the  powder  flashing  from  them  as  the  cartridge  was 
dropped  in.  The  officers  prepared  the  cartridges  for  the  men  and  helped  them  load  their  guns. 
More  splendid  firing,  or  more  effectual  in  its  results,  was  never  witnessed  in  the  army.  The  Eighth 
and  Second  Arkansas  regiments,  with  two  Texas  companies,  got  in  a  position  in  our  front,  in  which 
they  could  not  advance,  and  dared  not  attempt  to  retire,  but  hugged  the  ground  close,  suffering  a 
terrible  fire.  While  thus  lying  down,  they  raised  the  white  flag.  I  ordered  the  firing  to  cease,  and 
these  regiments  threw  down  their  guns  and  hurried  over  to  our  works  as  prisoners.  We  had  at  this 
time  double  the  number  of  prisoners  we  had  men  in  ranks.  A  part  of  these  men  were  sent  to  the 
rear,  but  before  the  remainder  could  be  secured,  the  enemy  had  taken  the  Thirteenth's  works  im 
mediately  in  our  rear,  and  commenced  a  heavy  firing  into  our  ranks.  The  boys  drew  their  bayonets 
and  made  the  prisoners  stand  up  to  protect  th«ir  rear  while  they  blazed  away  in  front.  My  atten 
tion  was  soon  after  this  called  to  a  large  number  of  prisoners  on  the  extreme  left,  marching  across 
to  our  works  with  gnns  in  their  hands.  I  immediately  started  in  that  direction  and  met  Captain 
Smith,  acting  major,  who  told  me  that  a  large  lot  of  the  rebel  prisoners  refused  to  lay  down  their 
guns,  and  he  wanted  help  to  force  them  to  do  it.  I  told  him  to  take  from  the  right  what  force  he 
needed  and  I  would  see  the  rebels  myself. 

"  I  immediately  went  to  the  extreme  left  where  I  found  a  large  body  of  rebels  with  guns  in  their 
hands,  confronted  by  our  own  men.  I  went  immediately  to  the  rebels  and  disarmed  two  of  them, 
when  I  was  surrounded  myself,  the  rebels  exclaiming,  as  they  threatened  me  with  their  guns,  'We 
won't  hurt  you,  sir,  if  you  surrender.'  Shocked  at  the  word  '  surrender,'  I  glanced  hastily  around, 
and  saw  the  rebels  hurrying  in  large  force  by  our  left  flank  to  the  rear,  and  perceived  they  had 
possession  of  the  Fifteenth's  works,  over  which  their  flags  waved.  The  thought  flashed  across  in- 
that  our  only  hope  was  to  draw  the  right  wing  of  the  regiment  out,  and  cut  our  way  through  the 


SIXTEENTH     IXFANTRY.  285 

Eleventh's  works.  Exclaiming  '  I  am  not  talking  of  surrender  now,'  I  dashed  away  from  them  to 
join  my  regiment.  A  rebel  Captain  seized  a  gun  from  one  of  his  men  and  fired  at  me,  the  ball 
passing  between  my  heels.  Captain  Lucas,  of  Company  K,  snatched  a  gun  from  a  private's  hands, 
and  simultaneously  with  two  soldiers  fired  at  the  rebel  Captain  and  killed  him  instantly,  and  the 
rebels  threw  down  their  arms. 

"  I  immediately  proceeded  to  the  right  of  the  regiment  and  commenced  drawing  them  out  in  line, 
hoping  to  be  able  to  cut  our  way  out,  when  I  discovered  the  rebels  had  possession  of  the  Eleventh's 
works  at  our  right.  They  thus  held  all  the  works  around  the  Sixteenth,  and  were  firing  into  us 
from  the  Thirteenth's  works  in  our  rear.  I  placed  my  men  in  the  pits  again,  explainin-g  to  my 
officers  the  condition  of  things,  while  at  that  moment  the  rebels  were  forming  a  line  in  front  of^the 
Thirteenth's  works  to  charge  bayonets  down  upon  us.  We  agreed  to  surrender,  but  while  dia«ujsing 
the  subject  on  the  right,  we  saw  the  left  going  over  the  works,  surrounded  by  rebel  bayonets.  We 
followed  their  example,  and  were  soon  marching  over  the  ground,  where  lay  the  work  of  our  hands 
in  the  form  of  the  rebel  dead  and  wounded.  We  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  for  every  man  of  us 
surrendered  at  least  one  dead  or  wounded  rebel,  lying  on  that  field  of  gore.  Many  of  our  officers 
aiid  men  were  robbed  by  the  rebels  of  almost  everything  as  they  left  the  ground. 

"  At  the  time  of  our  surrender  we  were  entirely  out  of  ammunition,  the  rebels  having  been  so 
long  in  our  rear  that  supplies  were  prevented  from  reaching  us.  Why  we  were  left  alone,  an  isolated 
regiment  surrounded  and  helpless,  while  the  other  regiments  around  us  were  ordered  from  their 
works,  as  I  suppose  they  were,  I  cannot  realize.  If  the  sacrifice  of  this  noble  regiment  was  in 
tended  to  give  the  army  in  our  rear  time  to  rally,  then  it  was  well,  and  the  sacrifice  was  nobly 
made,  of  a  band  of  as  brave  and  faithful  men  as  any  who  fought  upon  the  field  that  day.  They 
could  not  bo  taken  from  the  front,  and  only  surrendered  when  further  resistance  would  have  been 
suicide.  The  regiment  numbered  on  the  morning  of  the  22d,  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  effective 
fighting  men ;  of  these  a  fatigue  detail  of  three  officers  and  eighty  men  was  made  in  the  morning, 
most  of  which  were  captured  afterwards,  while  fighting  in  front  of  field  works  close  by.  Our  loss 
in  killed  and  wounded  I  cannot  give,  but  it  was  slight. 

"  I  should  have  stated  in  its  proper  place,  that  while  firing  heaviest,  and  guns  so  heated  that  they 
could  scarcely  be  handled,  we  were  reinforced  by  Companies  D  and  K,  of  the  Thirteenth  Iowa,  com 
manded  by  Captain  Pope  and  Lieutenant  Rice.  Captain  Pope  informed  me  that  they  were  ordered 
to  our  assistance,  fearing  our  ammunition  as  well  as  men  must  soon  be  exhausted.  I  assigned  these 
companies  places  along  the  trenches,  and  they  went  into  the  work  like  veterans,  fought  nobly  to 
the  last  and  surrendered  with  us. 

"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  ADD.  H.  SANDEKS, 
"  Lieutenant-Colonel  Sixteenth  Iowa  Infantry." 

Though  Lieutenant- Colonel  Sanders  does  not  bestow  too  much  credit  on 
his  gallant  command  for  its  fighting  on  this  occasion,  its  losses,  except  in 
prisoners,  were  very  light,  being  one  killed  and  four  wounded.8 

8  Kitted,  Private  William  Price.  Wounded,  John  Ivers,  Godleip  Kuhut,  Thomas  Schewy,  Thomas 
Sullivan. 

Captured,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Addison  H.  Sanders ;  Adjutant  J.  T.  Herbert^  Captains  J.  Henry  Smith, 
Henry  Lefeldt,  John  H.  Turner,  Peter  Miller,  Jesse  H.  Lucas ;  Lieutenants  William  H.  Hoyt,  Frede 
rick  Wiederman,  Thomas  Purcell,  Robert  Alcorn,  Madison  R.  Laird,  August  Timm ;  Sergeant-Major 
Oliver  Anson ;  Sergeants  John  Claussen,  John  A.  McElhany,  Martin  O'Hara,  T.  W.  Summerside, 
Martin  Lott,  John  T.  Davis,  Jasper  A.  Fisher,  John  Witt,  Hans  F.  Hartman,  F.  Schwerdtfeger,  Wil 
liam  Kissick,  Jacob  Earn,  Joseph  Lucas,  Alexander  Pierce,  Morgan  Faux,  Christian  Heppe,  John 
Spear,  Walker  Corey,  Amos  Sniff,  Julius  Wiedner,  William  Baumgarten,  Philip  M.  Weigel,  George 
Whitemore,  Isaac  C.  Munger,  John  Emery,  William  Stackman,  George  Huxford ;  Corporals  Joseph 
C.  Bowman,  Jackson  Almon,  George  Clayburg,  James  Throop,  Carl  Humke,  Seward  Jugenson, 
Henry  Moeller,  Ludwic  Luebbe,  Stephen  Cretzmyer,  William  Smith,  Henry  W.  Blessing,  Lloyd  D. 
Pocock,  Isaiah  Paisley,  Peter  Gettert,  Joshua  C.  Harris,  James  B.  Ingalls,  Jackson  Hull,  J.  J. 
Rozell,  John  B.  Blake,  Peter  Kiene,  Solomon  Bonner,  Henry  Hoffman,  John  Lampert,  John  Kline, 
Nicholas  Gieger,  Frank  Berousky,  Hiram  B.  Eighmy,  Isaac  J.  Zook,  John  P.  Balluff,  Alexander  M. 
Apple,  William  Kinkade,  A.  R.  Wilson,  James  Broomfield,  Americus  V.  Corbin ;  Privates  Oliver 
Atchison,  William  Blakely,  John  Collins,  John  Smoller,  Levi  Shadle,  Jacob  Mann,  Jesee  Getty 


286  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

The  regiment  was  thus,  for  the  time  being,  very  nearly  broken  up. 
Nevertheless,  there  were  a  few  more  than  one  hundred,  with  three  officers, 
able  to  answer  to  their  names  after  the  battle,  and  these  continued  the 
organization  during  the  captivity  of  the  main  portion  of  the  command. 
Their  number  was  soon  increased,  by  the  return  of  sick  and  wounded  men 
to  duty,  to  nearly  two  hundred.  The  regiment,  thus  reduced,  remained  in 
the  performance  of  duty  during  the  remainder  of  the  Atlanta  campaign, 
in  the  siege  thereof  losing  one  killed,  and  eight  wounded.9 

The  prisoners  of  the  regiment,  meanwhile,  were  making  their  sad  history 
in  the  manner  enforced  by  rebel  authorities.  The  men  were  sent  to  Ander- 
sonville,  the  officers,  first  to  Macon,  thence  to  Charleston,  South  Carolina, 
and  thence  to  Columbia.  It  is  needless  here  to  tell  how  the  poor  fellows 
lived  who  went  to  Andersonville.  That  foul,  loathsome  prison-pen — 
shambles  into  which  human  beings  were  turned,  to  glut  the  appetite  for 
torture  and  death,  of  inhuman  butchers,  the  cannibals  of  civilization,  with 
depravity  enough  to  slay  their  victims  and  only  too  much  ' '  chivalry ' '  to 
eat  them — has  become  the  gloomiest  "picture  in  the  book  of  time,"  and 
must  forever  meet  the  fearful  curses  of  humanity,  which  was  there  mad 
dened,  murdered,  starved,  outraged,  as  humanity  never  was  maddened, 
murdered,  starved,  outraged  by  beings  not  wholly  savage  and  atheistic. 

Frank  Fitzgerald,  Doan  Kindred,  Frederick  Dames,  Horace  Fuller,  Albert  Fuller,  Garder  God- 
dard,  Josiah  Osborn,  Nelson  Philips,  James  Smith,  Charles  Smith,  John  Traneum,  Frederick  Frick, 
Christian  Bunger,  William  Hamdorf,  Jochim  Bock,  John  Dickman,  William  Kiehl,  Hans  Hoick, 
Philleb  Hartzberger,  Fritz  Silvester,  Hans  Brammer,  Glaus  Dammann,  C.  Doeremann,  Marx  Hansen, 
N.  Hildebrandt,  Carl  Wendt,  John  Eggcre,  Andrew  Schmagle,  Paul  Schumacker,  William  Wilke, 
Henry  Wiese,  John  Seimms,  Claus  Jansen,  Jacob  Jacobson,  Christian  Begun,  Henry  Jalm,  Charles 
Flicker,  Dettlef  Scheel,  Nicholas  Banse,  James  Casserbaum,  George  Kline,  Columbus  Custar,  John 
A.  Fredericks,  James  W.  Hamilton,  George  W.  Hickson,  Alexander  Holt,  James  G.  Moore,  William 
H.  Moore,  Clinton  Parkhurst,  Columbus  A.  Price,  Frederick  G.  Shultz,  John  Shadle,  William  J. 
Cooke,  Henry  L.  Sixbury,  James  N.  Sellars,  David  Spurgeon,  R.  M.  J.  Tallman,  John  Timmanus, 
Calvin  Weeks,  Thomas  G.  Pierce,  Thomas  Myers,  Newton  Cromwell,  Michael  Weaver,  George  W. 
Snively,  John  C.  Bowling,  James  M.  Lane,  John  Braman,  C.  H.  Scramblin,  George  R.  Howard, 
Abraham  Lair,  Timothy  Crowly,  John  Bearegard,  Wesley  Smice,  David  Smice,  Thomas  Brumage, 
John  Cartland,  Orlando  Matteson,  Briggs  Olds,  John  N.  Ritchie,  John  Steinmates,  Eneas  Stump, 
Alexander  Porter,  J.  R.  Hayworth,  C.  Humming,  Absalom  Ernes,  Milton  Bonner,  Case  Bacon,  Marion 
Bell,  George  Coon,  S.  B.  Katkart,  James  Devault,  W.  II.  II.  Renfro,  Norman  Greene,  Austin  J. 
Irish,  William  McKinson,  John  Carpenter,  William  Patterson,  Kimball  Page,  Jasper  N.  Marsh, 
Miller  Westby,  William  Rayner,  John  Greene,  August  Hartman,  Henry  Bowen,  Jacob  Eggar, 
Antony  Weyershausen,  Theodore  Mikesch,  Adolph  Schlicht,  Jacob  Walter,  Louis  Muller,  William 
Fenk,  Christian  Holz,  William  Otto,  Moritz  Vallmer,  Frederick  Sucow,  Edward  Steinman,  John 
Bossier,  Jacob  Vetter,  William  Nelson,  Charles  W.  Felter,  John  Pfister,  Bendrick  Graden,  Andrew 
Joos,  Henry  Lorentz,  Theodore  Benjamin,  George  Bond,  Simon  Drake,  John  Huntington,  Stephen 
E.  Presler,  Theodore  Sunter,  Thomas  Walsh,  Benjamin  F.  Webster,  Neil  Toikolson,  Thomas  J.  Stock- 
dale,  John  Zack,  Ranson  Laning,  Samuel  Madden,  George  Crumrine,  George  W.  Wise,  AVilson  P. 
Hubbard,  John  Pitts,  Lansing  D.  Wooley,  Lewis  McMurphey,  Bernard  Kennedy,  John  Lightfoot, 
Godfrey  Mootz,  Charles  Combey,  William  Brooks,  Nicholas  Lucas,  John  Hocke,  Carl  Mathes, 
Charles  Hager,  Nicolaus  Pieres,  Robert  Roister,  George  Herold,  Allen  Ward,  Joseph  Enderlie, 
George  Hoffman. 

»  Killed,  John  J.  Ellis.  Wounded,  James  King,  John  Mullhall,  Lemuel  Stanley,  John  Drew, 
John  Tucker,  William  Schmidt,  Isain  White,  and  William  II.  Crawford. 


SIXTEENTH     INFANTRY.  287 

Here  the  men  of  the  Sixteenth  remained  until  the  19th  of  September, 
when  they  moved  to  Hough  and  Ready  for  exchange,  and  the  majority 
were  there  exchanged  on  the  22d,  just  two  months  from  the  day  of  their 
capture.  The  officers  remained  in  prison  much  longer,  but  some  of  them, 
by  great  endeavor  and  through  incredible  difficulty,  escaped,  among  others, 
Captain  J.  H.  Smith,  who  was  afterwards,  on  the  resignation  of  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Sanders,  appointed  Lieutenant-Colonel,  and  who  commanded  the 
regiment  on  its  last  campaign. 

But  neither  the  history  nor  the  losses  of  the  regiment  ended  at  Atlanta. 
On  the  10th  of  December,  Charles  Hoag,  principal  musician,  was  killed  by 
a  twenty-four-pound  solid  shot,  in  front  of  the  works  of  Savannah.  Pri 
vate  George  Turner  was  at  the  same  time  severely  wounded.  At  different 
places  in  South  Carolina,  on  the  northward  march,  Corporal  Lyman  Fair- 
field,  and  private  Albert  Mix  were  wounded,  the  former  mortally,  and 
Lieutenant  William  Stackman  fell  severely  wounded  near  Cheraw,  on  the 
2d  of  March,  1865 — the  last  casualty  in  the  regiment.  The  command  con 
tinued  with  Sherman's  triumphant  army  till  the  war  was  practically  closed 
by  the  capitulation  of  Johnston ;  marched  to  Washington ;  was  there  re 
viewed  by  the  Lieutenant-General,  the  President  and  the  dignitaries  of 
our  own  and  many  countries  witnessing  the  great  display ;  moved  thence 
to  Louisville,  and  was  there  mustered  out  of  service  in  the  month  of  July, 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Herbert  being  the  last  commanding  officer  of  the  regi 
ment.  Lieutenant- Colonel  Smith  had  resigned  at  Louisville.  From  Louis 
ville,  the  regiment  moved  to  Davenport,  Iowa,  and  was  there  disbanded. 
Its  members  sought  their  homes  in  all  parts  of  the  State,  and  were 
welcomed  with  expressions  of  kindness  and  gratitude  which  the  true  and 
the  brave  can  alone  call  forth.1 

1  The  officers  of  the  regiment  when  it  was  mustered  out  were : — Lieutenant-Colonel  J.  T.  Herbert ; 
Major  Peter  Miller;  Surgeon  Dr.  J.  L.  Phillips;  Assistant  Surgeon  Dr.  Alexander;  Adjutant 
Oliver  Anson ;  Quartermaster  Smith  Spoor.  Company  A — Captain  Charles  N.  Pierce ;  First  Lieu 
tenant  Charles  B.  Else.  Company  B — Captain  John  Claussen ;  First  Lieutenant  Joseph  A.  Fisher. 
Company  C — Captain  William  Kissick;  First  Lieutenant  Joseph  Lucas.  Company  D — Captain 
William  G.  Fearing;  First  Lieutenant  William  Murray.  Company  E— Captain  A.  P.  Merritt;  First 
Lieutenant  John  A.  McElhaney.  Company  F— Captain  Martin  O'Hara.  Company  G — Captain 
August  Timm ;  First  Lieutenant  William  Ruff.  Company  H— Captain  John  F.  Conyinghain ;  First 
Lieutenant  Thomas  W.  Summersides ;  Second  Lieutenant  Edward  E.  Bale.  Company  J— Captain 
Martin  V.  Lott ;  First  Lieutenant  Isaac  C.  Munger.  Company  K— Captain  Wilhelm  Stackman ; 
First  Lieutenant  John  T.  Davis. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

SEVENTEENTH    INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  REGIMENT— HASTE  TO  REACH  THE  FRONT— GOES  BY 
WATER  TO  HAMBURG,  TENNESSEE— SIEGE  OF  CORINTH— BATTLE  OF  IUKA— 
BATTLE  OF  CORINTH— GENERAL  ROSECRANS'  CONGRATULATORY  ORDER— 
A  HARD  WORKING  WINTER  — YAZOO  PASS  EXPEDITION  — THE  VICKSBURG 
CAMPAIGN— BATTLE  OF  JACKSON— CHAMPION'S  HILL—  COMBAT  AT  FORT 
HILL— BATTLE  OF  CHATTANOOGA— SURRENDER  AT  TILTON,  GEORGIA— RE 
MARKABLE  DEFENCE  OF  RESACA  BY  COLONEL  WEVER— ROSTER. 

THE  formation  of  the  Seventeenth  Infantry  at  first  proceeded  slowly. 
But  the  exhilarating  victory  at  Fort  Donelson,  in  which  the  troops  of  Iowa 
bore  so  conspicuous  a  part  as  to  win  the  admiration  of  the  nation,  brought 
about  renewed  enthusiasm.  During  the  months  of  March  and  April,  1862, 
the  regiment  was  organized,  rendezvousing  at  Keokuk.  It  was  composed 
chiefly  of  men  from  the  southern  tier  of  counties,  and  the  tier  adjoining, 
but  several  counties  besides,  even  so  far  north  as  Buchanan,  contributed  to 
the  organization.  On  the  16th  of  April,  the  command,  then  numbering 
nine  hundred  and  thirty-five  men,  was  mustered  into  the  service  of  the 
United  States. 

John  W.  Rankin  was  Colonel.  He  had  been  a  Judge  of  the  District 
Court,  a  member  of  the  State  Senate,  a  Quartermaster  in  the  army.  He 
had  been  a  prominent  lawyer  and  active  politician  for  several  years  before 
the  war  broke  out.  Just  at  this  time  he  was  ambitious  of  military  eclat^ 
and,  being  of  an  ardent  temperament,  in  no  little  haste  to  acquire  it.  The 
regiment  did  not  remain  at  its  place  of  rendezvous  any  length  of  time,  to 
acquire  discipline  and  to  drill,  as  most  other  regiments  of  the  State  had 
done,  but  started  at  once  for  the  seat  of  war,  leaving  Keokuk  on  steamer 
for  St.  Louis  on  the  19th  of  the  month.  In  this  feeling  of  anxiety  to  com 
mence  active  operations  immediately,  Lieutenant-Colonel  David  B.  Hillis 
and  Major  Samuel  A.  Wise  participated,  as  did,  indeed,  nearly  the  whole 
regiment.  Our  western  army  was  at  the  time  confronting  the  rebel  forces 
under  distinguished  leaders  in  the  vicinity  of  Corinth,  Mississippi,  and  the 
288 


SEVENTEENTH   INFANTRY.  289 

men  were  anxious  to  engage  in  the  combat  which  seemed  to  be  impending. 
It  was  an  honorable  feeling  on  the  part  of  both  officers  and  men,  and  as  the 
siege  of  Corinth  proceeded  with  a  sufficiency  of  caution  and  slowness,  the 
want  of  drill  and  discipline  was,  perhaps,  of  no  great  importance.  The 
regiment  remained  at  St.  Louis  a  fortnight,  receiving  equipage,  field  trans 
portation,  tents,  etc.,  and  then  embarked  for  Hamburg,  Tennessee,  where 
it  arrived  on  the  7th  of  May,  and  immediately  marched  to  join  the  grand  * 
army  then  laying  siege  to  Corinth. 

Little  else  was  here  done  by  the  command  except  to  perform  the  usual 
camp  and  picket  duties.  On  the  28th,  however,  the  day  before  Beauregard 
had  entirely  evacuated  his  works,  the  regiment  and  the  Tenth  Missouri 
Volunteers,  were  chosen  to  move  out  in  front  of  our  lines  for  the  purpose 
of  developing  the  strength  and  position  of  the  enemy.  The  charge  was  so 
finely  made  by  this  detachment  as  to  elicit  from  the  division  commander  a 
most  pleasing  compliment,  but  the  casualties  were  trifling.  On  the  30th, 
the  regiment  marched  with  the  army,  in  hot  pursuit  of  the  retreating  rebels, 
as  far  as  Boonville,  some  twenty-five  miles  south  of  Corinth.  It  returned 
to  this  place  on  the  llth  of  June,  and  went  into  camp  on  Clear  Creek,  three 
miles  from  the  town,  where  it  remained  till  August  15th,  except  during  a 
few  days  in  which  it  formed  a  scouting  party  and  went  to  Ripley,  some 
fifty  miles  distant.  About  the  middle  of  August,  the  division  to  which  the 
Seventeenth  was  attached  marched  to  Jacinto,  and  there  established  an 
outpost.  From  this  post  numerous  expeditions  were  sent  out  in  various 
directions,  but  to  no  great  distance,  in  several  of  which  the  regiment  took 
part.  On  the  18th  of  September,  it  marched  for  luka,  and  on  the  follow 
ing  day  participated  in  the  desperate  conflict  which  there  took  place,  in 
such  way  as  to  receive,  but  not  to  justly  receive,  the  censure  of  General 
Rosecrans.1  The  Seventeenth  joined  in  the  pursuit  of  the  rebels  the  next 
day,  and  returned  to  Jacinto  on  the  evening  of  the  21st,  remaining  in  camp 
there  till  the  2d  of  October,  when  all  the  troops  were  moved  to  Corinth. 

THE  BATTLE  OF  CORINTH. 

The  rebel  armies,  under  Generals  Van  Dorn  and  Price,  concentrated  at 
Ripley  after  the  battle  of  luka,  and  there  received  such  reinforcements  as 

l  CASUALTIES  AT  THE  BATTLE  OP  IUKA.  Killed,  Lieutenant  0.  H.  P.  Smith;  James  J.  Atherton, 
John  S.  Parkhurst,  Allen  R.  Richmond ;  Sergeant  John  J.  Koolbeck  ;  William  Franke  ;  Corporals 
James  Raridan,  Brice  P.  Lee ;  S.  H.  C.  Grubb. 

Wourukd,  Captain  S.  M.  Archer;  Daniel  S.  Arnold,  Henry  G.  Willis,  Elihu  G.  Burns,  George  W. 
Dundy,  Charles  P.  Smith,  George  Barrickman,  Isaac  Jourdan,  John  F.  Jackson,  Thomas  Stafford ; 
Corporal  Lycurgus  Forrest,  H.  C.  Boyster,  Benjamin  H.  Schooler;  Sergeant  M.  L.  Godley;  William 
D.  Fisher,  A.  J.  Headley,  A.  W.  Ream,  R.  E.  Williams,  A.  W.  Reagan,  William  J.  Cline,  Charles 
Chase,  Harry  M.  Kenderdine,  Thomas  Pipes,  M.  J.  Richardson;  Sergeants  Samuel  V.  Duncan, 
Thomas  Stewart;  Corporal  John  King,  Jesse  Lee,  Samuel  Yard;  Sergeant  A.M.Vance;  Henry 
Hansen,  Ezra  P.  Vance;  Sergeant  Houston  Smith;  Corporal  Z.  F.  Wood;  John  Anderson,  John 
FuUerton,  William  II.  McGill,  Hugh  A.  White. 
37 


290  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

could  be  gathered  from  the  insurgent  powers  in  Mississippi.  The  whole 
force,  numbering  thirty-eight  thousand,  was  under  the  command  of  Van 
Dorn.  It  marched  from  Ripley  to  Pocahontas,  near  the  line  between 
Tennessee  and  Mississippi,  about  twenty  miles  west  and  north  of  Corinth, 
behind  the  works  of  which,  constructed  for  defence  by  an  hundred  thousand 
men,  Major-General  Rosecrans  had  his  little  army  of  twenty  thousand. 
From  Pocahontas  the  rebels  marched  to  Chawalla,  northwest  of  Corinth 
not  more  than  ten  miles  from  that  point,  causing  our  pickets  and  recon- 
noitering  forces  to  feel  the  heavy  pressure  of  advancing  columns.  The 
battle  was  fought  on  the  3d  and  4th  of  October,  but  there  was  considerable 
skirmishing  during  the  first  two  days  of  the  month,  General  Rosecrans 
maneuvering,  with  admirable  adroitness,  to  induce  the  enemy  to  attack 
him  where  he  seemed  the  weakest  but  was  in  fact,  or  purposed  to  himself, 
by  the  rapid  dispositions  of  his  troops  and  construction  of  defences  to  be, 
the  strongest. 

The  Memphis  and  Charleston  and  Mobile  and  Ohio  railroads  cross  each 
other  at  Corinth.  These  thoroughfares,  with  Cypress  Creek,  form  a  nearly 
equilateral  triangle  with  sides  about  fifteen  miles  in  length,  the  town  of 
Corinth  being  at  the  southeast  angle.  From  Chawalla  there  are  two  roads 
leading  eastward,  one  directly  into  the  old  rebel  works,  the  other  into  the 
Pittsburg  Landing  road,  which  latter  leads  to  Corinth  from  the  northeast. 
There  is  a  road  leading  directly  north,  to  Purdy.  There  are  other  roads 
intersecting  these  at  various  distances  from  Corinth. 

Very  early  on  the  morning  of  the  3d,  the  Union  army  was  in  position. 
General  Hamilton  occupied  the  right,  between  the  Hamburg  and  Purdy 
roads ;  General  Davies  the  centre,  between  the  Memphis  and  Columbus 
roads ;  and  General  McKean  the  extreme  left,  facing  west,  on  the  Chawalla 
road.  Cavalry  covered  the  flanks,  and  front  on  the  north  and  east.  Gen 
eral  Stanley's  Division  was  held  as  a  reserve.  This  position  was  at  a 
considerable  distance  from  Corinth,  and  extending  all  the  way  from  the 
east  to  the  west  on  the  northern  side.  General  Rosecrans  ordered  the  line 
to  be  held  till  the  force  of  the  enemy  became  fully  developed,  and  his 
position  assumed,  when  our  army  would  assume  a  new  position,  having  the 
aid  of  a  strong  line  of  redoubts  and  batteries,  and  earth-works,  behind  the 
open  ground  in  the  vicinity  of  Corinth,  where  all  his  artillery  could 
be  used* 

By  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  rebel  army  was  in  motion,  Van  Dorn 
himself  leading  the  right  wing,  and  Price  the  left.  They  attacked  with 
vigor,  but  were  met  with  courage  by  our  troops  all  along  the  lines.  We 
were  pressed  back,  however,  from  one  line  of  entrenchments  to  another, 
our  men  fighting  with  the  greatest  bravery,  and  their  officers  behaving  with 
unequalled  coolness  and  skill.  The  losses  were  severe  on  both  sides. 


SEVENTEENTH     INFANTRY. 


291 


29^5    ,  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

General  Hackleman,  of  Indiana,  was  killed  while  gallantly  leading  his 
brigade,  which  itself  suffered  fearfully.  General  Oglesby  was  severel/ 
wounded.  Colonel  Baker,  of  the  Second  Iowa,  was  mortally  wounded. 
The  musketry  of  the  enemy  made  awful  rents  in  our  lines  from  the  com 
mencement  of  the  battle  till  night.  It  seemed  then  as  though  we  had 
been  defeated.  We  had  been  pressed  back  everywhere.  The  rebels,  out 
numbering  us  nearly  two  to  one,  had  fought  with  great  courage  and 
tenacity.  They  were  sure  of  success.  General  Van  Dorn,  as  certain  of 
triumph  as  General  Melas,  at  Marengo,  dispatched  to  Richmond  intelli 
gence  of  a  great  victory,  having  no  more  idea  of  the  fatal  cul-de-sac  of 
artillery  into  which  he  was  running  than  Melas  had  of  Desaix  and 
Kellerman. 

During  Friday  night,  the  position  of  the  Union  army  was  materially 
strengthened  by  new  redoubts  and  breastworks.  General  Stanley,  with  his 
reserves,  was  called  into  action  the  first  day  of  the  conflict,  and  on  the 
second  held  position  between  Hamilton  on  the  right  and  Davies  at  the  cen 
tre.  In  other  respects  the  relative  positions  of  the  troops  were  the  same  as 
on  Friday.  The  rebel  divisions  also  had  similar  relative  positions — Lovell 
on  their  right,  and  Price,  with  Herbert's  and  Maury's  divisions  on  their 
left.  Van  Dorn,  in  supreme  command,  occupied  the  centre.  Price  opened 
the  battle  in  the  morning  before  daylight  by  a  lively  cannonade,  the  pro 
jectiles  falling  in  the  town,  terrifying  and  scattering  the  inhabitants  and 
camp  followers,  and  killing  some  of  our  wounded  soldiers.  The  sharp 
shooters  of  both  armies  were  soon  engaged.  At  nine -o'clock,  the  rebel 
batteries  were  sent  to  the  rear,  and  in  thirty  minutes  their  whole  army 
moved  to  assault  our  works.  By  this  time,  the  enemy  were  concentrated 
in  the  shape  of  an  immense  wedge  between  the  railways,  with  which  wedge 
Van  Dorn  proposed  to  pierce  the  Union  centre,  and  throw  our  army  into 
confusion  and  rout.  "It  was,"  says  the  correspondent  of  the  Cincinnati 
Commercial,  "a  splendid  target  for  our  batteries,  and  it  was  soon  perfo 
rated.  Hideous  gaps  were  rent  in  it,  but  the  massive  lines  were  closed 
almost  as  soon  as  they  were  torn  open.  At  this  period  the  skilful  manage 
ment  of  General  Bosecrans  began  to  develop.  It  was  discovered  that  the 
enemy  had  been  enticed  to  attack  precisely  at  the  point  where  the  artillery 
could  sweep  them  with  direct,  cross  and  enfilading  fire.  Our  shell  swept 
through  the  mass  with  awful  effect,  but  the  brave  rebels  pressed  onward 
inflexibly.  Directly  the  wedge  opened  and  spread  out  magnificently,  right 
and  left,  like  great  wings,  seeming  to  swoop  over  the  whole  field  before 
them.  But  there  was  a  fearful  march  in  front.  A  broad  turfy  glacis, 
sloping  upward  at  an  angle  of  thirty  degrees  to  a  crest  fringed  with  deter 
mined,  disciplined  soldiers,  and  clad  with  terrible  batteries,  frowned  upon 
them.  There  were  a  few  obstructions — fallen  timber — which  disordered 


SEVENTEENTH     INFANTRY.  293 

their  lines  a  little.  But  every  break  was  instantly  welded.  Our  whole 
line  opened  fire,  but  the  enemy,  seemingly  insensible  to  fear,  or  infuriated 
by  passion,  bent  their  necks  downward  and  marched  steadily  to  death,  with 
their  faces  averted  like  men  striving  to  protect  themselves  against  a  driving 
storm  of  hail."  The  farther  the  rebels  advanced,  the  more  were  they  ex 
posed  to  the  fire  of  our  artillery.  Their  slaughter  was  fearful,  but  still 
they  came  on  through  the  pitiless  storm,  with  an  obstinate  courage  never 
surpassed.  Davies'  division  gave  way  before  them,  and  the  heads  of  their 
columns  penetrated  Corinth.  But  here,  as  everywhere,  they  received  the 
terrible  fire  of  our  cannon,  those  on  the  works  south  of  the  town  now  open 
ing  upon  them.  General  Sullivan,  in  whose  brigade  was  the  Seventeenth 
Iowa,  advanced  rapidly  to  the  support  of  Davies,  charged  bayonets,  and 
drove  the  rebels  from  the  town.  By  the  personal  exertions  of  General 
Rosecrans  himself  the  troops  of  Davies  were  rallied,  and  joined  in  the  ad 
vance  of  our  lines.  Lovell  led  his  division  against  our  left,  and  there  was  a 
deadly  combat  on  that  part  of  the  field,  the  rebels  there  exhibiting  no  less 
courage  than  on  our  centre.  They  were  repulsed  with  great  slaughter. 
Not  long  after  noon,  Van  Dorn  put  his  whole  army  in  retreat,  and  the 
great  battle  was  won. 

In  this  remarkable  engagement — as  finely  performed  by  Rosecrans  as 
Austerlitz  by  Napoleon — the  troops  of  Iowa  who  were  present  bore  con 
spicuous  part.  They  formed  a  quite  heavy  proportion  of  the  whole  force. 
The  Second  Infantry,  Second  Cavalry,  Fifth,  Seventh,  Tenth.  Eleventh, 
Thirteenth,  Fifteenth,  Sixteenth,  Seventeenth  Infantry,  and  the  remnants 
of  the  Eighth,  Twelfth,  and  Fourteenth,  who  had  not  been  captured  at 
Shiloh,  at  this  time  in  the  organization  called  the  "  Union  Brigade,"  were 
participants  in  the  battle.  The  Second  Infantry  fought  with  great  bravery 
and  distinction  both  on  the  3d  and  4th.  On  the  3d,  Colonel  James  Baker 
was  mortally  wounded,  whilst  his  command  was  charging  on  the  rebels 
with  the  greatest  enthusiasm.  Lieutenant-Colonel  N.  W.  Mills  was  mor 
tally  wounded  in  the  second  day's  engagement,  while  fighting  with  the 
most  conspicuous  courage  and  coolness.  During  the  battle,  the  regiment, 
which  went  into  the  fight  with  three  hundred  and  forty-six  men,  rank  and 
file,  lost,  in  killed,  wounded  and  missing,  one  hundred  and  eight.  Major 
James  B.  Weaver,  in  his  official  report,  says  that  officers  and  men  through 
out  the  engagement  displayed  the  most  laudable  gallantry  and  heroism.  He 
passes  warm-hearted  eulogiums  upon  Colonel  Baker,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mills, 
and  many  line  officers  and  men.  The  Second  Cavalry,  Colonel  Edward  Hatch. 
performed  well  its  part,  and  received  the  special  mention  of  General  Rose 
crans  for  its  prompt  and  efficient  aid  in  the  pursuit  of  the  vanquished 
rebels.  The  Fifth  Infantry,  which  had  recently  fought  so  finely  at  luka, 
was  on  the  extreme  right  of  the  circular  line,  and  suffered  but  little  loss. 


294  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

The  Seventh,  Colonel  E.  W.  Rice,  was  in  the  brigade  of  General  Hackle- 
man,  and  fought  throughout  both  days'  contest  with  unswerving  valor. 
"  More  than  one  third  of  those  taken  into  action,"  says  Colonel  Rice  in  his 
official  report,  ' '  are  wounded  or  lie  dead  beneath  the  battle-field. ' '  The 
Tenth,  Major  N.  McCalla  commanding,  formed  the  right  of  General 
Sullivan's  brigade.  The  casualties  of  the  regiment  were  one  killed  and 
thirty-nine  wounded.  The  Eleventh,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hall,  the  Thir- 
'teenth,  Lieutenant-Colonel  John  Shane,  the  Fifteenth,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
W.  W.  Belknap,  and  the  Sixteenth,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Addison  Sanders, 
formed  the  "Iowa  Brigade,"  under  Colonel  M.  M.  Crocker,  in  the  division 
of  General  McKean,  which  division,  as  we  have  seen,  was  posted  on  the 
left  of  General  Rosecrans'  line.  The  conflict  here  was  much  more  severe 
on  the  first  than  on  the  second  day  of  the  battle,  and  was  the  most  severe 
late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  first  day,  when  the  division  fell  back  some  dis 
tance  toward  Corinth.  The  Iowa  Brigade  protected  the  retiring  movement 
of  the  rest  of  the  division  and  the  artillery,  holding  in  .check,  and  at  one 
time  actually  driving  back  a  vastly  superior  number  of  rebels,  till  the  move 
ment  had  been  accomplished.  There  were  no  Union  guns  captured  here. 
The  losses  in  the  brigade  were  heavy,  heaviest  in  the  Fifteenth.  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Sanders  was  severely  wounded,  but  remained  with  his  com 
mand  till  it  marched  off  the  field.  Colonel  Crocker,  in  his  report,  a  docu 
ment  of  admirable  comprehensiveness  and  soldierly  brevity,  acknowledges 
his  obligations  to  all  the  field  officers  of  the  command,  and  avers  with 
simple  truthfulness,  that  his  brigade,  during  the  protracted  movements  of 
the  battle  and  pursuit,  encountering  every  hardship  incident  to  such  cam 
paigning,  behaved  with  great  fortitude,  meeting  every  danger  and  hardship 
cheerfully.  The  Union  Brigade,  composed  mostly  of  Iowa  troops  under 
command  of  Lieutenant- Colonel  J.  P.  Coulter,  fought  well  and  lost  heavily 
in  this  engagement.  , 

The  Seventeenth,  smarting  under  the  censure  which  the  men  believed 
had  been  hastily  cast  upon  them  for  their  conduct  at  luka,  went  into  the 
battle  of  Corinth  with  a  stern  determination  to  wipe  out  the  stain  from  its 
reputation.  There  never  was  a  prouder  success.  I  have  heard  many  brave 
men  of  other  commands  say  they  never  saw  better  fighting  than  that  of  the 
Seventeenth  at  Corinth.  They  fought  during  the  entire  engagement,  first 
on  the  right  of  General  Sullivan's  Brigade,  and  afterwards  where  they  could 
find  the  most  rebels.  It  was  at  the  very  crisis  of  the  battle,  when  Davies' 
Division  had  given  way,  the  rebels  had  penetrated  into  the  town,  and  all 
seemed  lost,  that  this  regiment,  by  a  splendid  charge  arrested,  then  turned 
back  the  column  which  had  till  then  been  making  such  fearful  headway, 
and  followed  it  up  in  its  confused  retreat,  long  enough  to  capture  a  stand 
of  colors,  and  to  place  more  men  hors-du-combaf'tlMn.  there  were  bayonets 


SEVENTEENTH     INFANTRY.  295 

in  the  command.  Says  Major  Banbury,  of  the  Fifth  Iowa,  who  commanded 
the  regiment  during  this  battle :  ' '  Not  a  man  evinced  the  slightest  inclina 
tion  to  shirk  or  fall  back,  but  all,  without  a  single  exception,  stood  up  to 
the  work  nobly,  and  with  an  apparent  determination  to  drive  the  rebels 
back  at  all  hazards."  General  Sullivan  wrote  as  follows  to  Governor 
Kirkwood : 

"  HEAD-QUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE,  THIRD  DIVISION,  ARMY  MISSISSIPPI,  )  ^ 

"  CAMP  NEAR  CORINTH,  MISSISSIPPI,  October  Uth,  1862.  J 

1 '  Sm :— I  have  the  honor  to  present  to  your  Excellency  for  the  Seventeenth 
Regiment  Iowa  Volunteers,  a  stand  of  rebel  colors,  captured  under  my  own 
eyes  by  the  regiment,  on  the  battle-field  of  Corinth,  on  the  4th  instant,  in 
its  gallant  charge  on  the  advancing  columns  of  the  enemy,  which  the 
Seventeenth  alone  met,  broke,  and  pursued  until  ordered  to  halt.  I  have 
never  led  braver  men  into  action  than  the  soldiers  of  the  Seventeenth 
proved  themselves  in  the  desperate  and  bloody  battle  of  Corinth. 
"I  am,  sir,  etc., 

"JEREMIAH  C.  SULLIVAN, 

' '  SAMUEL  J.  KIRKWOOD,  ' '  Brigadier-General. 

' '  Governor  of  Iowa. ' ' 

The  colors  captured  were  those  of  the  Fortieth  Mississippi  regiment. 
They  and  their  bearer  were  captured  by  Corporal  John  King,  of  Company 
G,  from  Marion  County. 

General  Rosecrans,  on  the  25th  of  October,  issued  a  general  order  of 
congratulation  to  his  army  upon  their  success  at  Corinth.  But  before  that 
time  he  had  issued  a  general  order,  of  which  this  is  a  copy: 

"  General  Orders  No.  145. 

"  The  general  commanding  cannot  forbear  to  give  pleasure  to  many,  besides  the  brave  men  imme 
diately  concerned,  by  announcing,  in  advance  of  the  regular  orders,  that  the  Seventeenth  Iowa 
Infantry,  by  its  gallantry  in  the  battle  of  Corinth,  on  the  4th  of  October,  charging  the  enemy  and 
capturing  the  flag  of  the  Fortieth  Mississippi,  has  amply  atoned  for  its  misfortune  at  luka,  and 
stands  among  the  honored  regiments  of  his  command.  Long  may  they  wear  with  unceasing  bright 
ness  the  honors  they  have  won. 
"By  order  of  Major-General  W.  S.  Rosecrans. 

"  C.  GODDARD, 
"  First  Lieutenant  Twelfth  Infantry  Ohio  Volunteers,  A.  A.  A.  G." 

The  losses  of  the  regiment  in  this  engagement  were  comparatively  small. 
The  whole  number  of  casualties  was  twenty-five,  and  among  these  there 
were  but  two  killed.2  During  the  first  day's  fight,  the  command  was  well 

2  KCUed,  James  A.  Munroe,  Samuel  Smith.  Wounded,  Sergeant-Major  David  C.  Scroggs ;  Lieu 
tenants  Jesse  B.  Garrett ;  Robert  S.  Morris,  John  C.  Wadsworth,  Squire  Worrell,  John  Heites ; 
Corporals  A.  W.  Emire,  Gilbert  D.  Phelps;  Sergeant  C.  F.  Graves;  John  T.  Chapman,  B.  Shearer, 
Henry  C.  Wolfe,  Harrison  Davis;  Corporal  F.  M.  Stuart;  Sergeant  John  A.  Crozier ;  John  McBride, 
Garret  Schell,  William  G.  Snodgrass,  Samuel  W.  Wilson.  There  were  a  few  men  missing. 


296  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

protected  by  the  nature  of  the  ground,  and  the  care  of  Major  Banbury. 
The  charge  at  the  crisis  of  the  battle  was  so  rapidly  made,  and  the  rebels 
so  soon  confused  and  routed  that  they  did  not  get  an  opportunity  to  return 
any  blows.  It  is  the  simple  truth  to  say  that  the  Seventeenth  inflicted 
quite  as  much  damage  upon  the  rebels  as  any  regiment  at  Corinth,  and 
received  less  damage  in  turn,  thereby  illustrating  most  admirably  one  of 
the  first  rules  of  war,  and  which  might  be  profitably  studied  by  commanders 
who  look  for  the  evidences  of  their  skill  in  the  rents  in  their  own  lines 
instead  of  those  of  the  enemy. 

The  Seventeenth  joined  in  the  pursuit  of  the  defeated  enemy  which 
followed  the  battle,  and  in  common  with  the  whole  army  suffered  greatly 
from  heat,  fatigue,  and  scarcity  of  food.  On  the  14th,  it  returned  to 
Corinth,  and  there  went  into  camp.  About  this  time,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Hillis  was  promoted  to  Colonel,  and  Captain  Clark  R.  Wever,  of  Company 
D  to  Lieutenant-Colonel.  Colonel  Rankin  had  sent  in  his  resignation  more 
than  two  weeks  before  the  battle  of  luka,  but  he  did  not  leave  the  com 
mand  until  after  that  engagement.  From  the  close  of  the  campaign  of 
Corinth  till  the  commencement  of  the  wonderful  operations  by  General 
Grant,  which  at  last  terminated  in  the  victory  of  Vicksburg,  the  labors 
and  marchings  of  the  Seventeenth  were  constant,  onerous,  and  exhaustive. 
Early  in  November  the  division  to  which  the  regiment  was  attached, 
marched  in  a  westerly  direction,  and,  passing  through  Grand  Junction, 
encamped  at  Davis'  Mills,  seventy-five  miles  distant  from  Corinth.  On 
the  18th,  the  regiment  marched  to  Moscow,  Tennessee,  where  it  took  charge 
of  a  forage  train  consisting  of  nearly  two  hundred  wagons,  which  it  filled 
with  supplies  within  the  rebel  lines,  and  brought  safely  into  camp.  On 
the  last  day  of  the  month  the  march  southward  was  resumed,  the  army 
pressing  close  upon  the  rebels,  who  retreated  day  by  day,  their  rear  guard 
constantly  skirmishing  with  our  advance.  The  command  went  as  far  as  the 
Yohnapatafa  River,  where  it  remained  till  the  21st  of  December,  perform 
ing  unusually  heavy  picket  duties.  At  this  time,  operations  in  the  rear  of 
Vicksburg  were  abandoned;  the  army  about-faced  and  marched  in  the 
direction  of  Holly  Springs,  which  had  been  captured,  two  days  before, 
with  immense  stores,  by  the  rebels.  This  catastrophe — the  result  of 
treachery  on  the  part  of  Colonel  Murphy,  of  a  Wisconsin  regiment — com 
pelled  General  Grant  to  abandon  the  campaign  which  he  had  marked  out 
in  his  mind,  and  to  retrace  his  steps.  The  march  northward  was  harassed 
by  rebel  cavalry  and  guerrillas,  and  the  troops  suffered  no  little  from  the 
want  of  subsistence.  On  the  day  before  Christmas  our  regiment  reached 
Lumpkin's  Mills,  whence  on  the  26th  it  accompanied  the  division  to  Mem 
phis,  in  guard  of  a  train  of  more  than  six  hundred  wagons  sent  out  to 
transport  supplies  to  the  well  nigh  fairished  army.  On  the  way  to  Mem- 


SEVENTEENTH  INFANTRY.  297 

phis,  the  column  was  almost  constantly  annoyed  by  bands  of  guerrillas, 
who  succeeded  in  capturing  a  number  of  men  belonging  to  the  Seventeenth, 
who  were  paroled,  but  whose  paroles  were  not  recognized.  On  the  last 
day  of  the  year  the  regiment  started  for  Holly  Springs,  but  was  relieved 
at  Collierville,  and  assigned  to  duty  at  Bray's  Station,  guarding  a  portion 
of  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  Railroad.  Here  it  remained,  doing  heavy 
duty,  till  assigned  to  the  Seventeenth  Army  Corps,  Major-General  James 
B.  McPherson,  when  it  went  to  Memphis — February  8th,  1863.  Here^be 
command  remained  till  the  2d  of  March,  when  it  embarked  for  Grand 
Lake,  Arkansas,  reaching  that  place  in  four  days,  but  almost  immediately 
returning  to  Helena,  whence  it  accompanied  General  Quinby's  reenforcing 
expedition  to  Fort  Pemberton,  through  the  Yazoo  Pass.  The  almost 
demolished  fleet,  looking  as  though  it  had  passed  through  a  series  of  torna 
does,  reached  the  Mississippi  on  the  llth  of  April,  on  its  return. 

On  the  15th,  the  regiment  again  embarked  with  that  expedition  which 
was  to  be  crowned  with  success  on  the  coming  national  anniversary. 
Throughout  that  wonderful  campaign,  no  more  remarkable  for  the  wisdom 
with  which  it  was  planned  than  the  heroic  fighting  and  endurance  whereby 
it  was  executed,  the  Seventeenth  made  for  itself  a  brilliant  record.  It 
bore  its  full  share  of  the  hard  work  in  Louisiana,  where  roads  had  to  be 
made,  bayous  cleared  out,  bridges  built,  for  the  passage  of  the  army.  It 
participated  in  the  battle  of  Raymond,  where  General  McPherson  whipped 
the  enemy  on  the  12th  of  May.  It  was  in  the  front  .brigade  of  General 
Crocker's  Division  which  had  the  advance  on  the  14th,  and  fought  as 
bravely  as  men  ever  fought  at  the  battle  of  Jackson,  losing  there,  as  it 
unflinchingly  passed  through  an  enfilading  fire,  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  its 
strength.3  It  double-quicked  three  miles  through  the  heat  and  dust,  and 

3  LIST  OF  CASUALTIES  AT  CAPTURE  OP  JACKSON.—  Wounded,  Sergeant-Major  Amon  Park. 

Company  A— Killed,  Corporal  A.  M.  Slaughter;  Privates  George  W.  Miller,  J.  C.  Wadsworth,  and 
Eliphalet  Joseph.  Wounded,  Captain  Charles  P.  Johnson ;  Second  Lieutenant  H.  M.  Kenderdine ; 
First  Sergeant  Jacob  Turley ;  Sergeant  C.  W.  Clements ;  Privates  J.  P.  Wheeler,  Richard  James, 
James  Carroll,  R.  F.  Davidson,  Samuel  Musser,  A.  T.  Rilea,  S.  N.  Simms,  J.  M.  Sylvester,  M.  A. 
Wilson,  John  J.  James,  Rufus  L.  Keller,  John  Switzer. 

Company  B — Killed,  Corporal  Adolphus  M.  Campbell ;  Privates  Godfrey  Hornbecker,  Amos 
Riser.  Wounded,  Captain  L.  W.  Houston;  First  Sergeant  F.  H.  Busby;  Sergeant  A.  Diggins;  Cor 
poral  Malon  Freeman ;  Privates  R.  Chapman,  D.  Hardsaw,  H.  H.  Highland,  E.  Moore,  John  Kraft. 

Company  C— Killed,  Private  Jesse  Nokes.  Wounded,  Sergeants  J.  Inden,  Thomas  Mitchell ;  Cor 
poral  E.  Ilerin ;  Privates  William  Hall,  N.  Hockman. 

Company  D— Wounded,  First  Lieutenant  John  F.  Skelton;  Corporal  A.  W.  Embre;  Private  Jona 
than  Williams. 

Company  E — Killed,  Corporal  Isaac  T.  Newell.  Wounded,  John  Cowger;  Privates  George  Her 
bert,  Byam  Rushton. 

Company  F— Killed,  Privates  Ephraim  Cooper,  David  P.  McCloud.  Wounded,  Second  Lieutenant 
John  II.  Browne;  Privates  V.  Douglas,  Thomas  Pipes,  F.  H.  Wentworth. 

Company  G — Killed,  Private  Robert  Mills. 

Company  H —  Wounded,  Corporal  John  Fitzpatrick. 

Company  1 — Killed,  Lieutenant  John  M.  Inskeep ;  Corporal  John  Bartow ;  Private  Jacob  Vogeler. 
38 


298  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION . 

discouraging  reports  of  stragglers  and  shirks,  to  engage  in  the  battle  of 
Champion  Hills  on  the  16th,  and  by  its  conduct  on  that  bloody  field  won 
the  personal  praises  of  General  Grant  himself.  To  join  in  the  fight  the 
regiment  marched  from  Jackson,  a  distance  of  twelve  miles.  It  captured 
nearly  two  hundred  prisoners,  a  rebel  battery  and  a  stand  of  colors.  With 
the  Tenth  Missouri,  old  comrades,  the  Seventeenth  and  the  Tenth  Iowa 
decided  the  battle  in  our  favor.  General  Grant  came  up,  and  said,  "Boys, 
you  have  done  enough;  I  am  going  to  let  you  rest."  Accordingly,  the 
semi-brigade,  together  with  McGinnis'  brigade  of  the  Thirteenth  Corps, 
remained  on  the  field  whilst  the  main  army  marched  on,  fought  the  battle 
of  Big  Black  River,  and  invested  Vicksburg.4  The  rest,  however,  was 
rather  nominal  than  real.  The  regiment  assisted  in  burying  the  dead  of 
both  armies,  and  in  caring  for  the  wounded.  Having  remained  here  a 
short  time,  it  marched  to  the  beleaguering  army,  reaching  its  position  in 
the  investing  lines  on  the  20th  of  May.  During  the  assault  of  the  22d, 
the  regiment  was  in  the  line  of  reserves,  and  suffered  but  a  slight  loss. 
From  this  time  until  the  capitulation  on  the  4th  of  July,  its  duties  were 
similar  to  the  duties  of  other  regiments  in  the  grand  army. 

NIGHT  COMBAT  JLT  FORT  HILL. 

There  were  many  exciting  scenes  and  episodes  to  relieve  the  monotony 
of  the  vigilant  siege.  Among  these  the  explosion  of  Fort  Hill,  and  the 

Wounded,  Sergeant  S.  N.  Sawyer;  J.  C.  Whitaker ;  Privates  C.  Starkey,  P.  Brown,  P.  Martin,  James 
I.  Murray,  W.  Summers,  J.  H.  Stevenson,  L.  Thompson. 

Company  K— Killed,  Private  Thomas  Beechler.  Wounded,  Captain  S.  E.  Hicks ;  First  Lieutenant 
Woodrow ;  First  Sergeant  James  H.  McCullough  ;  Corporal  D.  A.  Rollins ;  Privates  Timothy  Tracy, 
8.  W.  Wilson,  A.  G.  Hurst,  L.  G.  Rice,  J.  Chandler,  J.  Rolston. 

*  Colonel  Hillis  specially  mentions,  as  distinguished  for  bravery  at  Champion  Hills,  Lieutenants 
C.  W.  Woodrow,  George  W.  Deal,  Daniel  W.  Tower,  First  Sergeant  Swearengin,  Company  F,  and 
Corporal  A.  S.  Trussel,  Company  G,  who  captured  the  colors  and  color-bearer  of  the  Thirty-first 
Alabama.  The  following  is  the  list  of  casualties: 

Company  A — Wounded,  Private  E.  H.  Simpson. 

Company  B — Wounded,  Second  Lieutenant  Daniel  W.  Tower;  Corporal  Thomas  H.  Cassida; 
Privates  Edward  Murphy,  J.  Hanks,  J.  Kraft,  D.  Hanks. 

Company  C— Killed,  Private  James  Kain.  Wounded,  Sergeant  W.  J.  McCormick ;  Corporal  S.  J. 
Myers ;  Privates  Christian  Eckroate,  N.  Hockman,  W.  D.  Hardy,  T.  Tomson,  A.  Weaver. 

Company  D— Kitted,  Privates  Ezra  Stoker,  William  Turner.  Wounded,  Captain  A.  A.  Stuart; 
Corporal  II.  W.  Mulford;  M.  Noell,  J.  Wasson,  William  M.  Spainhower,  F.  M.  Thompson. 

Company  F— Wounded,  Captain  J.  F.  Walden;  Corporal  John  W.  Lozier;  Privates  R.  J.  McNabb, 
Hampton  Taylor. 

Gmipany  G—  Wounded,  Corporals  G.  Marsh,  John  King,  A.  S.  Trussel ;  Privates  A.  Roby,  A.  Pen- 
land,  T.  Leonard,  J.  H.  Peyton,  W.  Gregory. 

Company  H— Killed,  John  Kirkland.  Wounded,  Second  Lieutenant  James  W.Craig;  Sergeant 
George  King;  Corporal  J.  A.  Hill;  Privates  C.  McMichael,  John  McCoy,  D.  Johnson,  J.  King,  S. 
Myers,  James  Harville,  S.  Eicher. 

Company  I— Wounded,  Corporal  T.  F.  Enslow;  Privates  James  B.  Vail,  William  Summers,  W.  C. 
Porter.  Missing,  Govert  Scheffers. 

Company  K— Kitted,  Corporal  James  R.  Holt.  Wounded,  Privates  G.  W.  Matthews,  William  S. 
Summerville,  James  C.  Halterman,  M.  F.  McCready,  Samuel  Sherman. 


SEVENTEENTH   INFANTRY.  299 

night  combat  which  followed  may  be  noted.  Among  the  many  works 
erected  by  the  skill  of  the  engineer  for  the  defence  of  Vicksburg,  was  a 
strong  fort  on  the  Jackson  road  called  Fort  Hill.  This  work  had  been 
mined  by  General  John  A.  Logan,  and  being  ready  on  the  25th  of  June  to 
set  fire  to  the  train,  he  sent  to  the  division  in  which  was  the  Seventeenth, 
for  two  regiments  to  assist  in  assaulting  and  holding  the  work  when  the 
explosion  should  have  taken  place.  The  Seventeenth  was  one  of  the  regi 
ments  assigned  to  this  duty.  Early  in  the  afternoon  the  mine  was  exploded, 
and  the  centre  of  the  fort  blown  into  the  air  with  a  deafening  report.  The 
troops  of  General  Logan  rushed  into  the  breach,  and  held  it,  but  without 
being  able  to  take  the  work,  or,  perhaps,  to  do  any  great  damage  to  the 
enemy.  At  eleven  o'clock  at  night  the  Seventeenth  entered  the  breach, 
and  held  it  for  three  hours,  when  it  was  relieved  by  the  Thirty-first  Illinois. 
The  combat  which  the  regiment  maintained  during  these  three  hours  was 
most  singular.  The  parapet  had  been  very  much  broken  and  injured  by 
the  explosion,  but  offered,  nevertheless,  considerable  defence  to  the  rebels 
and  obstruction  to  us.  Half  the  regiment,  from  the  top  of  this  broken 
parapet,  fired  into  the  rebels  inside,  by  holding  out  their  guns  at  arms- 
length,  and  pointing  the  muzzles  downwards.  The  pieces  were  loaded  by 
the  other  half  of  the  regiment,  and  handed  to  the  men  above.  In  this 
manner  a  constant  fire  was  kept  up  during  the  entire  combat.  More  than 
twenty  thousand  rounds  of  ammunition  were  expended.  But  six  or  eight 
feet  intervened  between  the  contending  parties.  The  rebels  threw  six  and 
ten-pound  shells,  as  hand  grenades,  over  the  parapet  and  among  our  men 
constantly.  The  glare  of  these  bursting  missiles  relieved  the  darkness  of 
the  night,  but  they  failed  entirely  to  intimidate  our  men,  who  with  mus 
ketry  alone  prevented  the  enemy  from  occupying  the  crater  of  the  blown 
up  work.  In  this  combat,  the  regiment  lost  three  killed  and  thirty-three 
wounded.5  The  killed  were  so  charred  and  torn  that  their  bodies  could 

6 Namely:  Company  A — Wounded,  Sergeant  Samuel  Macksbury;  Corporal  William  W.  Carr; 
Privates  William  Bird,  James  Norman,  N.  Tuttle. 

Company  B — Killed,  Sergeant  Alonzo  Diggins.     Wounded,  Private  A.  A.  Brent. 

Company  C— Wounded,  Private  George  W.  Slacks. 

Company  D— Wounded,  First  Sergeant  M.  S.  Pentengell;  Corporal  John  Miller;  Privates  A. 
Meacham,  J.  Carter,  J.  Smith,  D.  M.  Howe. 

Company  E—  Wounded,  Captain  Thomas  Ping,  Second  Lieutenant  M.  L.  Godley;  First  Sergeant 
C.  F.  Graves ;  Privates  J.  Cowger,  J.  Phelps,  E.  Shearer,  W.  L.  Grigsby. 

Company  F— Wounded,  Private  Charles  Chase. 

Company  G— Wounded,  Captain  William  Horner;  Private  W.  A.  West,  (mortally). 

Company  H— Killed,  Private  Samuel  Bicher.  Wounded,  Sergeant  J.  Johnson;  Corporal  D. 
Monroe;  Private  G.  Steenhook. 

Company  I— Killed,  Private  Henry  Crickburn.  Wounded,  First  Sergeant  James  Code;  Corporal 
Z.  F.  Wood;  Privates  William  C.  Porter,  B.  Stephenson,  William  Summers,  H.  A.  Welch. 

Company  K—  Wounded,  Privates  H.  A.  White,  W.  G.  Buck.  All  the  above  were  killed  and 
wounded  by  shells  and  grenades. 

During  the  operations  of  the  siege,  the  following  casualties  are  reported  as  having  occurred  be- 


300  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

scarcely  be  identified,  and  many  of  the  wounded  soon  afterwards  died. 
Captain  Horner,  of  Company  G,  was  so  severely  wounded  that  it  was 
months  before  he  recovered,  and  Captain  Ping,  of  Company  E,  was  seriously 
disabled.  Major  Walden  commanded  the  regiment  during  this  affair,  and 
in  his  official  report  speaks  in  the  highest  praise  of  the  conduct  of  the  offi 
cers  and  men.  I  should  have  before  stated  that  Colonel  Hillis  resigned  in 
the  latter  part  of  May,  and  Lieutenant- Colonel  Wever  was  promoted  to 
Colonel,  Major  Archer,  who  had  been  in  command  of  the  Pioneer  Corps 
since  December,  to  Lieutenant-Colonel,  and  Captin  Walden  of  Company  F, 
to  Major. 

After  the  surrender  of  Vicksburg  the  regiment  entered  the  city,  and  re 
mained  encamped  there  till  the  9th  of  September,  when  the  division  em 
barked  for  Helena,  with  orders  to  reenforce  General  Steele  operating 
against  Little  Rock,  Arkansas.  Little  Rock  having  been  captured,  the 
command  went  into  camp  at  Helena,  awaiting  orders  to  rejoin  its  corps, 
but  soon  afterwards  proceeded  to  Memphis,  and  there,  attached  to  General 
Sherman's  army,  marched  for  Chattanooga  on  October  10th,  to  reenforce 
the  Army  of  the  Cumberland.  The  march  was  made  by  way  of  luka,  Mis 
sissippi,  Florence,  Alabama,  Winchester,  Fayetteville  and  Dechard,  Ten 
nessee,  and  Bridgeport,  Alabama,  and  was  accomplished  in  thirty-two 
days.  The  command  entered  Chattanooga  on  the  19th  of  November. 

In  the  battle  of  Chattanooga,  which  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
conflicts  in  history,  our  regiment  was  conspicuously  engaged,  fighting  with 
great  valor  on  Missionary  Ridge  till  it  was  nearly  surrounded.  In  this  ac 
tion  the  regiment  lost  fifty-seven  in  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners.6  On 

twoen  the  20th  of  May  and  the  25th  of  June.  Wounded,  Captain  Henry  Newton,  (mortally)  ;  Cor 
poral  Allen  Dunn  ;  Privates  Hugh  Davis,  Simon  Houts,  Hiram  De  Brun,  Samuel  Yard,  Joseph  Hol- 
lingshead,  Mathias  Harvey. 

6  Namely :  Missing,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Archer ;  Wounded,  Drum-Major  Irwin  Argstead. 

Company  A — Killed,  First  Sergeant  Jacob  Turley ;  Privates  Samuel  Musser  and  Samuel  W.  [or  N.] 
Simms.  Missing,  Private  Hugh  Davis. 

Company  B — Wounded,  Captain  L.  W.  Houston;  Sergeant  Charles  P.  Smith;  Privates  Thomas  H. 
Smith,  John  M.  Burns,  Uriah  Wooding,  Elijah  Moore.  Wounded  and  Missing,  Corporal  George  M. 
Kahler. 

Company  C— Wounded,  Captain  L.  F.  McNeal;  Corporal  Edmund  Herin ;  Private  James  J.  Block. 
Missing,  Private  Aaron  Whitted. 

Company  D— Disabled,  Captain  A.  A.  Stuart.  Wounded,  Private  G.  H.  Lotspeich.  Missing, 
Private  Willis  W.  Stevens. 

Company  E — Killed,  Sergeant  Bartemus  Shearer ;  Private  G.  Martin  Shearer.  Wounded,  Sergeant 
Robert  Miller ;  Privates  G.  Marion  Shearer,  John  G.  Dall.  Disabled,  Private  James  K.  Hilton. 

Company  F— Wounded,  Sergeant  George  Griffith. 

Company  G — Killed,  Color-Sergeant  Abraham  Penland;  Sergeant  Bennett  Acklin.  Wounded, 
Corporal  A.  S.  Trussel;  Color-Corporal  Wallace  Gregory;  Privates  Anderson  Lee,  J.  A.  Loudenback. 
Disabled,  Privates  Linus  Parish,  E.  F.  West. 

Company  H— Killed,  Private  Henry  Mehrtcns.  Wounded,  Sergeant  Charles  J.  Eubanks ;  Corporal 
D.  F.  Monroe;  Privates  R.  M.  Mock,  Newton  Edinger.  Missing,  First  Sergeant  Dominic  Carr;  Ser 
geant  Jackson  Johnson ;  Privates  Richard  Dobbins,  Harmon  Kohlenbranden,  Simeon  Myers,  Alex 
ander  King. 


SEVENTEENTH  INFANTRY.  301 

the  25th,  the  command  joined  in  the  pursuit  of  the  retreating  rebels  and 
went  as  far  as  Greyville,  Georgia.  On  the  29th,  it  returned  to  Chatta 
nooga.  Remaining  there  a  few  days  it  marched  to  Bridgeport,  Alabama, 
where  it  encamped  in  a  swamp,  and  continued  there  a  sort  of  amphibious 
life  till  December  22d.  From  Bridgeport,  which  is  in  the  extreme  northeast 
ern  part  of  the  State,  the  regiment  moved  to  Huntsville,  some  seventy-five 
miles  to  the  west  and  south.  Here  it  remained  for  several  months,  en 
gaged  in  guarding  heavy  foraging  trains  and  in  scouting. 

On  the  1st  of  April,  1864,  the  regiment  reenlisted  as  veterans.  During 
its  two  years'  service,  it  had  traveled  not  less  than  four  thousand  miles,  had 
been  engaged  in  a  dozen  battles,  a  score  of  skirmishes,  and  two  sieges  of 
rebel  strongholds.  It  is  not  strange,  then,  that  when  it  reenlisted  there 
were  barely  enough  men  left  in  the  command  to  entitle  it  to  veteran  organi 
zation.  The  thing  was  accomplished,  however,  by  nearly  every  man  reen- 
listing.  At  this  time  the  regiment  numbered,  rank  and  file,  four  hundred 
and  seventy-nine  men.  About  the  1st  of  February,  Colonel  Wever  had 
been  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  post.  Lieutenant  Woolsey  of  the 
Seventeenth,  was  detailed  as  post  adjutant.  During  the  month  of  May 
the  regiment  performed  provost  duty  in  Huntsville.  Meanwhile,  General 
Sherman  had  marched  his  conquering  legions  from  Chattanooga  to  the 
pass  of  Allatoona,  whipping  the  enemy  everywhere,  or  forcing  him  from 
positions  unassailable  through  hard  blows,  by  masterly  manoauvres. 

In  the  first  part  of  June,  the  regiment  went  to  Scottsville,  and  on  the 
22d  marched  to  Stevenson,  where  the  division  having  been  concentrated, 
it  took  cars  "for  the  front."  Upon  arriving  at  Kingston,  however,  the 
Seventeenth  was  ordered  back  to  Tilton,  a  place  on  the  railroad,  about 
half  way  between  Dalton  and  Resaca.  Of  course  it  was  on  the  line  of  Gen 
eral  Sherman's  communications.  It  reached  Tilton  on  the  2d  of  July. 
The  entire  interval  between  Dalton  and  Resaca,  a  distance  of  fifteen  miles, 
was  guarded  and  patrolled  by  this  regiment,  except  a  point  two  miles  from 
Resaca,  where  two  companies  of  old  comrades  of  the  Tenth  Missouri  were 
stationed.  The  region  of  country  hereabout  was  more  favorable  for  guer 
rilla  warfare  than  any  between  Nashville  and  Kenesaw  Mountain.  To  the 
west,  within  a  distance  of  less  than  twenty  miles,  are  the  Chatoogata  and 
John's  Mountains,  and  Taylor's  Ridge,  rough  and  lofty  offshoots  of  the 
Blue  Ridge.  In  the  deep  ravines  and  dense  forests  large  numbers  of  par 
tisans  could  effectually  hide  themselves  from  all  pursuers,  or  draw  them 
into  fatal  ambuscade.  On  the  east  of  the  line,  the  general  features  were 

Company  I— Killed,  Private  Charles  Starkey.  Wounded,  Corporal  P.  Gregg;  Privates  Jacob  Hoch, 
William  W.  Roberts.  Missing,  Sergeant  Silas  H.  Sawyers;  Privates  James  I.  Murray,  Adam 
Schaffer. 

Company  K— Killed,  Privates  Henry  D.  Welsh,  Lewis  G.  Rice,  Jacob  Rolston.  Wounded,  Corporal 
George  W.  Simmons. 


302  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

the  same,  but  more  subdued.  It  is  certain  that  the  regiment  and  their 
comrades  from  Missouri  needed  the  eyes  of  Argus  and  the  arms  of  Brierius 
in  order  perfectly  to  succeed  in  observing  and  driving  off  the  bushwhackers, 
by  whom,  day  and  night,  the  line  was  annoyed  at  some  point  or  other,  or 
at  several  points  at  the  same  time.  Many  attempts  were  made  to  capture 
or  entrap  these  lawless  bands,  but  with  one  or  two  partial  exceptions,  they 
were  entirely  futile.  In  the  performance  of  these  duties,  similar  to  the  du 
ties  of  a  picket  without  reliefs  in  front  of  an  enemy,  the  regiment  passed 
the  summer. 

If  the  wear-and-tear  of  this  watchful  life  was  without  relief  it  was  not 
without  variety.  Early  in  August  the  rebel  General  Wheeler  made  a  raid 
through  Georgia  and  into  Tennessee.  On  the  14th  he  attacked,  and,  after 
a  hard  fight,  captured  Dalton.  At  the  same  time  a  detachment  from  his 
main  column  attacked  Companies  H  and  I  of  the  Seventeenth,  posted  at  a 
water-tank  two  miles  from  Dalton.  They  successfully  defended  themselves 
against  a  heavy  force  till  ten  o'clock  of  the  following  morning,  when  their 
ammunition  gave  out.  The  rebels  now  placed  artillery  in  position  to  play 
upon  the  stockade,  and  demanded  surrender,  which  was  complied  with  on 
condition  of  speedy  parole.  The  companies  returned  to  Tilton  in  two  days, 
and  were  at  once  placed  on  duty,  their  paroles  not  being  recognized. 
Whilst  the  combats  were  going  on  at  Dalton  and  the  water-tank,  a  division 
of  rebels,  under  General  Martin,  threatened  Tilton.  There  was  considerable 
skirmishing  on  the  outer  lines,  and  the  garrison  stood  under  arms  all  night, 
but  no  engagement  took  place.  From  this  time  until  October  13th,  when 
the  little  garrison  was  attacked  by  an  Army  Corps,  and  after  a  heroic  de 
fence  compelled  to  surrender,  the  regiment  was  employed  in  the  duties  of 
vigilant  pickets,  such  as  I  have  described  above. 

DEFENCE    OF  TIL  TON—  S  UR It ENDER. 

About  the  first  of  October,  the  rebel  General  Hood  commenced  that 
series  of  offensive  operations  against  the  line  of  communications  of  General 
Sherman,  whereby,  not  without  good  military  reasons,  he  hoped  to  draw 
the  Union  army  away  from  Georgia,  or  at  least  to  prevent  its  making 
further  conquests.  That  his  manoeuvres  resulted  in  the  triumphal  march  of 
Sherman  across  Georgia,  and  in  Thomas  smashing  the  rebel  army  to  pieces 
at  Nashville,  was  such  a  denouement  to  the  grand  tragedy  as  one  who  had 
read  all  the  books  would  not  have  dreamt  of.  I  suppose  General  Hood's 
plan  would  have  been  well  enough  against  any  general  who  ever  lived 
except  Major-General  W.  T.  Sherman.  However  this  may  be,  General 
Hood  fiercely  attacked  Allatoona  on  the  5th,  and  was  most  signally  defeated 
by  Brigadier-General  John  M.  Corse  with  a  handful  of  troops.  On  the 
8th  it  became  generally  known  that  Hood  was  marching  in  the  direction 


SEVENTEENTH  INFANTRY.  303 

of  Rome.  He  crossed  the  Coosa  River  twelve  miles  below  that  place,  and 
marched  to  Snake  Creep  Gap,  an  opening  in  the  mountains  to  the  eastward 
of  Tilton  and  not  many  miles  distant.  Here  the  rebel  commander  divided 
his  army,  directing  the  corps  of  Lee  on  Resaca,  that  of  Cheatham  on 
Dalton,  and  that  of  Stewart  on  Tilton.  Hood  himself  accompanied  Lee. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  13th,  the  pickets  of  the  garrison  at  Tilton 
in  the  direction  of  Resaca  were  attacked.  They  retired  slowly.  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Archer,  commanding  the  post,  immediately  placed  as  many  men 
as  could  there  be  effective,  inside  the  only  work  there  was  at  Tilton,  namely, 
a  block-house,  built  of  heavy  timbers,  and  capable  of  resisting  the  fire  of 
light  artillery.  Within  this  work  there  were  less  than  seventy-five  men. 
The  remainder  of  the  garrison,  not  many  more  than  two  hundred,  were 
placed  in  the  trenches.  Protected  by  trees,  logs,  and  partly-destroyed 
huts,  the  rebels  approached,  and  gradually  surrounded  the  block-house.  A 
brisk  fire  of  musketry  was  kept  up  tDl  eleven  o'clock,  the  rebels  being  held 
off  by  our  fire,  and  losing  many  men.  The  loss  thus  far  of  the  garrison 
had  been  trifling.  At  this  time  General  Stewart  sent  in  a  flag  of  truce, 
demanding  unconditional  surrender,  and  threatening  that  "no  prisoners 
would  be  taken"  if  the  demand  were  not  complied  with.  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Archer  replied  pluckily  that  if  General  Stewart  wanted  his  garrison 
he  must  come  and  get  it.  Hostilities  were  at  once  renewed,  and  continued 
till  some  time  after  noon  about  as  they  had  been  conducted  during  the 
early  part  of  the  day.  The  troops  had  loudly  cheered  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Archer  when  he  announced  there  would  be  no  surrender,  and  as  soon  as 
the  white  flag  was  out  of  the  way,  had  recommenced  the  fight  with  in 
creased  ardor.  The  commandant  commenced  to  hope  that  the  enemy  had 
no  artillery  in  hand,  and  that  he  might  be  able  to  hold  out,  when  a  cannon 
ball  passed  over  the  roof,  and  it  was  discovered  that  three  guns  were  in 
position  on  the  crest  of  a  hill  less  than  three  hundred  j^ards  distant. 
These  guns  were  twelve-pounder  howitzers,  and  fired  twenty-one  shots  in 
the  space  of  about  forty  minutes,  but  did  no  serious  damage  to  the  block 
house  or  its  defenders,  who  kept  up  a  constant  fire  on  their  assailants.  Seeing 
that  the  defence  was  as  stout  as  at  first,  the  enemy  now  brought  up  three 
twenty-four-pounder  Napoleons  and  opened  on  the  block-house,  from  this 
short  distance.  Every  shot  that  struck  the  work  sprung  and  shattered  the 
timbers,  and  made  the  building  tremble  as  though  it  were  in  a  fit  of  ague. 
Soon  the  roof  was  so  much  damaged  that  the  dirt  covering  came  down  in 
blinding  abundance.  At  length,  it  being  half-past  two  o'clock,  a  shell 
came  crunching  through  a  loop-hole,  and,  bursting  within  the  block-house, 
wounded  or  prostrated  by  the  concussion  nearly  all  within  the  work,  and 
filled  the  enclosure  with  a  smoke  so  dense  that  no  man  could  see  his  com 
rade.  There  were  now  left  barely  a  dozen  rounds  of  ammunition  to  the 


304  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

man ;  it  was  evident  the  block-house  could  endure  but  a  few  more  shots 
from  the  Napoleon  guns ;  the  enemy  was  gradually  getting  into  enfilading 
range  of  the  trenches.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Archer  reluctantly  determined 
to  surrender  the  garrison.  It  consisted  of  two  hundred  and  eighty  comba 
tants.  Captain  Horner,  of  Company  G,  and  thirty- one  men  had  escaped 
to  the  mountains  before  the  place  had  been  surrounded.  When  the  rebels 
swarmed  about  the  block-house  and  saw  the  mere  squad  of  boys  in  blue 
who  had  thus  held  their  large  force  in  check  for  nearly  eight  hours,  they 
hung  their  heads  in  shame.  As  for  General  Stewart,  he  swore  like  our 
army  in  Flanders,  but  at  length  consented  to  parole  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Archer  and  Adjutant  Woolsey,  both  of  whom  were  far  from  well.  In  this 
defence  of  Tilton  twenty-four  of  the  Seventeenth  were  wounded,  none 
killed.  Some  of  the  wounded  were  so  slightly  hurt  that  they  were  carried 
into  captivity  with  the  garrison. 

Colonel  Wever  was  in  command  of  the  brigade,  head-quarters  at  Resaca. 
About  noon  of  the  12th,  General  Lee  approached  this  post,  and  imme 
diately  commenced  attack  under  the  direction  of  General  Hood  himself. 
The  garrison  consisted  of  the  Fifty-sixth  Illinois,  Lieutenant-Colonel  J.  P. 
Hall,  Eightieth  Ohio,  Lieutenant- Colonel  P.  Metham,  and  two  companies 
of  the  Tenth  Missouri,  in  all  about  seven  hundred  troops  and  four  pieces 
of  light  artillery.  The  works  of  Resaca  had  been  made  the  spring  before 
by  General  Joe  Johnston  for  the  defence  of  his  whole  army,  and  were  now 
as  useful  to  the  rebels  as  to  Colonel  Wever' s  little  garrison.  His  force,  in 
fact,  when  deployed  as  skirmishers,  could  very  little  more  than  cover  the 
line  of  trenches  nearest  the  post.  The  only  hope  of  holding  the  place 
against  the  force  now  assailing  it,  lay  in  deceiving  the  enemy  as  to  the 
strength  of  the  garrison.  To  this  end,  Colonel  Wever  disposed  his  troops 
in  such  manner  as  to  make  a  show  of  numbers ;  placed  a  gun  in  each  of 
the  two  forts  near  the  Oostanaula  River,  and  had  them  rapidly  worked, 
now  firing  from  one  embrasure,  now  from  another ;  another,  and  the  strong 
est  fort  contained  the  other  two  guns,  similarly  at  work ;  flags  and  guidons 
were  placed  in  the  most  conspicuous  positions,  and  every  art  resorted  to, 
whereby  the  enemy  might  be  persuaded  of  the  folly  of  an  assault.  The 
stratagem  had  effect.  The  rebels  fought  for  four  hours,  keeping  up  a  con 
tinuous  roar  of  artillery  and  musketry  from  all  directions  except  the  south, 
and  receiving  in  turn  rapid  volleys  from  the  garrison,  each  man  of  whom 
acted  as  though  he  must  do  the  work  of  many  men.  It  was  now  after  four 
o'clock,  and  there  were  no  indications  of  an  assault.  General  Hood  at  this 
time  resorted  to  the  mighty  pen.  A  flag  of  truce  approached,  bearing  tho 
following  epistle: 


SEVENTEENTH   INFANTRY.  305 


"!N  THE  FIELD:  HEAD-QUARTERS  ARMY  OF  TENNESSEE,) 
"  October  12th,  1864.  J 

"TO  THE   OFFICER  COMMANDING  UNITED  STATES  FORCES  AT  KESACA, 

GEORGIA. — SIR:  I  demand  an  immediate  and  unconditional  surrender  of 
the  post  and  garrison  under  your  command,  and  should  this  be  acceded  to, 
all  white  officers  and  soldiers  will  be  paroled  within  a  few  days.  If  the 
place  is  carried  by  assault  no  prisoners  will  be  taken. 

"Most  respectfully  your  obedient  servant, 

"  J.  B.  HOOD, 
"General." 

To  which  Colonel  Wever  responded : 

"  HEAD-QUARTERS,  SECOND  BRIGADE,  THIRD  DIVISION,  FIFTEENTH  i 
ARMY  CORPS,  RESACA,  GEORGIA,  October  12th,  1864.  J 

"To  GENERAL  J.  B.  HOOD.— SIR:  Your  communication  of  this  date  is 
just  received.  In  reply  I  have  to  state  that  I  am  somewhat  surprised  at 
the  concluding  sentence,  stating  that  if  the  place  is  carried  by  assault  no 
prisoners  will  be  taken.  In  my  opinion  I  can  hold  this  post.  If  you  want 
it,  come  and  take  it. 

"I  am,  general,  etc., 

"CLARKE.  WEVER, 
' '  Commanding  Officer. ' ' 

The  truce  ended,  the  contest  was  renewed,  and  was  continued  with  great 
fury  till  long  after  nightfall,  the  garrison  having  been  reenforced  about  the 
time  the  flag  departed  by  Colonel  Watkins,  who  came  from  below  with  five 
hundred  cavalry,  who  dismounted  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  crossed 
as  best  they  could  on  the  half-built  railroad  bridge,  and  went  into  the  fight 
on  the  right.  There  was  a  desperate  combat,  from  nine  o'clock  till  after 
midnight,  three  miles  north  of  Resaca,  where  five  hundred  men,  guarding 
bridge  timbers,  were  attacked  by  thousands,  and  at  last  forced  to  yield  to 
superior  numbers.  During  the  night  Colonel  Wever  materially  strength 
ened  his  works.  The  attack  was  renewed  on  the  morning  of  the  13th,  but 
by  this  time  reinforcements  had  arrived,  augmenting  the  strength  of  the 
garrison  to  two  thousand  combatants,  so  that  the  increased  vigor  of  the 
defence  was  perceptible  to  the  rebels.  They  were,  doubtless,  less  inclined 
to  assault  than  on  the  day  before.  General  Sherman  arrived  in  the  after 
noon,  from  one  direction,  and  General  Hood  departed  in  another.  For  his 
brave  and  skilful  defence  of  this  important  post,  Colonel  Wever  received 
the  praise  of  General  Sherman  and  General  Howard,  on  the  spot.  The 
fighting  was  done  by  the  troops  of  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Illinois,  and  Missouri, 
but  as  they  were  under  the  command  of  the  Colonel  of  the  Seventeenth 

39 


306  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Iowa,  acting  Brigadier-General,  until  the  victory  was  virtually  won,  I  have 
deemed  it  not  improper  thus  briefly  to  relate  an  account  of  one  of  the  most 
honorable  and  brilliant  affairs  of  the  war. 

We  have  seen  that,  with  the  exception  of  between  thirty  and  forty 
men  under  Captain  Horner,  the  Seventeenth  was  captured  at  Tilton. 
The  captives  were  hurried  off  to  rebel  prisons,  except  a  few  who 
managed  to  escape.  These,  with  those  under  Captain  Horner,  forty- 
five  in  all,  having  been  granted  furloughs,  arrived  not  long  afterwards 
at  Keokuk  on  a  steamer.  "They  were  received,"  says  the  Gate  City, 
' '  and  marched  up  Main  street  by  Captain  Willis,  commander  of  the  post, 
with  a  detachment  of  men  under  Lieutenant  Springer.  There  were  few  of 
them.  Their  battle-flag  was  worn  and  faded,  and  torn  by  bullets,  and 
still  it  waved  in  front  of  them,  and  still  the  noble  few  clustered  round  it." 
As  the  command  marched  up  the  crowded  street,  there  were  many  wet 
eyes  of  men  and  women  who  reflected  that  this  little  band  was  all  that 
remained  of  the  stout  nine  hundred  and  fifty-six  who  had  passed  down  to 
the  steamer  two  years  and  a-half  before. 

NOTE. — The  remnant  of  the  regiment  took  part  in  the  campaign  of  the  Carolinas,  from  Savannah, 
where  Colonel  Wever  joined  General  Sherman's  army.  He  commanded  a  brigade  during  that  cam 
paign,  and  performed  much  valuable  service.  The  small  part  of  the  Seventeenth  continued  with 
the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  till  the  troops  thereof  were  discharged,  mostly  at  Louisville,  the  regi 
ment  being  disbanded  about  the  first  of  August,  1865. 

I  here  note  its  officers  as  found  in  the  Adjutant-General's  Reports: 

Colonels  John  W.  Rankiu,  David  B.  Hillis,  Clark  R.  Wever,  Brevet  Brigadier-General;  Lieutenant- 
Colonels  D.  B.  Hillis,  Clark  R.  Wever,  S.  M.  Archer;  Majors  Samuel  M.  Wise,  John  F.  Walden ; 
Adjutants  S.  Guthrie,  Fletcher  Woolsey ;  Quartermasters  Edwin  J.  Aldrich,  David  M.  Gorgas;  Sur 
geons  Nathan  Udell,  Jacob  II.  Ealy,  Assistants  E.  J.  McGorrisk,  C.  C.  Biser,  W.  F.  Coleman,  William 
E.  Barclay ;  Chaplain  Reverend  William  H.  Wilson. 

LINE  OFFICERS.  Company  A— Captains  John  L.  Young,  Charles  P.  Johnson ;  Lieutenants  Jesse  B. 
Garrett,  Lorenzo  H.  Sales,  Charles  P.  Johnson,  Henry  M.  Kenderdine.  Company  B — Captains 
William  H.  Hoxie,  L.  W.  Houston;  Lieutenants  Edwin  J.  Aldrich,  H.  D.  Nuse,  S.  T.  Reese, 
L.  W.  Houston,  A.  M.  Charters,  D.  W.  Tower.  Company  C—  Captains  S.  M.  Archer,  L.  F.  McNeal, 
George  W.  Deal ;  Lieutenants  Henry  Newton,  Samuel  Pickard,  Martin  Stapleton,  L.  F.  McNeal, 
William  J.  McCormick,  Theodore  Thomson.  Company  D— Captains  Clark  R.  Wever,  A.  A.  Stuart, 
John  F.  Skelton;  Lieutenants  A.  A.  Stuart,  George  S.  Patterson,  John  F.  Skelton,  A.  Park. 
Company  E — Captain  Thomas  Ping;  Lieutenants  A.  J.  Baker,  A.  Hall,  William  F.  Johnson,  M.  L. 
Godley.  Company  F—  Captains  James  F.  Walden,  John  H.  Browne;  Lieutenants  Sylvanus  E.  Hicks, 
Robert  S.  Morris,  John  H.  Browne,  Evan  S.  Swearengin.  Company  G — Captain  William  Horner ; 
Lieutenants  A.  H.  Barnes,  William  Reach,  0.  H.  P.  Smith,  George  W.  Deal,  William  D.  Hudson. 
Company  H— Captains  David  A.  Craig,  James  W.Craig;  Lieutenants  William  S.  Burke,  John  H. 
Tammen.  Company  /—Captains  Henry  N.  Moore,  William  Edwards,  Alphonso  A.  Rice,  John  C. 
Snodgrass ;  Lieutenants  A.  A.  Rice,  John  C.  Snodgrass,  Phineas  Inskeep,  John  Inskeep,  Amon  Stever. 
Company  K—  Captain  Sylvauus  E.  Hicks;  Lieutenants  Henry  M.Griffith,  Charles  W.  Woodrow, 
John  A.  Spielman. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

EIGHTEENTH    INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZATION  AT  CLINTON— ORDERED  TO  MISSOURI— REMAIN  ON  DUTY  THERE— 
DEFENCE  OF  SPRINGFIELD— AVSIVE  CAMPAIGNING  IN  ARKANSAS— 
THE  SKIRMISH  OF  PRAIRIE  D' ANNE— MARCH  TO  FORT  SMITH— ON  GARRISON 
DUTY-A  STARVATION  ERA-HOME. 

JOHN  EDWARDS,  of  Lucas  county,  a  republican  politician  of  conserva 
tive  tendencies,  was  Speaker  of  the  Iowa  House  of  Representatives  when 
the  war  broke  out,  and  had  been  for  some  years  a  man  somewhat  noted  in 
the  State,  and  by  many  people  called  "Honest  John" — a  sobriquet  which 
he  acquired  quite  as  much,  perhaps,  by  reason  of  his  easy-going,  agreeable 
manners,  as  for  the  possession  of  any  more  honesty  than  a  good  many 
others  had  without  getting  due  credit  for  it.  After  the  adjournment  of  the 
extra  session  of  the  Legislature  in  1861,  Colonel  Edwards — for  he  was 
placed  on  the  Governor's  staff  with  the  rank  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  of 
cavalry — rendered  valuable  services  to  the  State  and  country  in  the  organiza 
tion  and  drilling  of  the  "  Southern  Border  Brigade"  of  State  troops,  in  the 
suppression  of  incipient  outbreaks  along  the  frontier,  and  in  Missouri,  and 
afterwards  in  guarding  a  considerable  portion  of  the  Hannibal  and  St. 
Joseph  Railroad,  and  in  all  other  ways  in  which  a  man  of  influence  and 
patriotism  could  aid  the  imperilled  Republic.  There  were  but  few  men  in 
the  State,  who  engaged  in  the  cause  of  the  country  with  more  zest  than 
"Honest  John  Edwards" — a  fact  which  is  the  more  remarkable  since  he 
was  of  Southern  birth  and  education,  and  had  been  a  member  of  the 
Indiana  Legislature. 

Within  less  than  a  year  from  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter,  the  State  of 
Iowa  had  sent  into  the  field  no  less  than  sixteen  regiments  of  infantry,  with 
more  than  the  corresponding  proportion  of  cavalry,  and  three  ^batteries  of 
light  artillery.  These  troops,  some  at  one  place,  some  at  another — at 
Wilson's  Creek,  Blue  Mills  Landing,  Belmont,  Charleston,  Missouri,  New 
Madrid,  Island  No.  Ten,  Donelson,  Pea  Ridge,  Shiloh— had  gained  a 
reputation  for  valor  and  all  soldierly  qualities  of  which  the  State  and  the 
country  felt  proud.  And  though  the  slow  progress  made  by  the  military 

307 


308  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

authorities  in  the  vicinity  of  the  National  Capital  did  for  some  time,  as  it 
were  by  a  sort  of  sympathy,  create  a  lethargy  of  patriotism  all  over  the 
country,  affecting  Iowa  not  less  than  other  portions  of  the  republic,  so  that 
enlistments  went  on  slowly,  yet  at  the  time  now  in  view  it  had  met  all 
demands  of  the  government.  The  vigor  of  the  spring  campaigns  of  1862, 
whereby  the  most  interesting  theatre  of  war  was  transferred  from  the  east 
to  the  west,  aroused  the  people  from  their  drowsiness.  Iowa  offered  the 
Republic  more  troops  than  the  Republic  asked  of  her.  The  Seventeenth 
and  Eighteenth  regiments  of  infantry  were  not  recruited  in  obedience  to 
any  call  of  the  President.  They  were  offered  to  the  nation  out  of  the 
generosity  of  our  people,  and  were  accepted  by  special  order  of  the  Secre 
tary  of  War.  These  two  regiments  were  the  first  rich  fruits  of  that 
generous  patriotism  which  enabled  the  State  of  Iowa  to  present  to  the 
world  the  proud  record  that  her  troops  sent  into  the  field  were  always  in 
excess  of  all  calls  of  the  general  government. 

Inasmuch  as  Edwards  desired  now  to  go  into  the  service,  the  Governor 
commissioned  him  Colonel  of  the  Eighteenth  Infantry.  The  men  who 
formed  this  regiment  were  recruited  in  divers  parts  of  the  State — Company 
A  being  from  many  counties ;  B,  from  Clarke,  principally ;  C,  chiefly  from 
Lucas  and  Monroe ;  D,  from  Keokuk,  Iowa,  and  Mahaska ;  E,  from  Mus- 
catine,  with  some  members  from  Louisa  and  Linn ;  F,  from  Wapello  and 
Appanoose ;  Gr,  from  Marion,  Warren,  and  Polk,  in  most  part ;  H,  from 
Fayette  and  Benton,  with  a  considerable  representation  from  Clinton ;  I, 
from  Washington,  Polk,  and  other  counties;  K,  from  Muscatine  and 
Mahaska.  The  rendezvous  for  organization  was  at  Clinton,  whither  the 
companies  proceeded  during  the  summer,  and  where  they  were  mustered 
into  the  service,  on  the  5th,  6th,  and  7th  days  of  August,  1862.  The 
regiment  at  this  time  numbered  about  eight  hundred  and  seventy-five, 
officers  and  men.  Thomas  F.  Cook  was  commissioned  lieutenant-colonel, 
and  Hugh  J.  Campbell,  major.1 

1  The  line  officers  at  this  time  were :  Company  A— Captain  0.  S.  Chase,  (soon  succeeded  by  Wil 
liam  Stonaker,  promoted  from  Company  B) ;  Lieutenants  Alexander  H.  Dnnlap,  James  T.  Christian. 
Company  B — Captain  William  M.  Duncan;  Lieutenants  James  M.  Boreing,  William  Stonaker. 
Company  C—  Captain  David  N.  Smith,  (who  was  soon  appointed  Chaplain,  and  succeeded  by  James 
Van  Benthusen,  who  resigned  in  November  on  account  of  ill-health,  and  was  succeeded  by  William 
R.  Blue);  Lieutenants  Adams  Burris,  Thomas  E.  Sargent.  Company  D — Captain  John  A.  Landis; 
Lieutenants  James  II.  Creighton,  Justinian  Ray.  Company  E—  Captain  Stephen  Estle;  Lieutenants 
G.  Britzer,  N".  M.  Brown;  Company  F—  Captain  William  H.  Evans;  Lieutenants  Joseph  K.  Morey, 
Henry  C.  Nasfcr.  Company  G — Captain  D.  P.  Long;  Lieutenants  J.  J.  P.  Scoles,  John  H.  Looby. 
Company  H — Captain  Joseph  Van  Meter;  Lieutenants  G.  P.  Stafford,  William  H.  Wood,  (who 
resigned  in  a  few  months,  and  was  succeeded  by  J.  C.  Rhodabeck).  Company  /—Captain  Thomas 
Blanchard;  Lieutenants  William  Ragan,  Samuel  A.  Wilson.  Company  JT— Captain  Chester  C. 
Clover;  Lieutenants  Joseph  F.  Murray,  Daniel  Henshaw. 

.  I  should  have  stated  the  names  of  the  commissioned  officers  of  the  staff.  They  were:  Charles  E. 
Braunlich,  Lieutenant  and  Adjutant;  Sidney  S.  Smith,  Quartermaster;  John  H.Allen,  Surgeon; 
James  Harvey,  Henry  II.  Maynard,  assistants.  It  was  only  a  day  or  two  after  the  organization  of 


EIGHTEENTH     INFANTRY.  309 

Having  had  but  little  time  for  drill,  the  regiment  was  ordered  into  Mis 
souri,  and  moving  by  St  Louis  and  Sedalia,  marched  to  Springfield,  and 
joined  the  Army  of  the  Southwest,  General  Schofield  commanding.  The 
army  soon  moved  to  southwestern  Missouri,  and,  before  countermarching, 
penetrated  into  Arkansas.  It  was  a  campaign  of  hard  marches  over  bad 
roads  in  bad  weather,  and  was  accompanied  by  much  hardship.  Upon  its 
close,  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  Springfield.  It  formed  the  principal 
part  of  the  garrison  of  that  place  during  the  following  winter,  Colorfe!1 
Edwards  being  at  St  Louis  on  special  service,  and  Colonel  Crabb,  Nine 
teenth  Iowa,  in  command  of  the  post,  General  E.  B.  Brown,  commanding 
the  district  The  duties  of  the  Eighteenth  were  not  light.  There  were 
scouts  to  be  made,  guerrillas  to  be  watched,  fortifications  to  be  built,  guard 
duties  to  be  performed.  The  city  was  a  depot  of  supplies  for  the  army  of 
the  frontier,  and  was  as  important  to  that  army  as  Chattanooga  was  to 
Sherman  during  the  Atlanta  campaign.  But,  though  the  regiment  was  not 
idle  at  Springfield,  it  is  but  the  truth  to  say  that  its  spirited  men  chafed 
under  the  monotony  of  garrison  life,  and  longed  to  be  called  into  more 
stirring  scenes.  The  victory  of  Prairie  Grove,  in  December,  only  tended 
to  increase  this  feeling.  The  capture  of  Van  Buren,  not  long  afterwards, 
was  another  achievement  which  increased  their  impatience.  But  they  soon 
had  a  taste  of  actual  warfare,  without  having  to  inarch  into  Arkansas  to  get 
it.  This  was  at 

THE  BATTLE  OF  SPRINGFIELD. 

After  his  defeat  at  Prairie  Grove  the  rebel  general  Hindman,  with  such 
troops  as  he  was  able  to  keep  together,  retired  to  Van  Buren.  When  the 
Army  of  the  Frontier  marched  thither  also,  near  the  close  of  the  year,  he 
put  himself  behind  the  Arkansas.  But  his  lieutenant,  Marmaduke,  one 
of  the  most  dashing  of  rebel  troopers,  with  an  army  variously  estimated  at 
from  five  to  seven  thousand,  determined  to  make  another  effort  to  inflict 
injury  on  the  Union  cause  in  Missouri.  Directly  after  the  capture  of  Van 
Buren  the  Army  of  the  Frontier  fell  back  to  Fayetteville  and  for  some  days 
continued  in  that  vicinity.  Whilst  it  was  thus  marching  northward,  Mar 
maduke,  with  his  mounted  army,  was  riding  eastward,  along  the  south 
bank  of  the  Arkansas.  Crossing  the  river  at  Spadra,  a  hamlet  a  few  miles 
south  of  Clarksville,  he  turned  his  course  to  the  north,  and  bending  the 
line  of  his  inarch  still  somewhat  east,  left  the  army  of  the  frontier  a  con 
siderable  distance  west  of  him,  and  then  moved  directly  on  Springfield, 
with  the  object  of  capturing  the  place,  destroying  the  immense  quantities 

the  regiment  that  Captain  D.  N.  Smith  was  appointed  chaplain.  He  resigned  before  the  close  of 
the  year.  Some  two  years  afterwards  Lieutenant  Adams  Burris  was  appointed  to  the  chaplaincy. 
If  the  regiment  was  a  good  while  without  a  chaplain,  it  was  never  without  a  clergyman. 


310  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

of  supplies  stored  there,  and  of  striking  such  other  blows  as  his  daring 
troopers  might  be  able  to  inflict. 

On  the  evening  of  January  7th,  1863,  General  Brown  received  intelli 
gence  that  a  large  mounted  force  of  rebels,  estimated  at  between  four  and 
six  thousand,  with  three  pieces  of  artillery,  had  crossed  the  White  River 
and  were  advancing  on  Springfield.  Couriers  were  forthwith  dispatched  to 
various  stations  around  Springfield  for  reinforcements,  and  every  exertion 
made  to  put  the  city  in  as  strong  a  condition  of  defence  as  possible.  Two 
twelve-pounder  howitzers  and  one  six-pounder  gun  were  mounted  on  wheels 
as  temporary  carriages,  repaired  at  the  blacksmith  shop,  and  rolled  into 
Fort  No.  Four  by  daylight  of  the  8th.  Heavy  details  worked  the  live 
long  night  on  barricades  and  other  defensive  works.  The  convalescents  of 
the  hospitals  were  organized  and  armed.  They  were  called  the  ' '  Quinine 
Brigade."  Many  loyal  citizens  turned  out  to  fight  in  defence  of  their 
homes,  and  were  armed  for  the  occasion.  There  were  detachments  of 
several  regiments  of  Missouri  militia  in  the  city.  But  the  Eighteenth  Iowa 
was  the  only  corps  of  regular  soldiers,  so  to  say,  present.  The  whole 
defensive  force — volunteers,  militia,  Quinine  Brigade  and  citizens — did  not 
exceed  one  thousand  five  hundred  men. 

Perhaps  the  unfinished  condition  of  the  forts  around  Springfield  at  this 
time  made  it  more  difficult  to  defend  than  it  would  have  been  without 
them.  The  city  itself,  like  most  western  towns,  is  laid  out  around  a  public 
square  in  the  centre.  From  this  square  the  four  principal  streets  proceed, 
east,  west,  north,  and  south,  the  other  streets  of  the  city  being  parallel  to 
these.  Near  the  west  street,  a  little  north  of  it,  and  about  one  mile  from 
the  square,  was  a  strong  pentagonal  fort,  with  five  bastions.  It  was  called 
Fort  No.  One.  Fort  No.  Two  was  directly  south  of  this,  and  not  far  dis 
tant.  But  at  this  time,  it  was  worse  than  useless  to  the  garrison.  Fort 
No.  Four  was  on  the  street  leading  south.  It  was  not  one-half  mile  from 
the  square.  It  was  a  small,  but  strong  work,  with  two  bastions,  and  was 
the  only  fort  directly  attacked  during  the  engagement.  Fort  No.  Five,  on 
the  east  side  of  the  city,  was  an  unfinished  work.  The  city,  which  was  at 
this  time  thus  fortified,  lies  half  in  the  timber  and  half  in  tKe  prairie. 
Upon  the  south  and  west  it  is  prairie;  upon  the  north  and  east  all  is 
forest.  Marmaduke,  no  doubt  thinking  the  garrison  would  be  able  to  make 
but  a  feeble  resistance,  chose  to  approach  directly  from  the  south. 

About  ten  o'clock  our  mounted  pickets,  three  miles  south  of  town,  were 
met  by  the  pickets  of  the  enemy,  closely  followed  by  their  main  army, 
marching  across  the  prairie  in  battle  array,  artillery  in  the  centre,  sup 
ported  by  a  heavy  force  of  dismounted  cavalrymen,  the  mounted  troops,  in 
large  numbers,  forming  the  wings.  They  moved  slowly  forward,  making 
an  imposing  spectacle,  and  occasionally  firing  a  shot  from  their  rifled  gim 


EIGHTEENTH     INFANTRY.  311 

in  the  centre.  They  were  annoyed  by  our  sharp-shooters  and  skirmishers, 
and  the  moment  they  came  within  range  of  our  artillery  received  a  tempo 
rary  check.  The  firing  gradually  increased,  and  by  one  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  had  grown  into  a  battle. 

At  first,  the  contest  was  waged  chiefly  by  cavalry  and  artillery.  Colonel 
King,  Third  Missouri  Cavalry  (militia)  and  Colonel  Hall,  Fourth  Missouri 
Cavalry,  also  militia,  charged  the  enemy's  right,  and  right  centre,  inflicting 
severe  injury.  But  they  were  unable  to  check  the  enemy's  advance.  Tfee 
artillery  from  Fort  No.  Four  succeeded  better,  and  held  the  enemy's  centre 
in  check  for  some  time,  at  times  even  compelling  it  to  fall  back.  After  the 
battle  had  been  raging  along  the  lines  for  about  one  hour,  the  enemy,  find 
ing  it  more  difficult  to  take  Springfield  than  he  had  anticipated,  massed  his 
forces  in  several  compact  lines  and  advanced  against  our  right  and  centre. 
Captain  Landis,  Eighteenth  Iowa,  with  his  piece  of  artillery  was  ordered  to 
the  front  and  right,  supported  by  three  companies  of  the  regiment,  Cap 
tains  Blue,  Van  Meter  and  Stonaker.  By  some  mistake,  the  gun  was 
placed  in  a  position  too  far  advanced.  The  enemy  charged  upon  it  in  over 
whelming  numbers,  and  after  a  desperate  combat  captured  it.  Here  Cap 
tains  Blue  and  Van  Meter  fell  mortally  wounded.  Captain  Landis  was 
severely  wounded,  and  fell  among  many  dead  and  wounded  comrades.  This 
success  of  the  enemy  on  our  right  was  followed  by  another  success  of  even 
more  importance  to  them,  the  possession  of  an  academy  south  of  the  town, 
which  had  been  used  as  a  prison,  and  was  heavily  stockaded  on  all  sides. 
From  this  house,  essentially  a  strong  fort,  they  were  enabled  to  deliver  a 
constant  galling  fire  upon  the  garrison,  with  little  injury  to  themselves.  It 
was  now  between  two  and  three  o'clock,  and  the  enemy  were  sorely  press 
ing  our  line  of  defence  at  all  points,  but  especially  at  the  centre  and  right 
centre,  where,  it  appeared,  they  were  about  to  break  through.  The 
"Quinine  Brigade,"  which  had  hitherto  been  stationed  in  various  brick 
buildings  near  the  centre  of  the  town,  now  moved  to  the  front,  under  the 
immediate  command  of  Colonel  Crabb,  and  delivered  attack  on  the  enemy's 
left  centre.  An  hour's  fighting  succeeded  in  driving  the  rebels  from  this 
part  of  the  field.  They  then  massed  against  our  right,  and  gained  ground 
here  slowly  but  steadily.  They  took  possession  of  several  houses  in  the 
town,  and  under  cover  of  their  protection  were  likely  to  gain  still  further 
advantages.  The  militia,  who  had  fought  like  veterans,  were  falling  back 
before  overwhelming  numbers.  General  Brown  rode  forward  to  encourage 
them,  but  was  almost  instantly  shot  by  a  treacherous  foe  who  had  con 
cealed  himself  in  one  of  the  houses  of  the  town,  and  was  carried  from  the 
field.  This  was  about  four  o'clock.  Colonel  Crabb  now  assumed  com 
mand.  The  fighting  again  surged  toward  the  centre,  where  charges  and 
countercharges  between  the  academy  and  Fort  No.  Four  were  made,  with 


312  IOWA    AND     THE     KEBELLION. 

varying  fortune,  for  an  hour.  At  length,  a  part  of  the  Missouri  militia 
gave  way,  and  for  some  time  Springfield  seemed  lost.  But  they  were  soon 
rallied,  a  dash  was  made  against  the  enemy's  right  with  so  much  vim  and 
such  loud  shoutings  by  others  of  the  militia  that  the  enemy  failed  to  profit 
by  his  success  on  the  centre.  Meantime  five  companies  of  the  Eighteenth 
Iowa,  which  had  just  reached  the  scene  of  action  from  an  outpost  at  some 
distance  from  Springfield,  came  up  in  fine  style,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Cook,  and  went  into  the  fight  on  the  centre  with  such  effect  as  to  drive  the 
rebels  back  into  the  stockade,  and  encourage  the  men  who  had  been  fight 
ing  for  hours  most  wonderfully.  Darkness  now  was  coming  on,  and  the 
firing  gradually  ceased,  ending  at  length  with  a  few  volleys  of  artillery. 

But  thus  the  contest  closed.  On  the  morning  of  the  9th,  the  garrison 
was  hopeful,  enthusiastic.  A  renewed  attack  was  not  only  expected,  but 
it  was  hoped  for.  But  the  enemy  had  retired  under  cover  of  the  night 
from  his  position  south  of  town,  and  had  taken  position  more  than  a  mile 
to  the  eastward.  Hither  Colonel  Crabb  sent  a  cavalry  force  to  engage  them 
and  retard  their  advance,  but  they  declined  battle,  and  soon  retired  in  haste. 
They  had  lost  in  the  battle  more  than  two  hundred,  in  killed  and  wounded. 
Our  loss  was  about  the  same.  There  were  but  five  companies — A,  C,  F,  G, 
and  H — of  the  Eighteenth  Iowa  taking  part  in  the  contest  until  near  its 
close,  when  the  other  five  came  up  and  turned  the  tide  of  battle  in  our 
favor,  as  has  been  related.  The  number  of  men  of  the  regiment  engaged 
was  less  than  five  hundred,  of  whom  fifty-six  were  killed  or  wounded. 
Colonel  Crabb,  in  his  official  report  of  the  engagement,  pays  a  high  com 
pliment  to  the  five  companies  which  have  been  designated.  ' '  They  fought, 
he  says,  "as  '  Iowa  boys'  know  how  to  fight.  Their  heavy  loss  and  bloody 
record  are  proofs  of  their  valor. ' '  But  the  defence  of  Springfield,  whilst 
it  exhibited  the  good  conduct  of  these  Iowa  volunteers  in  a  most  enviable 
light,  was  remarkable  because  the  Missouri  enrolled  militia  here  fought  so 
bravely,  and  with  a  tenacity  rarely  shown  by  troops  of  that  kind.  Except 
at  one  particular  juncture  of  the  battle  they  fought  as  well  as  any  troops, 
and  they  were  at  no  time  thrown  into  such  confusion  as  prevented  them 
from  being  speedily  rallied.  They  fought  well  on  horseback  in  the  early 
part  of  the  engagement,  and  they  fought  well  on  foot,  when  their  horses 
became  mcumbrances.  Had  they  not  fought  like  veterans,  Springfield 
must  have  fallen  a  prey  to  the  enemy,  and  the  Union  cause  suffered  a  ter 
rible,  humiliating  defeat.  And  when  we  reflect  that  Springfield  was  saved 
by  militia,  a  "  Quinine  Brigade  "  half  as  large  as  a  battalion,  and  a  single 
regiment  of  volunteers,  against  an  army  at  least  four  thousand  strong,  we 
must  place  it  among  the  most  creditable  victories  of  the  war — creditable  to 
the  garrison,  to  General  Brown,  and  to  Colonel  Crabb,  commanding.  It 
was  impossible  to  pursue  the  enemy.  They  went  off,  bent  still  on  mischief, 


EIGHTEENTH     INFANTBY.  313 

and  wore  again  defeated  near  Hartsville  in  a  fierce  combat  where  the 
Twenty-first  Iowa  won  high  honors. 

The  Eighteenth  remained  at  Springfield  many  months  after  the  battle,  so 
that  its  stay  there  was  about  one  year  in  duration — a  year  in  which,  in  other 
parts  of  the  theatre  of  war  our  arms  were  gaining  great  victories,  and  our 
troops  a  proud  reputation.  The  campaigns  of  Vicksburg  and  of  Chatta 
nooga,  not  to  mention  here  the  movements  by  which  they  were  preceded, 
and  which  were  accompanied  by  no  inconsiderable  engagements,  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  country.  The  comparatively  unimportant  campaigns 
and  movements  west  of  the  Mississippi  received  but  little  notice.  This  was 
a  state  of  things  for  which  the  troops  stationed  west  of  the  Mississippi 
were  not  themselves  responsible.  Undoubtedly  many  of  the  regiments 
which  there  spent  month  after  month  in  the  inglorious,  monotonous  duties 
of  the  garrison ;  in  guarding  Irish  potatoes  and  hard  bread ;  or  in  marching 
and  countermarching  in  small  bodies  after  raiders  and  guerrillas,  would 
have  assaulted  the  works  of  Vicksburg,  or  fought  above  the  clouds  on 
Lookout  Mountain,  or  swept  up  the  steep  sides  of  Missionary  Ridge  as 
gallantly  as  the  troops  who  were  called  into  these  glorious  fields  of  duty. 
Their  great  praise  is  that,  though  they  could  not  submit  to  the  performance 
of  duties  in  the  more  quiet  field  to  which  they  were  assigned  without  men 
tal  repinings  at  their  lot,  they  nevertheless  rejoiced  with  unfeigned  satis 
faction  at  .the  triumphs  of  the  general  cause  and  the  reputation  acquired 
by  the  more  fortunate  regiments. 

Certain  it  is  that  the  Eighteenth  Iowa  had  this  honorable  feeling.  A 
member  of  the  regiment,  writing  to  the  Burlington  Hawk-Eye,  premises  a 
brief  account  of  the  regiment's  services  with  the  following  sentences: 
"  While  the  State  has  been  duly  apprised  of  the  career  of  most  of  its 
other  regiments,  of  which  it  is  justly  proud,  and  which  regiments  have  had 
the  good  fortune  to  be  engaged  in  more  prominent  fields,  little  has  been 
known  of  the  services  of  the  Eighteenth  regiment  because  they  have  been 
performed  in  a  field  comparatively  obscure.  It  is,  however,  with  no  feeling 
of  jealousy  that  we  make  this  remark,  for  we  share  in  the  just  pride  which 
every  lowan  feels  in  the  noble  and  brilliant  career  of  all  its  regiments,  and 
have  no  feeling  but  of  unbounded  satisfaction  in  contemplating  their  grow 
ing  renown,  and  would  rather  increase  than  diminish  it,"  This  was  written 
after  General  Sherman's  successful  campaign  of  Atlanta,  and  after  General 
Steele's  unsuccessful  campaign  in  Arkansas,  in  which  latter  the  Eighteenth 
took  part,  performing  its  duties  well  and  bravely,  but  in  common  with  the 
other  troops  engaged,  receiving  precious  little  notice  from  the  general  pub 
lic.  The  fault  should  probably  lay  at  the  door  of  the  general  command 
ing.  Had  Sherman  been  in  Arkansas  and  Steele  in  Georgia,  the  case 
would  doubtless  have  been  widely  different.  But  to  return. 

40 


314  IOWA    A1SD     THE     REBELLION. 

After  the  battle  of  Springfield,  the  Eighteenth  remained  on  garrison 
duty  there  a  long  time.  In  April,  Colonel  Edwards  assumed  command  of 
the  post,  and  retained  it  for  several  months.  When,  in  the  fall  of  this 
»year,  the  rebel  general  Shelby  made  a  foray  into  Missouri,  Colonel  Ed 
wards,  at  that  time  in  the  temporary  command  of  the  district  of  southwest 
ern  Missouri,  pursued  him  into  the  central  part  of  the  State,  and  after 
wards,  then  in  command  of  his  regiment,  chased  him  into  Arkansas, 
forming,  in  this  rapid  movement,  a  part  of  the  force  under  command  of 
Brigadier-General  John  McNeil.  The  force  was  unable  to  overtake 
Shelby,  but  it  compelled  him  to  keep  to  the  roads,  and  to  fling  aside  as 
dangerous  incuiubrances  much  of  his  baggage  and  all  his  artillery.  Upon 
reaching  the  Arkansas,  near  Clarksville,  General  McNeil  ceased  pursuit, 
and  marched  thence  to  Fort  Smith,  arriving  on  the  30th  of  October.  The 
march  had  been  made  without  tents,  the  troops  bivouacking  every  night, 
but,  though  they  made  forced  marches  almost  every  day  for  two  weeks, 
their  health  was  so  good  when  they  reached  the  fort  that  but  three  men  of 
the  whole  command  were  reported  sick. 

Here  again  the  Eighteenth  was  assigned  to  garrison  duty.  Colonel  Ed 
wards  was  placed  in  command  of  the  post  about  one  month  after  the  arri 
val  of  the  regiment  at  Fort  Smith.  The  winter  was  spent  in  tranquility, 
but  some  of  the  time  on  short  rations.  But  in  March,  1864,  Brigadier- 
General  Thayer,  commanding  a  division  of  troops,  marched  from  Fort 
Smith  on  Arkadelphia,  with  the  view  of  reenforcing  at  that  point  a  column 
under  General  Steele,  moving  from  Little  Kock.  Colonel  Edwards  com 
manded  a  brigade,  consisting  of  his  own  regiment,  the  First  and  Second 
Arkansas,  and  the  Second  Indiana  Battery.  Thayer  made  the  junction 
with  Steele  at  Elkin's  Ferry,  whence  the  united  command  marched  in  a 
southwesterly  direction,  Shreveport,  Louisiana,  being  the  objective  point, 
and  a  junction  there  with  Banks  and  the  complete  subjugation  of  the 
southwest  thereafter,  the  glorious  object  of  the  expedition.  But  at  the 
time  Thayer  was  joining  Steele,  the  rebels  were  whipping  Banks  at  Mans 
field — or,  to  state  the  case  with  more  exactness,  Banks  was  there  being 
outgeneralled  into  defeat — which  fact  turned  the  whole  Bed  River  expedi 
tion  and  this  its  adjunct  inside  out  and  bottom  up. 

However,  General  Steele  continued  to  move  on  a  day  or  two,  until  he 
heard  of  the  disaster  in  Louisiana,  when,  instead  of  turning  about  face  and 
retreating  to  Little  Rock,  as  he  might  well  have  done,  he  merely  deflected 
to  the  left  and  marched  on  Camden.  It  was  well  for  Steele  that  the  more 
disastrous  blunder  of  Banks  attracted  the  public  attention  to  him,  otherwise 
General  Steele  must  have  been  held  to  accountability  for  needless  disasters 
and  loss  of  life.  Had  he  retreated  at  once,  our  army  would  not  have  been 
Starved  at  Camden ;  train  after  train  would  not  have  been  captured ;  innu- 


EIGHTEENTH     INFANTRY.  315 

uierable  monstrous  lies  covering  up  these  losses  might  have  been  spared, 
and  their  fabricators  have  yet  some  hopes  of  heaven ;  above  all,  several 
engagements  wherein  no  good  was  done  save  that  of  showing  the  unyielding 
valor  of  our  troops  might  have  been  avoided,  and  the  blood  of  many  of  our 
best  citizens  been  at  least  saved  for  sacrifice  on  some  field  of  honor  and  of 
glory.  But  the  army  marched  on  to  Camden,  our  regiment  taking  part 
in  the  grand  display  on  Prairie  D'Anne,  which  was  preceded  by  a  heavy 
skirmish. 

On  the  13th  of  April,  an  engagement  took  place  about  thirty  miles  from 
Camden,  near  the  Hamlet  of  Moscow.  By  his  manoeuvres  on  Prairie 
D'Anne,  General  Steele  had  effected  the  evacuation  of  Camden,  the  rebels 
marching  westward  to  intercept  him  in  his  supposed  march  directly  toward 
Shreveport.  Discovering  their  error,  they  attacked  him  in  rear,  near  Mos 
cow.  The  brigade  of  Colonel  Edwards  stood  the  brunt  of  the  attack  at 
first,  and  being  reenforced  by  the  two  other  brigades  of  the  division,  drove 
the  rebels  several  miles  to  the  rear,  gaining  a  handsome  victory.  The  con 
test  lasted  several  hours,  throughout  the  whole  of  which  the  Eighteenth 
was  engaged.  But,  though  under  heavy  fire,  its  losses  were  trifling.  The 
march  thence  to  Camden  was  continued  with  but  little  molestation  from  the 
enemy. 

The  army  remained  at  Camden  some  ten  days,  for  what  reason,  except  to 
supply  the  enemy  with  trains  and  stores,  I  have  not  seen  assigned  in  any 
credible  writing.  During  this  period  the  Eighteenth  had  a  severe  en 
gagement  with  the  enemy — its  most  severe  battle,  in  fact,  during  its  whole 
history.  And  though  it  performed  its  duty  most  bravely — as  gallantly 
fighting,  in  fact,  as  men  ever  fought  on  any  field,  yet  the  combat  was  so  en 
tirely  without  result  on  the  general  cause,  that  it  has  scarcely  been  heard 
of.  Moreover,  it  was  a  combat  over  a  train,  which,  though  ever  so  well 
fought,  would  hardly  have  been  able  to  excite  the  general  eclat,  like  the 
defence  of  Allatoona  Pass  by  Corse,  for  instance,  or  that  of  Resaca  by 
Wever.  Nevertheless,  considered  as  a  simple  combat,  the  affair  which  I 
am  about  to  describe  was  most  bravely,  even  heroically,  fought  by  the 
Eighteenth  Iowa  regiment. 

On  the  morning  of  April  17th,  the  regiment,  and  one  section  of  the 
Second  Indiana  Battery,  Captain  Duncan,  Eighteenth  Iowa,  commanding, 
were  ordered  to  march  in  the  direction  of  Poison  Springs,  to  reenforce 
Colonel  Williams,  First  Kansas  Colored  Regiment,  in  guard  of  a  forage 
train,  reported  as  threatened  by  a  large  rebel  force.  Marching  to  the 
threatened  locality,  the  Eighteenth  took  position  in  rear  of  the  train,  the 
First  Kansas  having  the  front.  On  the  morning  of  the  18th,  the  whole 
force,  train  included,  was  suddenly  attacked  by  rebel  troopers  numbering 
several  thousand.  The  Kansas  negroes  received  the  first  onslaught,  but 


316  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

they  were  overwhelmed  by  the  suddenness  and  power  of  the  attack,  and 
compelled  to  retreat  in  disorder.  They  fell  back  on  and  through  the  line 
of  the  Eighteenth,  which  was  now  left  to  sustain  the  combat  alone.  The 
enemy  charged  the  line  with  the  greatest  impetuosity  no  less  than  seven 
several  times.  They  outnumbered  the  little  Union  band  in  the  proportion 
of  at  least  five  to  one,  and  at  every  charge  they  succeeded  in  breaking  our 
line,  so  utterly  impossible  was  it  for  the  small  force  to  entirely  check  their 
onset.  Their  front  lines  fell  to  the  earth  as  one  man,  under  our  withering 
fire,  but  those  behind  them  continued  the  rushing  charge  over  their  dead 
and  wounded  comrades  and  their  horses.  They  could  not  be  checked  until 
they  had  thrown  our  line  into  some  confusion.  But  fighting  pell-mell,  and  at 
the  same  time  coming  into  line,  the  gallant  Eighteenth  continued  the  con 
test,  now  successfully  repelling  the  foe,  anon  disordered  momentarily,  till  it 
had  placed  more  than  its  own  number  of  rebels  hors-du-combat,  and  was 
surrounded  on  nearly  every  quarter  by  superior  numbers,  when  the  men 
fixed  bayonets  and  cut  their  way  out,  leaving  a  bloody  track  behind  them. 
In  this  fierce  combat,  Captains  Blanchard,  Clover,  Stonaker,  and  Cona- 
way  were  specially  conspicuous,  and  Sergeants  Dean,  Bowers,  Oleson, 
Mardis,  Bullock,  and  Kirkpatrick,  received  particular  mention.  All 
the  officers  and  men  behaved  with  uncommon  bravery,  or  the  regiment 
never  could  have  been  extricated  from  its  perilous  position.  It  returned 
to  camp  at  Camden  with  a  loss  of  seventy-seven,  killed,  wounded,  and 
captured. 

In  the  retreat  on  Little  Rock,  made  before  a  powerful  enemy,  across 
swollen  streams,  and  over  the  most  wretched  roads,  the  regiment  shared 
all  the  sufferings  and  hardships  which  characterized  this  part  of  the  cam 
paign.  For  three  weeks,  the  command  subsisted  almost  entirely  upon  raw 
corn,  and  yet  marched  on  through  swamp,  morass,  and  miry  forest,  with  a 
fortitude  worthy  of  every  commendation.  In  the  battle  of  Jenkin's  Ferry, 
where  the  Twenty-ninth,  Thirty-third,  all  that  was  left  of  the  Thirty-sixth, 
and  the  Fortieth  Iowa  regiments  fought  so  finely,  and  where  General 
Samuel  A.  Rice  received  the  wound  which  caused  his  death,  the  Eigh 
teenth  did  not  take  an  active  part.  Colonel  Edwards  held  the  reserve  and 
guarded  the  ordnance  train  during  this  severe  contest,  and  the  enemy  was 
repulsed  and  defeated  without  calling  the  reserve  to  the  front. 

When  this  campaign  had  been  some  time  closed,  and  there  seemed  to  be 
no  further  danger  of  a  rebel  attack  in  force  on  Little  Rock,  our  regiment 
returned  to  Fort  Smith,  and  again  became  part  of  the  garrison  of  that 
important  post.  But  its  duties  there  were  neither  light  nor  pleasant.  Nor 
did  it  remain  all  the  while  at  the  fort,  though  that  continued  to  be  for 
several  months,  the  nominal  head-quarters  of  the  regiment.  The  enemy 
much  of  the  time  blockaded  the  river  below,  so  that  starvation  frequently 


EIGHTEENTH      INFANTRY.  317 

stared  the  command  in  the  face.  Living  on  short  rations  was  the  rule,  and 
plenty  the  exception.  It  was  necessary  that  the  command  should  make 
inarches  to  some  distance  from  the  fort,  in  search  of  food,  so  that  there 
was  enough  to  do,  though  no  fighting.  In  December,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Hugh  J.  Campbell,  who  had  some  time  before  been  promoted  from  the 
majority,  was  promoted  colonel,  in  place  of  Edwards,  appointed  brigadier- 
general  of  volunteers.  Joseph  K.  Morey,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  entered 
the  service  as  a  lieutenant,  had  also  for  some  time  been  major. 

During  the  winter  the  regiment  made  a  march  beyond  Fort  Gibson  and 
back  to  Fort  Smith,  whereby  it  performed  valuable  as  well  as  dangerous 
service.  It  left  Fort  Smith  in  November  for  Fort  Gibson,  expecting  to 
meet  there  a  supply  train  from  Fort  Scott,  Kansas.  The  march  was  com 
menced  on  six  days'  half-rations.  When  the  regiment,  which  was  accom 
panied  by  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  Indian  warriors,  reached  Fort 
Gibson,  nothing  had  been  heard  of  the  train,  except  that  it  had  started. 
The  command  was  now  out  of  rations.  On  the  evening  of  November  27th, 
it  received  orders  to  march.  The  men  received  two  ears  of  corn  apiece,  and 
a  table-spoonful  of  coffee  for  a  mess  of  four,  and  commenced  the  march  for 
the  train  at  eleven  o'clock  that  night.  They  found  it,  on  the  morning  of 
December  1st,  corralled  on  Neosho  Creek,  about  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  miles  from  Fort  Gibson.  It  consisted  of  one  hundred  six-mule  wagons, 
one  hundred  ox  wagons,  three  hundred  wagons  with  supplies  for  the 
Indians,  and  one  hundred  sutler's  wagons.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the 
starved  men  of  the  Eighteenth  soon  discovered  the  contents  of  one  wagon, 
or  that  it  contained  something  to  appease  hunger.  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Campbell,  this  very  day  commissioned  colonel,  assumed  command,  and  the 
train  was  soon  moving  forward.  The  regiment  reached  Fort  Smith  on  its 
return,  on  the  llth  day  of  December. 

But  the  supplies  soon  became  short  again.  General  Edwards  wrote,  on 
the  16th  of  January,  1865,  as  follows:  "We  are  in  a  bad  fix;  we  are  out 
of  rations,  having  only  enough  for  five  days,  water-bound  between  here  and 
Fort  Gibson;  the  rebels  hold  Dardanelles,  and  I  don't  know  whether  Gene 
ral  Reynolds  can  get  boats  up  to  us  with  supplies  or  not. ' '  Happily,  rations 
came  just  five  days  afterwards,  and  the  command  was  relieved  from  its 
"bad  fix."  No  less  than  four  steamers  arrived  loaded  to  the  guards  with 
supplies,  when  the  starvation  era  of  the  Eighteenth  came  to  an  end,  to  be 
renewed  no  more  forever. 

The  regiment  remained  in  service,  without  further  noteworthy  incident, 
till  near  the  close  of  the  summer,  when  it  was  mustered  out,  and  moving  to 
Iowa,  was  disbanded.  Those  who  had  composed  the  command  were  met 
with  cheering  words  of  welcome  in  all  parts  of  the  State,  our  citizens  well 
knowing  that,  though  the  battle-flag  of  the  regiment  was  not  adorned  with 


318  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

the  names  of  many  historic  battles,  the  officers  and  men  had  well  performed 
all  their  duties  on  the  field  to  which  they  had  been  ordered,  and  had  earned 
the  gratitude  of  Iowa  and  of  the  country.2 

2  The  last  official  roster  of  this  regiment  which  I  have  seen  is  in  General  Baker's  Report  for  1865. 
It  is  as  follows:  Colonel  Hugh  J.  Campbell;  Major  Joseph  K.  Morey;  Adjutant  Elias  J.  Pike; 
Surgeon  Edwin  Kirkup;  Assistant  Henry  C.  Sanford ;  Quartermaster  Sidney  S.  Smith;  Chaplain 
Adams  Burris. 

LINE  OFFICERS.  Company  A — First  Lieutenant  John  F.  Landis.  Company  S — Captain  William  M. 
Duncan;  Lieutenants  James  M.  Boreing,  James  M.  Higgins.  Company  C— Captain  A.  B.  Conaway. 
Company  D — Captain  Justinian  Ray.  Company  E — Captain  Edwin  B.  Dean ;  Lieutenant  Newton 
M.  Brown.  Company  F—  Captain  John  A.  Beltzer;  Lieutenant  Jacob  C.  Millisack.  Company  G — 
Captain  Orlo  Teed;  Lieutenant  William  Michael.  Company  If— Captain  Jesse  C.  Rhodabeck  ; 
Lieutenant  William  C.  Rowland.  Company  /—Captain  Thomas  Blanchard ;  Lieutenants  William 
Ragan,  Benjamin  I.  Kinsey.  Company  K — Captain  Chester  C.  Clover;  Lieutenant  Joseph  F. 
Murray. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

NINETEENTH     INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZED  DURING  THE  SUMMER  OP  1862— RENDEZVOUS  AT  KEOKUK— MOVE  TO 
ST.  LOUIS— CAMPAIGN  IN  MISSOURI  AND  ARKANSAS— BATTLE  OF  PRAIRIE 
GROVE— CAPTURE  OF  VAN  BUREN,  ARKANSAS  — RETURN  TO  MISSOURI  — AC 
TIVE  OPERATIONS  IN  THAT  STATE  — JOIN  THE  ARMY  UNDER  GRANT  BELEA 
GUERING  VICKSBURG— ACTIVE  OPERATIONS  AFTER  THE  CAPITULATION  — THE 
REGIMENT  MOVES  TO  TEXAS  — LONG  PERIOD  OF  QUIET  AT  BROWNSVILLE- 
EVACUATE  THAT  PLACE  AND  RETURN  TO  NEW  ORLEANS  — MEETING  OF  THE 
REGIMENT  WITH  ITS  PRISONERS  CAPTURED  THE  YEAR  BEFORE  — MOVE  TO 
FLORIDA— TO  MISSISSIPPI— THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  MOBILE  UNDER  CANBY— HOME 
WARD  BOUND. 

THE  1st  of  July,  1862,  was  one  of  the  gloomiest  epochs,  of  the  sundry 
times,  during  the  war,  that  tried  men's  souls.  General  McClellan,  com 
manding  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  having  been  for  some  time  engaged 
upon  his  regular  approaches  to  Kichmond,  had  just  passed  through  the 
famous  seven  days'  contest,  which  resulted,  on  account  rather  of  cautious 
generalship  than  actual  defeat,  in  the  abandonment  of  the  campaign  against 
the  rebel  capital,  and  the  depression  of  the  national  spirits  to  a  depth  of 
gloom  almost  tantamount  to  despair.  The  Chief  Executive  of  the  nation, 
however,  seems  never  to  have  despaired  of  the  Republic.  Whilst,  there 
fore,  the  partisans  of  the  Young  Napoleon,  as  McClellan  was  dubbed  by 
his  admirers  with  an  absurdity  equal  to  that  which  would  apotheosize  Mun- 
chausen  as  the  god  of  truth,  were  sounding  the  praises  of  his  strategy, 
converting  an  unnecessary  retreat  and  an  unnecessary  defeat  into  what  they 
called  a  brilliant  change  of  base,  and  whilst  the  people,  utterly  unable  to 
see  any  base  upon  which  the  said  praises  could  really  be  founded,  were 
well  nigh  giving  up  all  hope  for  the  Union,  the  President,  imperturbable  in 
disaster  as  in  victory,  asked  from  the  people  an  addition  to  the  army  of 
three  hundred  thousand  men. 

The  people,  aroused  by  the  nation's  need,  sprang  to  arms  at  the  Presi 
dent's  call,  shouting  in  general  chorus,  which  was  everywhere  heard, 

319 


320  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

"We  are  coming,  Father  Abraham, 
Six  Hundred  Thousand  more  1" 

Under  the  proclamation  of  July  2d,  1862,  twenty-two  full  regiments  of 
infantry  were  raised  in  Iowa,  of  which  the  Nineteenth  was  the  first. 
Enrolled  in  the  counties  of  Lee,  Jefferson,  Washington,  Louisa,  Van  Buren, 
and  Henry,  in  the  First  Congressional  District,  the  different  companies 
moved  to  the  regimental  rendezvous  at  Keokuk,  where  the  organization 
was  completed  during  the  latter  part  of  August.  The  regiment  numbered 
at  the  time  of  its  organization,  nine  hundred  and  eighty-two,  officers  and 
men.  Benjamin  Crabb,  of  Washington  county,  who  had  been  a  captain  in 
the  Seventh  Infantry,  was  appointed  colonel;  Samuel  McFarland,  of 
Henry,  who  had  likewise  been  a  captain  in  one  of  our  regiments  recruited 
in  the  earlier  part  of  the  war,  the  Eleventh,  was  commissioned  lieutenant- 
colonel  ;  and  Daniel  Kent,  of  Van  Buren,  major.  Granville  G.  Bennett 
was  chosen  adjutant,  James  Bennett,  quartermaster,  and  Reverend  Dennis 
Murphy,  chaplain.  Doctor  Philip  Harvey,  of  Burlington,  one  of  the  most 
noted  physicians,  as  well  as  political  writers  of  the  State,  was  the  first 
surgeon,  having  for  his  assistants,  Doctors  L.  M.  Sloanaker,  and  D.  A. 
Hurst.1 

The  regiment  remained  in  quarters  at  "Camp  Lincoln,"  Keokuk,  only 
about  a  fortnight  after  organization,  so  that,  when  it  left  the  State  only 
those  officers  and  men  who  had  before  seen  service  had  acquired  that 
knowledge  of  drill  and  discipline  which  every  regiment  finds  to  be  of  such 
great  value  when  called  upon  to  manoauvre  in  face  of  the  enemy.  Lieuten 
ant-Colonel  McFarland  had  not  yet  assumed  his  place  in  the  regiment  when 
on  September  4th,  it  was  hastily  ordered  to  St.  Louis.  Thither  the  com 
mand  immediately  moved  by  river,  reaching  there  on  the  next  day  and  at 
once  marching  to  Benton  Barracks,  where  all  troops  went  who  went  to 
St.  Louis,  and  where  they  all  invariably  got  sick  at  once  or  shortly  after 
wards,  from  the  effect  of  having  been  there. 

Fortunately,  the  Nineteenth  was  not  compelled  to  halt  at  the  barracks 
quite  a  week.  On  the  morning  of  the  llth,  being  attached  to  a  brigade 

1  The  various  companies  had  the  following  officers : 

Company  A — Captain  John  Bruce ;  Lieutenants  Thomas  L.  Sproatt,  Norvil  Powell.  Company  B — 
Captain  Harry  Jordan  ;  Lieutenants  John  M.  Woods,  Arthur  S.  Jordan.  Company  C — Captain  T. 
H.  Stanton;  Lieutenants  J.  S.  Gray,  E.  A.  Woodford.  Company  D — Captain  Joshua  Wright;  Lieu 
tenants  Harrison  Smith,  William  S.  Brooks.  Company  12— Captain  William  Adams ;  Lieutenants 
William  H.  Gill,  Samuel  B.  Guernsey.  Company  F—  Captain  John  Bird;  Lieutenants  Levi  Fisher, 
L.  M.  Smith.  Company  G— Captain  Andrew  M.  Taylor;  Lieutenants  Charles  W.  Huff,  B.  F.  Wright. 
Company  H— Captain  T.  W.  Richman ;  Lieutenants  Silas  Kent,  Walter  C.  Ferguson.  Company  I— 
Captain  Samuel  E.  Payne ;  Lieutenants  Andrew  C.  Payne,  Thomas  Johnson.  Company  K — Captain 
Simeon  F.  Roderick ;  Lieutenants  Richard  Root,  John  W.  Roberts. 

Of  these,  Captain  Bruce  was  promoted  major  before  the  close  of  the  year;  Captain  Stanton  mus 
tered  out  of  the  line  for  promotion  in  the  staff  department,  whilst  Lieutenant  Payne  resigned  some 
time  during  that  period  on  account  of  ill  health. 


NINETEENTH     INFANTRY.  321 

commanded  by  General  Frank  J.  Herron,  the  regiment  moved  by  rail  to 
Holla,  and  reaching  that  city  late  in  the  evening  bivouacked  near  the  depot. 
Here  at  once,  with  scarcely  any  preliminary  training,  this  regiment  com 
menced  actively  campaigning  in  the  field,  and  we  shall  soon  see  that  before 
three  months  from  this  time  it  bore  a  conspicuous,  brilliant  part  in  a  severe 
engagement,  making  a  charge,  against  the  enemy  strongly  posted,  of  which 
any  command  of  veteran  troops  might  well  have  been  proud,  and  showing 
throughout  the  conflict  a  degree  of  stubborn  bravery  very  rarely  exhibited 
by  raw  troops — never,  unless  those  troops  are  made  up  of  the  best  material. 

The  regiment  remained  in  the  vicinity  of  Holla  a  few  days,  when  it 
joined  in  the  march  on  Springfield,  arriving  on  the  24th.  Here  there  were 
many  confederate  prisoners.  The  place  was  also  of  military  importance, 
and  was  at  this  time  being  strengthened  by  fortifications.  Dividing  their 
time,  therefore,  between  guarding  prisoners  and  performing  manual  labor 
on  the  works,  the  men  of  the  Nineteenth  spent  nearly  three  weeks  at 
Springfield,  without  being  yet  able  to  give  much  attention  to  drill.  How 
ever,  it  was  not  altogether  neglected,  and  both  officers  and  men  made 
amends  for  want  of  opportunity  by  unusual  zeal  and  diligence  at  such  times 
as  could  be  devoted  to  exercises.  From  Springfield  the  command  marched 
to  Cassville,  where,  about  the  middle  of  October,  the  Army  of  the  Frontier 
was  organized,  General  Herron  taking  command  of  the  Third  Division 
therein,  to  which  the  Nineteenth  was  attached.  Here  Lieutenant- Colonel 
McFarland  joined  the  regiment,  and  at  once  entered  upon  his  duties  as  «i 
field  officer,  with  an  earnestness,  energy,  and  intelligence  which  would,  no 
doubt,  speedily  have  won  for  him  high  consideration  and  rank  in  the  ser 
vice,  had  he  not  been  destined  so  soon  to  yield  up  his  life.  Certain  it  is 
that  he  at  once  won  the  regards  of  all  in  the  command — of  his  superior 
officers  as  well  as  of  those  who  served  under  him. 

On  the  17th,  the  division  broke  camp  at  Cassville,  and  commenced  a 
march  which  turned  out  to  be  most  laborious  and  severe,  but  which  was 
unaccompanied  by  any  general  engagement.  The  campaign  continued 
through  the  remainder  of  the  month,  and  till  near  the  close  of  November, 
the  whole  of  the  period  being  characterized  by  the  most  disagreeable 
weather — rain,  raw,  blustering  days,  through  which  the  troops  shivered 
notwithstanding  their  almost  constant,  and  their  severe  exertions.  General 
Blunt,  commanding  the  Army  of  the  Frontier,  was  on  Sugar  Creek,  near 
the  battle-field  of  Pea  Ridge,  threatened  by  a  considerable  rebel  army  under 
Hindman.  Herron  practically  formed  a  junction  with  Blunt  on  the  even 
ing  of  the  18th.  His  army  rested  on  their  arms  during  the  night,  and 
here  halted  till  the  evening  of  the  20th.  Not  long  before  dark  of  that  day 
General  Herron  had  his  troops  again  in  motion.  Marching  by  night,  he 
passed  over  the  field  of  Pea  Ri4ge,  the  troops  passing  silently  through  the 

41 


322  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

sombre  shadows  of  the  tall  trees  which  swung  to  and  fro  in  the  breeze 
with  a  mournful  sound,  as  though  moaning  over  the  dead  who  reposed 
beneath  their  branches.  Marching  on  more  rapidly  when  they  had  crossed 
the  field,  they  tramped  on  to  White  River,  plunged  into  its  cold  waters, 
flowing  in  a  current  three  feet  in  depth,  and  bivouacked  near  its  banks. 
On  the  22d  made  a  full  day's  march,  but,  after  a  short  rest,  continued  to 
move  on,  having  now  wheeled  to  the  right,  and  at  two  o'clock  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  23d,  reached  White  River  again,  at  a  point  some  fifteen  miles 
from  the  former  crossing.  Here  the  river  was  recrossed,  and  the  march 
continued,  with  expectations  of  battle,  to  Bloomington,  where  line  of  battle 
was  formed.  Having  remained  some  time  in  line  without  meeting  attack, 
the  march  was  resumed,  and  Cross  Hollows  reached  late  in  the  evening. 
The  distance  marched  during  these  three  days  and  nights  was  one  hundred 
miles,  over  a  mountainous  country,  and  in  the  face  of  the  enemy  who  was 
driven  southward  to  the  Boston  Mountains.  The  troops  remained  in  camp 
at  Cross  Hollows  ten  days,  and  then  took  up  line  of  march  in  a  northerly 
direction.  The  retrograde  movement  was  more  leisurely  than  the 
advance  had  been,  but  on  some  days  very  long  marches  were  made.  After 
considerable  marching  and  countermarching  off  the  main  line,  tents  were  at 
length  pitched  near  Twin  Springs,  in  an  encampment  afterwards  called 
"  Camp  Curtis,"  and  which  was  about  twelve  miles  south  of  Springfield. 
Here  were  now  two  divisions  of  the  army,  but  they  had  not  become  fairly 
settled  in  camp,  not  having  been  there  quite  a  fortnight,  when  the  notes 
of  war  were  again  sounded,  and  they  were  hurriedly  summoned  back  to 
Arkansas,  to  take  principal  part,  as  it  happened,  in 

THE  BATTLE  OF  PRAIRIE  GROVE. 

Brigadier-General  James  G.  Blunt,  commanding  the  Army  of  the  Fron 
tier,  having  recently  defeated  Marmaduke  at  Cane  Hill,  Arkansas,  now  had 
his  head-quarters,  and  the  First  Division  of  his  army  near  the  field  of  his 
victory.  Marmaduke  retreated  southward  after  his  defeat,  but  on  the  banks 
of  Lee's  Creek,  fifteen  miles  north  of  Van  Buren,  was  met  by  General  Hind- 
man,  with  a  large  army.  The  united  forces,  under  the  command  of  Hind- 
man,  immediately  moved  northward,  with  the  design,  no  doubt,  of  first 
overwhelming  the  division  at  Cane  Hill,  under  Blunt' s  immediate  com 
mand,  capturing  his  large  train  of  supplies  at  Rhea's  Mills,  a  few  miles 
north,  guarded  by  a  single  brigade,  and  then  pushing  on  into  Missouri  for 
further  and  more  important  conquests. 

Of  this  threatening  movement  of  Hindman  Blunt  sent  intelligence  to 
General  Herron,  commanding  the  Second  and  Third  divisions,  at  Twin 
Springs,  more  than  one  hundred  miles  from  army  head-quarters.  General 
Herron  received  the  dispatch  on  the  morning  of  December  3d,  and  within 


NINETEENTH     INFANTRY. 


323 


a  few  hours  both  divisions  were  in  motion,  on  the  march  to  reenforce  Blunt 
Moving  by  forced  marches,  he  reached  Elkhorn  on  the  evening  of  the  5th, 
whence  he  dispatched  a  large  proportion  of  his  cavalry,  including  the  First 
Iowa,  to  the  aid  of  Blunt,  which  reenforcement  reached  that  general  in 
safety.  Making  a  night  march  over  the  mountains,  General  Herron  reached 
Fayetteville  at  four  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  7th — Sunday.  This  was 
yet  more  than  fifteen  miles  distant  from  Cane  Hill,  by  an  air  line,  and  con,- 
siderably  more  by  the  winding  mountain  roads. 


Whilst  General  Herron  had  been  performing  this  splendid  march  of  one 
hundred  and  ten  miles  in  a  little  more  than  three  days,  Hindman  had  suc 
ceeded  in  stealing  a  march  on  Blunt,  and  in  throwing  his  large  army  be 
tween  him  and  Herron.  The  rugged  nature  of  the  country  in  this  part  of 
Arkansas,  all  of  which,  with  its  many  roads,  ravines,  deep  gorges  and 
secluded  valleys,  were  well  known  to  Hindman  and  his  army,  greatly 


324  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

assisted  him  in  thus  overcoming  the  watchfulness  of  the  Union  commander. 
Just  about  Cane  Hill,  on  the  elevated  plateaus  which  there  abound,  and 
in  the  rich  valleys,  the  country  is  well  cultivated  and  largely  productive  of 
cereals.  But,  generally,  the  region  is  mountainous.  It  is  coursed  by 
brooks,  creeks,  rivers,  and  by  many  roads,  which  are  needed  for  the  conve 
nience  of  an  agricultural  people.  There  are  two  roads  leading  from  Fayette- 
ville  to  Van  Buren,  one,  on  the  summit  of  the  Boston  Mountains,  called 
the  Wire,  or  Telegraph  road,  another,  generally  parallel  therewith,  running 
along  the  western  base  of  the  mountains.  The  former,  when  opposite 
Cane  Hill,  is  about  nine  miles  distant,  the  latter  about  six  miles.  From 
the  Wire  road  there  was  one  to  Cane  Hill,  which  crossed,  of  course,  the 
road  at  the  base  of  the  mountains.  At  these  intersections  General  Blunt' s 
pickets  were  posted.  They  were  attacked  on  the  5th,  by  a  large  force  of 
rebel  cavalry,  which  was  repulsed  and  driven  back  several  miles  over  the 
mountains.  The  rebels  returned  early  on  the  morning  of  the  6th,  and 
succeeding  in  driving  our  pickets  three  miles  from  even  the  western  road, 
held  their  position,  while  Hindman  with  his  main  body  on  the  Wire  road 
marched  across  on  to  the  other,  and  moving  northward  placed  his  army 
between  Blunt  and  Herron. 

Entirely  ignorant  of  this  success  on  the  part  of  Hindman,  General  Herron 
pushed  on  toward  Cane  Hill,  expecting  to  form  a  junction  with  Blunt  there 
by  10  or  11  o'clock,  Sunday  morning.  He  had  marched  about  six  miles, 
when  his  advance  was  met  by  the  First  Arkansas  and  Seventh  Missouri 
cavalry,  which  had  been  sent  forward  to  reenforce  Blunt,  retreating  in  hot 
haste  and  great  disorder.  They  had  been  attacked  by  Marmaduke  near 
Illinois  River.  With  great  difficulty  their  headlong  course  was  checked, 
before  it  had  disordered  the  whole  army,  and  the  cowards  reformed.  But 
they  took  no  part  in  the  battle  which  ensued.  The  rebels  who  had  followed 
them  were  speedily  turned  to  the  right  about  and  driven  several  miles  back 
upon  their  main  body,  strongly  posted  on  each  side  of  the  road  beyond  Illinois 
River.  They  occupied  a  high  ridge,  covered  with  timber  and  thick  under 
growth,  in  front  of  which  was  a  considerable  prairie,  on  whose  exposed 
surface  were  corn-fields,  meadows,  and  a  considerable  expanse  of  weeds. 
This  was  the  battle-field  of  Prairie  Grove,  so  called  from  a  church  in  the 
vicinity. 

General  Herron  formed  in  line  of  battle,  the  Third  Division  on  the  left, 
the  Second  on  the  right.  To  feel  the  position  of  the  enemy  he  first  ordered 
the  Ninety-fourth  Illinois  infantry,  with  a  section  of  a  battery  of  the  First 
Missouri  light  artillery,  to  cross  the  river  and  open  fire.  The  enemy's  bat 
teries  compelled  this  force  to  quickly  retire.  Cutting  a  road  through  the 
timber,  half  a  mile  distant,  Herron  here  made  a  feint,  and  drawing  the 
enemy's  fire,  he  crossed  his  infantry  at  the  ford  under  cover  of  the  fire  of 


NINETEENTH      INFANTRY.  325 

eighteen  pieces  of  artillery,  and  deployed  into  line  on  the  south  side  of  the 
stream.  It  was  a  manoeuvre  of  the  finest  audacity,  and  had  hardly  been 
accomplished  when  General  Herron,  perhaps,  might  have  wished  it  undone, 
and  his  troops  behind  the  cover  of  the  stream.  So  rapidly  were  the  evolu 
tions  performed  that  the  rebel  batteries,  which  had  directed  their  fire 
against  the  feint,  did  not  obtain  range  on  our  lines  before  all  our  guns  were 
playing  on  them,  and  with  such  effect  as  to  silence  nearly  all  the  opposing 
artillery  within  an  hour.  Nevertheless,  it  was  clear  there  was  a  vastly 
superior  force  in  our  front.  But  Herron,  with  an  audacity  even  finer  than 
that  which  impelled  his  first  manoeuvre  of  battle,  determined  to  stand  his 
ground  not  only,  but  to  charge  the  enemy,  in  bold  attack,  in  the  hope  that 
Blunt,  who  could  not  be  distant  more  than  ten  miles,  would  be  present  in 
time  to  aid  him  should  he  meet  with  misfortune. 

It  will  be  easily  believed  that  General  Herron' s  position  was  now  one  of 
the  most  imminent  danger.  He  was  between  an  enemy  who  out-numbered 
him  at  least  four  to  one,  and  a  river  which  could  be  rapidly  crossed  only  at 
a  single  ford.  His  enemy  was  strongly  posted  on  an  elevated  ridge,  under 
cover  of  timber.  He  was  in  the  open  plain.  In  this  situation  artillery 
alone  could  save  him  from  being  speedily  crushed.  Accordingly,  he  used 
his  artillery,  from  first  to  last  of  the  fight,  with  consummate  skill  and  terri 
ble  effect.  All  his  batteries  were  constantly  worked,  and  throwing  among 
the  rebels  a  fearful  storm  of  deadly  missiles.  Galled  by  this  fatal  fire,  the 
rebels  moved  to  their  right,  with  the  view  both  of  avoiding  it  and  attacking 
our  left.  Herron  promptly  met  this  movement  by  a  double  one  on  his  part. 
First  he  ordered  Colonel  Orme's  brigade  of  his  division  to  the  base  of  the 
ridge  whence  the  enemy's  right  was  moving  to  attack  our  left.  Colonel 
Orme  executed  his  movement  with  success,  and  attracted  the  attention  of 
the  enemy  in  that  quarter. 

Then  the  First  Brigade,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Bertram,  Twentieth  Wis 
consin,  commanding,  charged  directly  upon  the  enemy's  right  centre.  It 
was  a  grand  sight.  The  batteries  advanced  across  the  open  field,  belching 
forth  fire  and  smoke,  and  sending  shell,  and  grape,  and  canister  into  the 
woods  in  front  as  they  moved  up,  and  gallantly  supported  by  the  Nineteenth 
Iowa,  Lieutenant-Colonel  McFarland,  and  the  Twentieth  Wisconsin.  A 
rebel  battery  near  the  edge  of  the  hill,  and  a  heavy  force  of  infantry  con 
stantly  fired  on  the  audacious  brigade,  thinning  its  ranks  at  every  volley, 
but  it  pressed  on  steadily  and  firmly  till  within  an  hundred  paces  of  the 
base  of  the  hill.  There  the  artillery  halted,  and  the  infantry  dashed  ahead 
in  one  of  the  bravest  charges  ever  made.  Moving  across  the  rest  of  the 
open  field  with  bayonets  fixed,  the  brave  men  of  the  Nineteenth  Iowa  and 
Twentieth  Wisconsin  rushed  up  the  hill,  drove  the  infantry  supports  from 
the  battery,  captured  the  guns,  and  moved  on  against  the  enemy  higher  up 


326 


IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION, 


OF    FXtA.111132    GJOROVE, 


NINETEENTH     INFANTRY.  327 

on  the  hill.  Overpowered  by  numbers  they  were  driven  back ;  but  rallying 
under  the  cheering  voice  of  McFarland  they  again  attempted  to  carry  the 
position,  but  were  again  overwhelmed  by  numbers  and  compelled  to  retire, 
but  not  till  the  undaunted  McFarland  and  hundreds  of  his  gallant  comrades 
had  fallen  on  that  fatal  field.  It  was  as  brave  a  fight  as  men  ever  made, 
but  here  it  did  not  avail. 

When  our  troops  retired,  the  rebels  charged  en  masse  upon  our  line  o/ 
artillery.  The  batteries  met  the  charge  with  as  downright  fighting  a^WaS 
ever  witnessed.  But  the  rebels,  with  the  most  dashing  bravery,  advanced 
to  within  an  hundred  yards  of  the  guns,  when  they  received  a  fire  so  terri 
ble  that  it  seemed  to  lift  them  up  in  the  air  and  hurl  them  back  into  the 
forest.  These  were  the  batteries  of  Foust,  Backof,  and  Boeries,  who  here 
saved  the  army. 

Colonel  Houston,  commanding  Second  Division,  then  led  a  charge  by 
the  Twenty-sixth  Indiana  and  Thirty-seventh  Illinois,  which  was  made  with 
the  greatest  gallantry,  like  that  by  the  Nineteenth  Iowa  and  Twentieth 
Wisconsin,  but  it  met  with  a  similar  fate.  These  gallant  regiments  were 
repulsed  with  heavy  loss,  but  not  till  after  they  had  captured  the  same 
battery,  and  driven  the  enemy  far  up  the  hill. 

About  this  time,  which  was  between  two  and  three  o'clock,  heavy  firing 
was  heard  upon  our  extreme  right.  It  was  from  the  guns  of  Blunt,  who 
had  just  arrived  upon  the  field,  and  was  going  into  the  fight  with  charac- 
teristical  energy  to  make  of  the  battle  a  Waterloo  defeat  for  the  rebels. 
That  officer,  early  in  the  morning  of  the  7th  by  a  reconnoissance  in  force 
discovered  that  there  was  but  a  small  body  of  rebels  in  his  front.  Cor 
rectly  surmising  the  situation  as  it  existed,  he  promptly  made  his  disposi 
tions  to  march  to  the  rescue  of  his  brothers  in  arms  whom  he  knew  must 
be  in  peril.  Sending  his  cavalry  at  once  to  the  assistance  of  Herron,  he 
put  his  artillery  and  infantry  in  motion  in  the  same  direction,  and  first 
moving  north  toward  Rhea's  Mills,  marched  the  last  five  miles  in  an  hour, 
to  the  sound  of  Herron' s  artillery,  and  at  once  delivered  attack  upon  the 
enemy's  left,  but  with  Rabb's  battery  cross-firing  on  their  right  to  the 
great  relief  and  joy  of  our  left  then  sorely  pressed. 

The  fight  was  renewed  with  fresh  enthusiasm  by  the  troops  under  Herron, 
and  at  once  became  general  along  the  line.  From  the  nature  of  the  field, 
our  artillery  was  enabled  to  do  great  execution,  and  the  constant  firing 
from  nearly  fifty  guns  made  fearful  havoc  on  the  enemy,  and  added  to 
the  din  of  battle  an  unceasing  roar  and  heavy  rattle,  like  a  long  continued 
peal  of  thunder.  But  the  infantry  were  not  idle.  They  kept  up  also  a 
constant  fire,  and  made  several  charges  on  the  enemy's  position,  which, 
however,  though  bravely,  heroically  done,  and  at  first  seemingly  successful, 
had  a  result  like  those  I  have  already  described.  The  brigade  commanded 


328  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

by  Colonel  Dye,  Twentieth  Iowa,  which  belonged  to  the  Second  Division, 
made  one  of  these  charges,  the  Twentieth  under  command  of  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Leake,  but  it  was  repulsed.  So  the  fight  was  continued  by  the 
artillery  and  the  infantry  in  line,  and  was  thus  carried  on  till  night  put  an 
end  to  the  contest. 

The  troops  slept  on  their  arms,  prepared  to  renew  the  battle  on  the  mor 
row.  But  Hindinan  had  been  so  roughly  handled — our  artillery  had  made 
such  fearful  rents  in  his  ranks,  and  our  infantry  by  their  skilful  firing  and 
by  their  charges,  which,  though  repulsed,  brought  heavy  losses  to  the 
enemy,  had  inflicted  such  severe  punishment— that,  muffling  his  artillery 
wagons  with  the  blankets  of  his  soldiers,  he  stealthily  put  his  army  in  re 
treat  during  the  night.  Out  of  sight  and  sound  of  the  Army  of  the  Fron 
tier,  the  main  body  rapidly  retreated  on  Van  Buren.  Hindman,  on  the 
morning  after  the  battle  sent  into  our  lines  a  flag  of  truce,  with  a  note  re 
questing  leave  to  care  for  his  dead  and  wounded  and  a  personal  interview 
with  General  Blunt.  His  infamous  conduct  on  this  occasion  has  become  a 
matter  of  general  history  and  of  general  detestation.  By  means  of  prosti 
tuting  the  white  flag  to  purposes  of  deceit,  he  got  his  defeated  and  demor 
alized  army  out  of  the  way. 

The  rebel  loss  in  this  battle  was  not  less  than  a  thousand  killed  outright, 
and  buried  on  the  field.  The  entire  field  was  strewn  with  their  dead, 
whilst  on  the  lines  of  our  charges  they  actually  lay  in  some  places  heaped 
up  in  piles.  Their  losses  in  wounded  were  probably  in  the  usual  propor 
tion,  so  that  it  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  the  Army  of  the  Frontier 
placed  at  least  as  many  rebels  hors-du-combat  as  that  army  numbered.  ,  On 
no  other  supposition  than  that  of  unusually  heavy  losses  can  the  rebel  re 
treat  be  explained,  for  it  is  certain  that  Hindman' s  army  on  the  morning 
of  the  7th  outnumbered  the  Union  army  in  the  proportion  of  three  to  one. 
But  unable,  notwithstanding  his  great  superiority  of  numbers  to  the  whole 
Army  of  the  Frontier  to  defeat  even  half  of  it  (for  after  Herron  had  sent 
his  cavalry  to  Blunt  such  was  his  proportion  of  the  army),  he  took  the  ad 
vice  of  prudence  and  beat  a  hasty  retreat,  and  had  the  manliness  after 
wards  to  acknowledge  that  he  had  been  severely  defeated.  He  had  lost 
one  general  officer,  Stein,  killed  on  the  field,  and  many  field  and  line  officers 
killed  and  wounded. 

The  Union  loss  was  one  thousand  one  hundred  and  forty-eight,  of  whom 
one  hundred  and  sixty-seven  were  killed,  seven  hundred  and  ninety-eight 
wounded,  and  one  hundred  and  eighty-three  missing,  the  most  of  the 
missing  being  among  the  wounded  as  was  afterwards  made  known.  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  McFarland  was  the  most  prominent  officer  killed,  but  Colo 
nel  Black,  Thirty -seventh  Illinois,  and  Major  Thompson,  Twentieth  Iowa, 
and  many  line  officers  were  wounded.  Major  Burdett,  Seventh  Missouri 


NINETEENTH     INFANTRY.  329 

cavalry,  was  killed.  The  loss  was  heavy,  but  light  indeed  when  compared 
with  that  of  the  enemy,  so  that  on  this  account,  as  well  as  on  account  of 
the  results  which  followed,  the  battle  of  Prairie  Grove  may  justly  be  pro 
nounced  one  of  the  most  decided  victories  of  the  war ;  and  I  think  I  may 
safely  say  that  in  the  audacity  with  which  it  was  commenced  by  Herron  and 
the  persistent  bravery  with  which  it  was  continued  throughout  the  entire 
day,  it  challenges  universal  admiration.  Most  justly,  therefore,  did  both  * 
Blunt  and  Herron  issue  congratulatory  orders  to  their  troops,  and  Major- 
General  Curtis,  commanding  the  department,  announce  "a  hard-fought 
battle  and  a  complete  victory. ' ' 

The  Iowa  regiments  here  engaged  were  the  Nineteenth  and  Twentieth 
Infantry  and  the  First  Cavalry.  Of  the  Nineteenth,  I  have  said  no  little  in 
the  general  description  of  the  battle.  Three  Companies — A,  B,  and  C, — 
acting  as  skirmishers,  under  command  of  Adjutant  R.  Root,  were  detached 
from  the  regiment,  and  performed  hazardous  service,  especially  in  the  early 
part  of  the  engagement,  where  Captain  Bruce  was  particularly  noted  for 
bravery  and  coolness.  The  whole  command  behaved  with  the  most  reck 
less  bravery.  Officers  and  men,  says  Major  Kent,  in  his  official  report,  be 
haved  nobly,  and  fought  desperately.  He  specially  mentions  Captain 
Roderick,  Captain  Richmond,  Captain  Taylor,  Captain  Bruce,  and  Lieu 
tenant  Brooks,  of  Company  I,  who  brought  the  colors  off  the  field,  and  in 
so  doing  was  badly  wounded.  The  regiment  went  into  the  battle,  five  hun 
dred  strong,  and  lost  in  killed  and  wounded,  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
eight.2  This  was  a  grievous  loss,  and  embraced,  besides  the  officer  com- 

2  The  Peoria  (Illinois)  Transcript  published  the  following  incident  of  the  battle  of  Prairie  Grove: 
"The  fight  was  most  determined,  and  the  slaughter  immense.  Lieutenant  William  S.  Brooks, 
Nineteenth  Iowa,  was  struck  while  we  were  being  driven  back  from  a  too  far  advanced  position. 
He  was  hit  at  the  commencement  of  the  retreat,  and  came  near  being  captured,  as  he  could  not 
run.  When  more  than  half  way  to  the  battery,  the  color-sergeant  fell,  and  Lieutenant  Brooks  re 
ceived  the  colors.  The  pursuing  rebel  colonel  shouted, '  God  d n  them,  take  their  colors.'  This 

enraged  Brooks,  and  he  shouted  back, '  You  can't  do  it.'  They  let  go  a  volley  which  left  nine  holes 
In  the  flag,  and  eighteen  in  the  Lieutenant's  cKTthes !  '  Four  bullets,'  says  the  Lieutenant,  '  passed 
through  the  cuff  of  my  shirt-sleeve,  but  they  could  not  wound  the  hand  that  held  the  old  flag.'  It 
was  brought  safely  off." 

LIST  OF  CASUALTIES,  NINETEENTH  IOWA,  AT  THE  BATTLE  OF  PRAIRIE  GROVE.  Killed,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  commanding  Samuel  McFarland;  Sergeant-Major  C.  B.  Buckingham. 

Company  A— Wounded,  Private  William  B.  Baltzell. 

Company  B— Killed,  Private  Robert  B.  Caulk,  Joseph  McCully.  Wounded,  Captain  Harry  Jordan ; 
Privates  J.  F.  Sandford,  William  McCormick,  Isaac  Rumer,  Lewis  Heald,  Joseph  McMurray,  (mor 
tally),  Manfred  Hall,  Gilbert  Locke,  William  Taylor. 

Company  C— Wounded,  Sergeant  William  R.  Jeffrey;  Corporal  Thomas  E.  Johnson,  Color  Guard  ; 
Privates  W.  A.  Bailey,  Color  Guard,  A.  P.  Randall,  Cyrus  Condit. 

Company  D— Killed,  Privates  Marion  Marlow,  John  Crowner,  James  Clelland,  Z.  T.  Sylvester, 
George  W.  Ream,  John  W.  Roberts,  William  F.  McReynolds,  John  F.  Ball.  Wounded,  Captain  Joshua 
Wright ;  First  Lieutenant  Harrison  Smith ;  Second  Lieutenant  William  S.  Brooks ;  Sergeants  S.  W. 
Gregg,  W.  M.  Campbell;  Corporals  George  McCrary,  Evin  F.  Cowger;  Privates  John  H.  Webb, 
Henry  D.  Williams,  John  Huddlestone,  Willard  Fleenor,  George  E.  Wilson,  Leander  Powellson, 
Stephen  Burris,  A.  Holmes,  L.  A.  McReynolds,  C.  A.  Campbell.  Captured,  Private  J.  C.  Taylor. 
42 


330  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

manding,  some  of  the  best  officers  and  men  in  the  regiment.  The  death 
of  Lieutenant-Colonel  McFarland  was  most  deeply  deplored  by  the  com 
mand,  in  which  he  was  highly  popular,  and  by  all  intelligent  citizens  of 
Iowa,  to  whom  he  had  long  been  favorably  known,  as  editor,  lawyer,  and 
legislator.  He  had  been  in  command  of  the  regiment  nearly  all  the  time 
since  joining  it,  because  of  the  absence  of  Colonel  Crabb.  Upon  joining 
it,  he  brought  with  him  a  high  reputation  for  all  manly  qualities  and  sol 
dierly  abilities,  acquired  as  captain  of  one  of  the  companies  in  the  gallant 
Eleventh  regiment,  from  which  he  was  promoted.  He  had  not  been  long 
in  command  till  he  had  won  the  love  and  admiration  of  all  who  served  un 
der  him,  and  the  unmixed  respect  of  his  superior  officers.  The  regiment 
halted,  on  the  night  before  the  battle,  some  miles  hitherward  of  Fayette- 
ville,  for  supper.  Supper  over,  the  advance  was  again  sounded.  Forming 
his  regiment  about  him  in  a  hollow  square,  Colonel  McFarland  thus  ad 
dressed  the  men :  ' '  My  boys,  we  will  have  a  fight  to-morrow  if  the  rebels 
do  not  run.  Let  every  man  be  at  his  post — no  straggling.  When  the 
time  for  action  comes,  keep  cool ;  aim  steadily ;  be  careful  not  to  shoot 

Company  E—  Killed,  Privates  Albert  Thompson,  Samuel  H.  Rogers,  Edward  Mooney.  Wounded, 
Sergeant  Charles  E.  Gibbs;  Corporals  James  M.  Layton,  James  E.  Henderson;  Privates  Edwin 
Mallett,  William  E.  Kent,  Edwin  Smith,  Samuel  W.  Campbell,  John  H.  Mallett,  Jefferson  K. 
McKaig,  Decatur  Pittman,  Fieldon  Taylor,  William  Wilkins,  George  H.  Dewey,  Thomas  J.  Matlock. 

Company  F— Killed,  Second  Lieutenant  Loammie  M.  Smith;  Privates  Henry  S.  Fowler,  William 
Fowler,  Robert  H.  Brown,  Edwin  Smith,  Kendall  Littleton.  Wmtnded,  Sergeants  Thomas  D.  Chap 
man,  (mortally),  William  A.  Hall ;  Corporal  Charles  F.  Morris,  Color  Guard,  (mortally) ;  Privates 
John  A.  Brubaker,  Madison  G.  Chapman,  G.  B.  Dotson,  Hiram  B.  Davidson,  Henry  F.  Gibbs,  Jo 
seph  Higbee,  Charles  E.  Knight,  John  W.  Littleton«Daniel  McKay,  Thomas  B.  Morris,  William  II. 
McDaniel,  Henry  C.  Pike,  Joseph  Racer,  Joseph  Shipman,  Cicero  Thomas,  Joseph  Wagner,  Aureliua 
Wood,  Solomon  P.  Key,  Martin  Blair. 

Company  G — Killed.  Sergeant  William  Gregory;  Corporal  Richard  Morgan.  Wounded,  Sergeanta 
B.  W.  Huff,  Ellison  Holland;  Corporal  William  Peyton;  Privates  William  Chapman,  W.  H.  Dowell, 
George  Erwin,  Samuel  Griffith,  Jeremiah  Helmick,  William  Hoffman,  Frederic  Kircher,  Z.  B.  Kyle, 
Charles  Law,  Christopher  Lyster,  William  II.  Marshall,  Joe  Ross,  A.  G.  Scott,  George  Simpson, 
James  Smith,  Frederic  Webber,  Harmon  Gast. 

Company  H — Killed,  Sergeant  Samuel  Bonney;  Corporal  William  H.  Locke;  Privates  Charles 
W.  Fisher,  Levi  W.  Taylor,  Joshua  F.  Phillips,  Thomas  B.  Linning,  Levi  Keller,  Marshal  Byers, 
William  Kennion.  Wounded,  Privates  Albert  Cochrane.  Moses  Groom,  Isaac  D.  Evans,  Henry  Green, 
Robert  F.  Robinson,  Francis  M.  Cook,  J.  M.  W.  Cretcher;  Corporals  0.  B.  Miller,  A.  J.  Smith;  Pri 
vates  Silas  Langford,  Robert  H.  Parsons,  Robert  D.  Foster,  Joseph  H.  Lannam,  Tilman  Langford. 
Captured,  Captain  T.  W.  Richmond — released  on  parole. 

Company  1 — Killed,  Second  Lieutenant  Thomas  Johnston ;  Corporals  John  Douglass,  Augustus  B. 
Rehkoff;  Privates  Henry  V.  Gaddis,  William  McKenny,  Jonathan  J.  Lee,  James  Patterson. 
Wounded,  Captain  S.  E.  Paine;  Sergeants  William  A.  Strong,  Jacob  Nixon;  Corporals  Datus  D. 
Proper,  Alexander  Fix;  Privates  James  Robb,  Luman  A.  Brooks,  William  Short,  Martin  Hornbaker, 
James  L.  Fry,  John  H.  Webber,  Ferguson  Teal,  Russell  Johnson,  Harrison  O'Hara. 

Company  K — Killed,  Privates  Lorenzo  P.  Servass,  Benjamin  F.  Harland,  William  E.  Kenyon, 
Robert  S.  Brown,  Marion  McCoy,  Madison  Moore.  Wounded,  Sergeants  George  Cramer,  D.  II.  Rod 
erick;  Corporals  Stokely  Wright,  Elias  H.  Dickerson,  John  D.  Trobridge;  Privates  William  F. 
Birge,  Doctor  F.  Brown,  William  Erwin,  Robert  E.  Jameson,  James  E.  Jay,  Robert  C.  Ives,  Edwin 
H.  Murray,  Orrel  H.  Straw,  Thomas  W.  Savage,  William  J.  Spring,  Jefferson  Creekbaum,  Wiley  Jay, 
Francis  H.  Alter,  William  G.  Anderson,  S.  H.  Humphrey,  Brant  Lloyd,  William  R.  Macey,  Joseph 
Week,  Ithamar  Doane,  Robert  N.  Bailey,  Jacob  Grimes,  Solomon  Luce,  Samuel  Evans. 


NINETEENTH     INFANTRY.  331 

too  high,  and  that  you  draw  a  bead  on  the  enemy  when  you  fire."  The 
stars  shone  calmly  down  on  the  scene,  and  the  clear  voice  of  the  speaker  rang 
out  in  the  cool  air  with  a  singular  effect.  The  men  seemed  to  catch  their 
colonel's  determined  spirit,  and  moved  off  on  the  march,  forgetting  their 
fatigue  and  blistered  feet,  as  if  anxious  for  the  coming  conflict.  In  the 
battle  he  manifested  the  most  reckless  bravery,  always  at  his  post,  issuing 
his  orders  with  the  utmost  coolness,  and  managing  his  command  with  grea^ 
efficiency.  When  the  charge  was  made,  his  tall,  manly  form  could  be  s$en 
plainly  visible  above  all  others,  as  he  rode  on,  cheering  and  encouraging 
his  men.  He  was  thus  nobly  performing  his  part  when  a  rebel  bullet 
pierced  his  heart,  and  he  fell  dead  from  his  horse. 

The  battle  went  on,  heeding  not  the  flight  of  his  and  the  other  brave 
spirits  which  were  here  sacrificed  to  the  foe.  It  was  not  long  after  the 
charge  in  which  McFarland  fell  that  the  Twentieth  Iowa  was  called  upon  to 
make  that  charge  which  I  have  briefly  mentioned.  When  General  Blunt 
arrived  upon  the  field,  Colonel  Dye,  Twentieth  Iowa,  commanding  a  bri 
gade  on  the  extreme  right  of  General  Herron's  forces,  reported  to  him, 
and  was  soon  ordered  to  charge  the  enemy,  together  with  a  regiment  of  civil 
ized  Indians  belonging  to  Blunt' s  division.  The  Twentieth  manfully  obeyed 
this  order,  moving  in  fine  style  across  the  field,  obliquing  to  the  left,  and 
entered  the  woods  under  a  heavy  fire  from  the  enemy.  They  continued  to 
move  on  in  gallant  style,  but,  like  all  others  who  attempted  to  carry  the 
rebel  position,  were  compelled  to  retire,  after  suffering  a  loss  in  killed  and 
wounded  of  forty-seven.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Leake  says  that  his  officers 
and  men  behaved  most  handsomely  throughout  the  battle,  specially  men 
tioning  Major  Thompson,  who  was  wounded,  Lieutenant  J.  C.  McClelland, 
acting  adjutant,  and  Sergeant-Major  George  A.  Gray. 

The  field  was  not  suitable  to  cavalry  fighting.  This  arm  of  the  service 
was  posted  on  the  extreme  right  during  the  fight.  The  First  Iowa  Cavalry 
here  Ipst  one  man  killed  and  three  captured,  and  during  the  progress  of 
the  battle  recaptured  from  the  enemy  a  howitzer  which  they  had  taken 
from  the  Tenth  Illinois  cavalry.3 

8  Before  leaving  this  part  of  my  narrative,  I  may  say  that  the  rebel  generals  were  very  reticent 
on  the  battle  of  Prairie  Grove.  I  have  never  happened  to  meet  with  any  of  their  official  reports 
pertaining  thereto.  Pollard,  the  rebel  historian  of  the  war,  has  the  following  account  of  it: 

"  On  the  27th  of  November,  General  Hindman  came  up  with  the  enemy  at  Prairie  Grove,  near 
Fayetteville,  Arkansas,  with  a  force  of  about  nine  thousand  men.  The  enemy,  under  the  command 
of  General  Blunt,  was  already  largely  superior  in  numbers;  and  it  was  the  object  of  Hindman  to 
cut  off  reinforcements  of  seven  or  eight  thousand  which  were  on  the  way.  In  this  he  failed;  but, 
nothing  daunted,  brought  on  the  attack  at  daylight,  capturing,  in  the  first  charge  of  General  Mar- 
maduke's  cavalry,  a  whole  regiment  and  twenty-three  wagons  heavily  laden  with  quartermaster 
and  medical  stores.  Soon  after  sunrise  the  fight  commenced  in  good  earnest,  and  with  no  cessation 
the  artillery  continued  till  nightfall.  Our  whole  line  of  infantry  were  in  close  conflict  nearly  the 
whole  day  with  the  enemy,  who  were  attempting,  with  their  force  of  eighteen  thousand  men  to 
drive  us  from  our  position.  In  every  instance  they  were  repulsed,  and  finally  driven  back  from  th» 


332  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

There  is  a  general  impression  in  the  country  that  the  battle  of  Prairie 
Grove  was  rashly  fought  by  General  Herron,  and  that  he  would  have  been 
entirely  crushed  but  for  the  timely  arrival  of  General  Blunt.  The  fact 
that  Herron  did  the  principal  part  of  the  fighting — his  losses  were  nine 
hundred  and  fifty-three,  those  of  Blunt  one  hundred  and  ninety-five — 
aided  in  .creating  the  belief  that  but  for  this  fortunate  reinforcement  he 
would  have  been  ruined.  There  never  was  a  case  in  which  the  boot  was 
so  palpably  put  on  the  wrong  leg.  It  was  Herron  who  reenforced  Blunt, 
and  by  an  unparalleled  march,  relieved  the  commanding  general  from  the 
most  imminent  peril — not  Blunt  who  reenforced  Herron.  It  was  certainly 
no  fault  of  Herron' s  that  he  found  Hindman  between  himself  and  the 
General  who  had  asked  his  assistance,  and  it  was  as  certainly  Blunt' s  duty 
to  fight  to  his  last  man,  to  aid  his  lieutenant,  for  it  was  by  his  negligence 
that  Herron  was  made  to  bear  the  brunt  of  the  battle.  So  he  thought  him 
self,  no  doubt,  and  redeemed  the  error  of  letting  Hindman  get  by  him  by 
rapidly  rushing  to  the  field  and  with  his  comparatively  fresh  troops  turning 
the  scale  of  battle  in  our  favor.  "I  cannot  close  this  report,"  says  Blunt, 
"without  availing  myself  of  the  occasion  to  express  my  thanks  to  Bri 
gadier-General  F.  J.  Herron  for  the  promptness  with  which  he  responded 
to  my  order  to  reenforce  me,  as  also  for  the  gallantry  displayed  by  him  upon 
the  field.  His  conduct  is  deserving  of  the  highest  praise. ' '  I  only  quote 
this  that  it  may  appear  officially,  that  the  general  impression  to  which  I 
have  referred  is  most  erroneous,  not  because  I  see  much  value  in  the 
praise.  The  battle  of  Prairie  Grove  is  Herron' s  praise.  He  can  rest  on 
the  laurels  he  won  there,  and  in  getting  there,  certain  that  he  will  go  down 
to  history  among  the  bravest  of  the  brave  generals  of  the  war,  and  among 
the  most  energetic  and  efficient. 

General  Blunt  in  the  bestowal  of  his  praises  mentions  Major  V.  P.  Van 
Antwerp,  Inspector-General,  who  performed  efficient  and  valuable  services 
on  the  field.  He  also  compliments  Colonel  Thomas  Bowen,  Thirteenth 
Kansas.  The  former  is  a  prominent  citizen  of  Iowa,  and  the  latter  had 
been  brought  up  and  educated  in  the  State.  General  Herron  mentions 

field;  General  Hindman  driving  them  to  within  eight  miles  of  Fayetteville,  when  our  forces  fell 
back  to  their  supply  depot,  between  Cane  Hill  and  Van  Buren.  We  captured  three  hundred  pri 
soners  and  vast  quantities  of  stores.  The  enemy's  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was  about  one  thou 
sand  ;  the  Confederate  loss,  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  about  three  hundred.  In  one  of  the 
charges  of  the  engagement,  General  Stein,  of  the  Missouri  State  Guard,  was  killed,  a  ball  passing 
directly  through  his  brain."  Second  Year  of  the  War,  pp.  201,  202. 

This  is  all  the  Southern  historian  has  to  say  about  a  great  battle,  of  the  very  date  of  which  he  is 
ignorant,  mistaking  therein  the  trifling  period  of  ten  days — and  cool  weather  at  that !  He  evi 
dently  confounds  the  battles  of  Cane  Hill  and  Prairie  Grove,  and  in  his  confusion  gets  every  thing 
BO  snarled  up  that  not  a  shred  of  truth  can  bo  picked  out  of  his  narrative.  And  this  is  rebel  his 
tory!  Why,  if  the  writer  of  a  northern  medicated  almanac  were  to  get  off  such  stuff,  he  would  be 
universally  voted  a  self-evident  humbug.  But  Pollard  wrote  in  a  hurry  to  "  supply  the  market," 
and  so  long  as  the  public  buys  of  him,  he  will  sell  the  public. 


NINETEENTH     INFANTRY.  333 

most  favorably  Captain  William  Hyde  Clark,  Captain  Littleton,  Captain 
Brewster,  and  Lieutenants  Pettit,  Thomas,  and  Douglass,  of  his  staff,  and, 
in  a  familiar  letter,  afterwards  written  to  a  friend  in  Dubuque,  said,  u  I 
think  my  staff  is  just  about  as  near  right  as  you  find  them." 

The  army  encamped  on  the  field  after  the  battle.  The  Nineteenth  spent 
two  days  in  the  sad  duty  of  burying  the  dead  and  caring  for  the  immediate 
wants  of  the  wounded,  after  which  it  settled  down  into  the  performance  of 
the  quiet  duties  of  camp  life.  During  this  period  of  rest,  Major  Kent  w,ag 4 
succeeded  by  Captain  John  Bruce,  the  former  having  been  promoted  to  tfie 
lieutenant-colonelcy  on  the  death  of  McFarland.  On  the  28th,  the  army 
moved,  proceeding  by  forced  marches  to  Van  Buren,  and  captured  that 
city,  with  large  quantities  of  property  belonging  to  the  rebels.  Having 
participated  in  this  "short,  sharp,  and  decisive"  campaign,  our  regiment 
returned  to  camp  at  Prairie  Grove,  arriving  on  the  last  day  of  the  year. 
Spending  New  Year's  day  there,  the  army  moved  on  the  next  by  Fayette- 
ville  to  the  banks  of  White  River,  where  it  halted  a  few  days,  and  was 
reviewed  by  General  Schofield  commanding,  who  had  been  absent  from  his 
command  for  a  considerable  period. 

Thence  our  regiment  marched  to  Huntsville,  southeast  of  Fayetteville. 
Halting  there  not  quite  a  week  it  moved  to  Carroll  ton,  northeast  of  Hunts 
ville,  where  it  also  went  into  encampment  for  a  short  time.  On  the  18th 
and  19th  it  marched  from  Carrollton  to  a  point  on  the  White  River  opposite 
Forsythe,  in  Missouri ;  where  it  encamped  till  the  25th,  when,  crossing  the 
river,  the  men  pitched  their  tents  not  very  far  from  the  town.  On  the 
15th  of  the  following  month  they  moved  into  the  town,  took  military  pos 
session  thereof,  and  with  a  squadron  of  the  First  Iowa  Cavalry  were  left  to 
hold  the  place.  Marmaduke,  though  he  had  been  signally  defeated  by  the 
troops  under  command  of  General  Fitz  Henry  Warren,  at  Hartsville,  and 
thwarted  by  Colonel  Crabb,  at  Springfield,  was  still  foraying  in  southwestern 
Missouri,  and  whilst  our  regiment  was  at  Forsythe,  he  attacked  the  trains 
corralled  there,  and  threatened  to  move  upon  the  place  with  a  heavy  force. 
Many  buildings  were,  in  consequence,  torn  down  by  the  Nineteenth,  with 
little  ceremony,  and  used  in  the  construction  of  fortifications,  whereby  the 
position  was  made  so  strong  that  Marmaduke  withdrew,  without  attack. 
On  the  22d  of  April  the  regiment  marched  from  Forsythe,  with  orders  to 
move  to  Springfield.  But  at  Ozark,  orders  were  received  directing  the 
command  to  move  on  Hartsville  by  forced  marches.  Accordingly  the  regi 
ment  here  obliqued  to  the  northeast,  and  in  two  days  marched  sixty  miles, 
but  without  meeting  an  enemy.  It  then  continued  the  march  in  the  same 
direction,  and  arrived  at  Salem  on  the  2d  of  May,  where  it  was  temporarily 
attached  to  the  First  Division,  General  Thomas  Ewing,  Jr.,  now  command 
ing,  and  there  went  into  encampment. 


334  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Though  it  continued  to  serve  with  the  Army  of  the  Frontier,  so  officially 
known,  here  its  services  on  the  frontier  for  which  that  army  had  been  orga 
nized  closed.  With  that  army  it  had  made  many  severe  marches,  had 
fought  its  principal  battle,  had  performed  months  of  valuable,  valiant  ser 
vice,  and  the  officers  and  men  of  the  regiment  must  ever  regard  their  time 
spent  among  the  mountains  of  southwestern  Missouri  and  northwestern 
Arkansas  as  the  era  of  their  greatest  achievements,  and,  except  the  period 
during  which  so  many  languished  in  rebel  imprisonment,  as  the  era  of  their 
greatest  sufferings.  They  remained  encamped  at  Salem  until  the  3d  of 
June,  when  they  marched  to  Holla,  and  there  taking  cars  moved  to  St. 
Louis,  whence  they  embarked  for  Vicksburg  with  the  forces  under  Major- 
General  Herron,  to  reenforce  the  army  under  Grant,  beleaguering  that 
stronghold. 

On  the  llth  of  June  the  regiment  disembarked  from  steamers  near 
Young's  Point,  Louisiana,  marched  across  the  peninsula,  and  crossed  the 
Mississippi  at  Warrenton  on  the  next  day ;  the  next,  marched  out  in  rear 
of  the  line  of  investment,  to  a  point  some  three  miles  from  Warrenton ; 
and  on  the  14th  took  position  on  the  right  of  General  Herron' s  Division, 
which  was  on  the  left  of  the  beleaguering  army.  From  this  time  until 
Pemberton  was  forced  to  surrender,  the  picket  and  fatigue  duties  of  the 
regiment  were  incessant  and  severe,  and  accompanied  by  continual  skir 
mishing  between  the  advance  and  the  enemy  in  his  rifle-pits.  Neverthe- 
lesss,  the  regiment  suffered  but  one  casualty,  in  the  wounding  of  Private 
Thomas  Pender.  The  promptness  and  fidelity  of  the  officers  and  men  of 
the  regiment,  in  the  performance  of  their  onerous  duties  during  the  siege 
are  highly  complimented  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Kent,  who  makes  especial 
mention  of  the  constant  and  untiring  energy  of  Major  Bruce.  On  the  4th 
of  July,  the  regiment  joined  in  the  triumphant  march  of  our  army  into  the 
captured  city. 

There  it  remained  in  the  occupation  of  a  portion  of  those  works  which 
had  given  our  gallant  army  so  much  trouble  to  capture,  for  about  one  week, 
when  it  moved  with  the  force  under  General  Herron  to  Yazoo  City,  and 
participated  in  all  the  labors,  marches,  and  heat  of  that  successful  cam 
paign,  returning  to  Vicksburg  on  the  21st,  and  going  into  its  old  place  of 
encampment.  Two  days  afterwards  it  again  went  aboard  of  transports, 
and,  moving  down  the  river  to  Port  Hudson,  pitched  tents  there,  where 
the  whole  army  greatly  suffered  from  unhealthfulness.  The  regiment 
halted  at  Port  Hudson  little  more  than  a  fortnight,  during  which  period  a 
large  proportion  of  the  command  became  sick,  and  many  died.  At  the  end 
of  this  unhappy  period  the  command  embarked,  and  sailing  down  the  river 
soon  reached  Carrollton,  a  short  distance  from  the  metropolis  of  the  South, 
and  pitched  tents  in  a  beautiful  grove  of  Live  Oaks.  Here  the  Thirteenth 


NINETEENTH     INFANTRY.  335 

Army  Corps,  Major-General  E.  0.  C.  Ord,  of  which  General  Herron's 
troops  now  formed  the  Second  Division,  was  encamped,  and  here  our  regi 
ment  remained  for  about  three  weeks,  officers  and  men  rapidly  regaining 
health  and  spirits,  and  spending  the  time  much  more  agreeably  than  they 
had  been  able  to  do  at  Port  Hudson,  as  well  as  much  more  usefully  in  the 
way  of  drill  and  discipline. 

Early  in  September  General  Herron  was  ordered  up  the  river  on  an  expe 
dition  having  in  view  the  defeat  and  dispersion  of  rebel  forces  near  j^€ 
mouth  of  Red  River,  who  were  there  causing  serious  trouble  in  many  ways, 
and  especially  by  keeping  up  an  irregular  blockade  of  the  Mississippi  River. 
General  Herron  moved  on  the  5th,  and  two  days  afterwards  debarked  his 
army  at  Morganza,  Louisiana,  about  twenty  miles  below  where,  the  Red 
River  flows  into  the  Mississippi.  There  he  went  into  fortified  camp,  but 
kept  strong  outposts  several  miles  in  the  interior,  along  the  banks  of  the 
Atchafalaya,  on  the  western  bank  of  which  the  rebels  had  a  considerable 
army,  from  which  they  frequently  sent  detachments  to  harass  our  pickets 
and,  indeed,  the  main  body  lying  at  Morganza.  Counter  forces  were  sent 
out  by  General  Herron  which  were  from  time  to  time  relieved  by  other 
forces.  There  was  almost  constant  skirmishing,  therefore,  either  along  the 
banks  of  the  Atchafalaya  or  between  that  river  and  the  Mississippi.  On 
the  12th  of  September,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Leake,  Twentieth  Iowa,  was 
sent  out  with  a  force  comprising  most  of  the  Nineteenth  Iowa,  fit  for  duty, 
the  Twenty-sixth  Indiana,  and  two  pieces  of  artillery.  This  force  con 
tinued  in  the  performance  of  heavy  picket  duty,  skirmishing  almost  every 
day  with  the  enemy,  with  head-quarters  at  Sterling  Farm,  some  seven 
miles  from  Morganza.  On  the  29th,  Lieutenant- Colonel  Leake  was  sud 
denly  attacked  in  front,  flank,  and  rear,  by  a  large  force  of  rebels.  His 
troops  made  a  most  gallant  resistance,  rapidly  delivering  volley  after  volley 
into  the  rebel  ranks,  and  with  such  effect  as  compelled  them  at  first  to  fall 
back  on  all  sides.  They  were  rallied,  however,  and  again  attacking  the 
little  band  in  overwhelming  numbers,  compelled  a  surrender,  but  not  till 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Leake  and  his  stout-hearted  troops  were  entirely  sur 
rounded,  and  so  closely  that  their  guns  were  snatched  from  their  hands  by 
the  enemy.  The  loss  of  the  Nineteenth  in  this  combat  was  two  hundred 
and  forty-one  killed,  wounded,  and  captured.*  The  loss  in  the  Twenty- 

*  The  following  is  the  list: 

Killed,  Lieutenants  Silas  Kent,  John  M.  Roberts ;  Sergeants  Henry  E.  Frisbee,  John  C.  Ritchie ; 
Corporals  William  C.  Anderson,  Daniel  B.  Brooks,  Mark  Walworth,  Gecrge  Temple;  Privates 
Samuel  P.  Beard,  Thomas  J.  Smith.  Wounded,  Captain  Andrew  Taylor;  First  Lieutenant  John  M. 
Woods;  Second  Lieutenant  Thomas  A.  Robb ;  Sergeants  George  Hardwick,  J.  Henry  Schraeder,  J. 
F.  Robinson;  Corporals  C.  E.  Carpenter,  Isaac  Rumor,  Robert  McGlasgow;  Privates  Joel  Starkey, 
(mortally),  James  Coleman,  (mortally),  Daniel  Walkup,  Jonathan  Carson,  Thomas  C.  Chambers, 
James  Allen,  William  Hiukle,  William  Lyons,  E.  Stewart,  John  F.  Mann,  William  W.  Kendall,  0. 
Ninsehelser,  Wilber  D.  Sherman,  John  M.  Lytle. 


336  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

sixth  Indiana  was  not  so  great.  The  rebels  lost  fifty  killed  on  the  field  and 
many  more  wounded.  The  rebel  officers  were  deeply  chagrined  at  finding 
so  small  a  capture  after  so  vigorous  a  resistance.  At  the  time  of  this  un 
fortunate  affair  Captain  William  Adams,  in  the  absence  of  Major  Bruce, 

Company  A— Captured,  Captain  Thomas  L.  Sprott,  Lieutenant  Norvill  Powell.  Company  B— 
Lieutenant  John  M.  Woods.  Company  C—  Lieutenants  George  Johnson,  James  Bennett,  Quarter 
master.  Company  D— Lieutenant  Thomas  A.  Robb.  Company  E— Captain  William  Adams.  Com- 
pccny  F—  Captain  Levi  Fisher,  Lieutenant  Solomon  P.  Key.  Company  G — Lieutenant  B.  F.  Wright. 
Company  K — Captain  S.  F.  Roderick;  Sergeant-Major  Oscar  G.  Burch,  Commissary-Sergeant  Daniel 
H.  Roderick,  escaped  March  1864 ;  Fife-Major  James  Payne. 

Company  A — Sergeant  J.  Henry  Schrasder ;  Corporals  David  G.  Anderson,  Isaac  N.  Clark,  Jasper 
K.  Mason:  Privates  Howell  G.  Adell,  Barney  Amoss,  Joseph  Cooper,  John  M.  Games,  Benjamin  F. 
Goodwin,  escaped,  George  Hoffman,  John  Howard,  Daniel  C.  Leniing,  George  A.  Marks,  Frederick 
A.  N.  Pearce,  exchanged,  Alexander  Quary,  David  A.  Robertson,  William  Stewart,  Benedict  Rumer, 
escaped,  Christopher  Schmidt,  Eli  Sheets,  escaped,  Charles  W.  Towner,  Jasper  Trimble,  Joseph 
White. 

Company  B— Sergeants  John  E.  Roth,  T.  A.  Stolaberger ;  Corporals  Enos  Rushton,  escaped,  D.  R. 
Comagys,  John  A.  Montgomery;  Privates  Albert  J.  Allen,  Edward  Darling,  John  Driskill,  Manfred 
Hall,  William  R.  Hendricks,  Joseph  Hudgell,  J.  N.  Skinner,  John  M.  Towne,  escaped. 

Company  C— Sergeant  Thomas  E.  Johnston;  Corporals  L,  Stone  Hall,  escaped,  George  W.  Cosner, 
William  McDowell,  Levi  B.  Cocklin,  escaped ;  Privates  J.  Irvine  Dungan,  Luke  W.  Osborn,  James 
Stnrges  Anderson,  H.  Willets  Anderson,  escaped,  S.  T.  Easter,  E.  B.  Helwick,  William  Lytle,  John 
M.  Lytle,  Charles  McDonald,  A.  McCampbell,  William  McGregor,  John  M.  Porter,  Robert  J.  Moore, 
William  J.  Lewis,  Addison  P.  Randall,  W.  D.  Sherman,  Abraham  Snyder,  Israel  Trostle,  James  Van 
Winkle,  John  N.  Young,  Abner  B.  Power,  Charles  H.  Nichols. 

Company  D — Sergeants  Daniel  Buckingham,  James  Barnes ;  Corporals  John  H.  Lagle,  Perry  Har 
rison  ;  Privates  Miles  Burris,  C.  B.  Campbell,  Jonathan  Elder,  Willard  Flenor,  Flavius  Remine,  John 
Locke,  McKinney  Robinson,  Nelson  E.  Hall,  John  Huddlestone,  Adam  Stump. 

Company  E — Sergeant  George  W.  Hardwick,  wounded  and  left  at  Alexandria  for  exchange ;  Cor 
poral  J.  B.  Knight;  Privates  Sylvester  Dye,  James  Deighton,  William  T.  Gray,  Eli  Hampton,  left 
sick  at  Alexandria,  and  exchanged,  Alam  Hampton,  James  Houghland,  J.  J.  Marsell,  died  at  Shreve- 
port,  Louisiana,  December  24th,  1863,  Abraham  Morgan,  Gideon  Miller,  Fieldon  Taylor;  Corporals 
George  A.  Vise,  Lewis  Walters ;  Privates  John  Wallis,  John  Yager,  Nelson  Mallett,  Abner  S.  Smalley, 


Company  .F— Sergeants  William  H.  Friend,  J.  P.  McDaniels ;  Corporals  Edward  H.  Thomas,  H.  B. 
Davidson,  David  Gable,  William  Herron ;  Privates  Milton  Gamble,  George  B.  Dotson,  John  H.  Hager. 
died  at  Shreveport,  Louisiana,  January  29th,  1864,  David  P.  Herron,  Jacob  Heindel,  Daniel  McKay. 
A.  Morris,  Leonard  Rathfon,  Joseph  Racer,  I.  S.  Siverly,  J.  R.  Shipman,  Daniel  Sowash. 

Company  G — Sergeants  George  W.  Woolwino,  Ogilvie  Donaldson ;  Corporal  David  Hasher ;  Pri 
vates  William  Campbell,  Reuben  Cocklin,  David  Crane,  George  W.  Cunningham,  J.  W.  Clermont, 
W.  H.  Dowell,  G.  S.  Ervin,  John  J.  Fryer,  William  Hoffman,  Joe  Ross,  Philip  Richley,  Samuel 
Taylor,  Samuel  Turkington,  J.  C.  Wilson,  James  Milton,  Sanford  Pugh,  William  Pugh,  Asa  Lewis, 
George  Tucker. 

Company  H—  Sergeants  William  Byers,  escaped  March  1864,  A.  J.  Smith,  William  H.  Clayton : 
Corporals  J.  T.  Dougherty,  escaped  March  1864,  J.  F.  King,  William  H.  Smith,  Christopher  Mort, 
Privates  James  C.  Akers,  S.  Botkin,  escaped  March  1864,  Z.  C.  Dean,  Isaac  D.  Evans,  Omar  Hoskins, 
escaped  December  1863,  William  C.  Holmes,  Henry  Jones,  Andrew  Jones,  Silas  Langford,  J.  H.  Lan- 
nam,  Joseph  Mort,  J.  G.  Mclntosh,  J.  Nixon,  escaped  March  1864,  R.  H.  Parsons,  J.  F.  Paxton, 
escaped  March  1864,  David  Smith,  Edward  P.  Taylor,  escaped  March  1864,  Thomas  Umphrey. 

Company  7— Sergeants  John  S.  Ragsdale,  escaped  March  1864,  Datus  D.  Proper;  Corporals  William 
Orr,  William  Bragg,  George  W.  Meredith ;  Privates  John  T.  Barker,  David  Barker,  David  K.  Cal- 
houn,  William  N.  Holiday,  Oliver  Johnson,  George  Klise,  James  M.  Miller,  Jesse  Meredith,  John 
Newlon,  John  Roth,  Israel  Row,  William  Spraker,  George  Stevens,  John  H.  Webber,  Rufus  Collins. 

Company  K — Sergeant  Noble  E.  Dawson,  escaped  March  1864;  Corporals  P.  H.  Grant,  escaped 
March  1864,  John  Terril,  escaped  March  1864,  Thomas  N.  Pritchard,  Reuben  F.  Raster;  Privates 
John  L.  Burditt,  David  Davis,  Samuel  Evans,  L.  McBarnes,  John  Wood,  Harrison  Wood,  John  W. 
French,  Jesse  Starkey. 


NINETEENTH     INFANTRY.  337 

was  in  command  of  the  regiment.  Lieutenants  Kent  and  Roberts  were 
killed  on  the  field,  and  Captain  Taylor  mortally  wounded.  The  gallant 
survivors  of  the  contest  were  carried  to  Texas,  and  there  for  nearly  a  year 
suffered  the  tortures  of  rebel  imprisonment. 

It  was  fortunate  for  the  regiment  that  many  of  its  members,  not  yet  re 
covered  from  the  effects  of  camp-life  at  Port  Hudson,  were  not  in  the  ranks 
at  Sterling  Farm.  More  than  two-thirds  were  absent.  The  organization 
of  the  regiment,  therefore,  remained  intact,  and  it  proceeded  with  the  div-K 
sion  to  New  Orleans  in  October,  and  thence  embarked  with  the  Texas  ex 
pedition  under  Major-General  Banks.  The  regiment  was  the  first  of  the 
forces  under  General  Banks  to  effect  a  landing  on  the  Island  of  Brazos 
Santiago.  Thence  effecting  a  passage  to  the  main  land,  the  regiment 
marched  on  Brownsville,  arriving  on  the  7th  of  October.  Colonel  Dye, 
Twentieth  Iowa,  took  command  of  the  post,  and  here  our  regiment  remained 
on  garrison  duty  till  the  latter  part  of  July,  1864,  when  it  marched  to 
Brazos  Santiago,  and  sailed  for  New  Orleans,  arriving  at  the  Crescent  City 
on  the  Tth  of  August. 

At  New  Orleans  one  hundred  and  eighty  of  those  who  had  been  captured 
at  Sterling  Farm  were  met  by  the  regiment.  They  had  at  last  been  ex 
changed,  and  had  reached  the  city,  in  a  ragged  and  nearly  starved  condition 
a  few  days  before  the  arrival  of  the  regiment  itself.  The  meeting  was  a 
most  joyful  one,  bringing  tears  of  gladness  to  the  eyes  of  men  not  given  to 
the  melting  mood,  and  causing  many  expressions  of  fiery  indignation,  as 
those  who  had  suffered  related  in  words  of  unstudied  truthfulness  the  story 
of  their  wrongs.  But  they  did  not  have  a  long  halt  after  the  reunion  at 
New  Orleans. 

Orders  soon  came  to  embark  for  Pensacola,  Florida,  and  the  embarkation 
was  made  on  the  14th.  A  fine  voyage  of  two  days  brought  the  command 
to  Pensacola  Bay,  and  upon  landing,  the  men  pitched  tents  in  a  beautiful 
grove  near  Barrancas.  Here,  on  the  next  day,  the  officers  met  at  regimen 
tal  head-quarters,  and  passed  a  series  of  appropriate  resolutions  upon  the 
death  of  Captain  William  Adams,  that  gallant,  modest  officer  having  died 
at  New  Orleans,  from  the  effects  of  his  long  imprisonment  in  Texas.  Here 
three  companies  of  the  regiment  which  had  been  left  behind  on  the  Island 
of  Brazos  Santiago,  Texas,  rejoined  the  command  in  the  latter  part  of 
August,  having  moved  by  New  Orleans  and  Mobile  Point,  and  been  present 
at  the  bombardment  and  surrender  of  Fort  Morgan.  Regimental  head 
quarters  continued  at  Barrancas  until  the  6th  of  December,  but  during  all 
this  period  detached  companies  of  the  regiment  were  out  on  scouts  and 
forays  in  the  interior  under  General  Asboth,  which  were  characterized  by 
hard  marches  and  frequent  skirmishes.  At  the  date  just  mentioned  the 
regiment  sailed  for  Fort  Gaines,  Alabama,  where  it  remained  a  few  days, 
*  •  43 


338  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

during  which  the  command  was  gratified  by  the  arrival  of  Mrs.  E.  Woods, 
of  Fairfield,  who  had  succeeded  in  bringing  a  large  quantity  of  much  needed 
sanitary  stores.  Thence,  about  the  middle  of  the  month,  the  regiment 
sailed  to  East  Pascagoula,  Mississippi,  whence  it  made  an  extensive  foray 
in  the  direction  of  Mobile,  destroying  great  amounts  of  property,  and  much 
of  the  time  skirmishing  with  the  enemy.  On  the  day  after  Christmas 
the  command  fell  back  to  a  fortified  camp  a  few  miles  from  Pascagoula, 
and  there  halted  until  January  31st,  1865,  when  it  returned  to  Fort 
Gaines. 

Its  next  and  last  campaign  in  the  face  of  the  enemy  was  in  the  campaign 
of  Mobile,  with  the  successful  termination  of  which  armed  resistance  to  the 
Union  ceased.  In  the  marches,  skirmishes,  sieges,  engagements,  of  this 
vigorous  and  brilliant  campaign,  the  regiment  took  part,  distinguishing 
itself  at  the  assault  on  Spanish  Fort,  'where  the  Eighth  Iowa  won  the 
most  conspicuous  honors.  Though  under  the  fire  of  the  enemy  almost 
constantly  from  the  time  the  siege  set  fully  in,  and  taking  a  conspicuous 
part  in  the  operations,  till  victory  crowned  our  labors  and  our  valor, 
the  losses  of  the  regiment  were  not  so  severe  as  might  have  been 
expected.5 

With  its  honorable  record  in  this  capital  victory  the  military  career  of 
the  Nineteenth  Iowa  Infantry  closed.  In  July  it  was  mustered  out  of  the 
service  at  Mobile,  and  proceeding  to  Davenport,  Iowa,  was  there  finally 
disbanded  about  the  last  of  the  month.  Its  officers  at  this  time  were : 
John  Bruce,  Lieutenant-Colonel,  commanding:  Harry  Jordan,  Major; 
Granville  G.  Bennett,  Adjutant ;  James  Bennett,  Quartermaster  ;  Lewis  M. 
Sloanaker,  Surgeon,  Thomas  S.  Bell,  Assistant;  Reverend  J.  D.  Sands, 
Chaplain.  Company  A,  Captain  Thomas  Sprott ;  Lieutenant  N.  Powell ; 
Company  B,  Captain  A.  S.  Jordan ;  Lieutenant  J.  E.  Roth ;  Company  C, 
Captain  John  S.  Gray ;  Lieutenants  Levi  B.  Cocklin,  George  Johnston ; 
Company  D,  Captain  Thomas  Robb ;  Lieutenant  Basil  Mowery  ;  Company 

E,  Captain  Norvill  Powell ;  Lieutenant  John  Bonnell ;  Company  F,  Lieu 
tenant  S.  P.  Key  ;  Company  G,  Captain  Charles  W.  Huff ;  Lieutenant  B. 

F.  Wright ;  Company  H,  Captain  George  W.  Sommerville ;  Lieutenant 
William  W.  Byers ;  Company  I,  Captain  Alonzo  H.  Parker ;  Lieutenant 
John  S.  Ragsdale  ;  Company  K,  Captain  Simon  F.  Roderick. 

&  There  were  four  killed  and  seventeen  wounded.  Namely:  Company  A — Killed,  First  Sergeant 
J.  Henry  Schraeder.  Wounded,  Private  Benjamin  F.Goodwin.  Company  B — Kitted,  Corporal  George 
Majors.  Wounded,  Privates  Thomas  Washburne,  Abram  Colburn,  John  T.  Hooper,  Martin  L.  Byrkitt. 
Company  D — Wounded,  Corporals  Jesse  Fisk,  Color  Guard,  John  H.  Leagle.  Company  E— Wounded, 
Corporals  Edward  Smith,  William  Walker,  Color  Guard.  Killed,  Private  James  E.  Montgomery. 
Company  F— Mortally  Wounded,  Private  Cicero  Thomas.  Company  G —  Wounded,  Corporal  Isham 
Thomas;  Private  John  E.  Sprague.  Company  H— Wounded,  Privates  Edward  P.  Taylor,  Joseph 
Pnxton,  Joseph  Mort,  Silas  Langford.  Company  I— Killed,  Corporal  William  Holiday.  Company  K, 
Wounded,  Alfred  Huddlestone. 


NINETEENTH     INFANTRY.  339 

Talking  over  their  campaigns  in  Missouri,  Arkansas,  Mississippi,  Louisi 
ana,  Texas,  Florida,  Alabama,  remembering  the  dead  they  had  buried  in 
all  these  States,  and  those  whose  bones  rested  under  the  blue  waters  of  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  the  officers  and  men  grasped  one  another  by  the  hand,  and 
bade  each  other  and  "  the  old  Nineteenth"  an  affectionate  farewell. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

TWENTIETH    INFANTRY. 

ENROLLED  IN  THE  COUNTIES  OF  SCOTT  AND  LINN— FLAG  PRESENTATION-MOVE  TO 
BENTON  BARRACKS— ORDERED  TO  ROLLA— SPRINGFIELD— MARCH  INTO  ARKANSAS 
— "  JAYHAWKING"— THE  BATTLE  OF  PRAIRIE  GROVE— ENCAMPMENT  ON  THE  FIELD 
—THE  CAPTURE  OF  VAN  BUREN— RETURN  TO  MISSOURI— ACTIVE  OPERATIONS 
THERE— EMBARK  FOR  VICKSBURG— TAKE  POSITION  IN  THE  LINE  OF  INVESTMENT 
—CAPTURE  OF  YAZOO  CITY-JOIN  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  GULF— EMBARK  FOR  TEXAS— 
THE  OCCUPATION  OF  BROWNSVILLE— A  LONG  PERIOD  OF  QUIET— ADVENTURES  ON 
THE  "HIGH  SEAS"— THE  MAJOR  ON  PICKET!— EVACUATION  OF  BROWNSVILLE- 
SAIL  TO  NEW  ORLEANS— CAPTURE  OF  FORT  GAINES  AND  FORT  MORGAN— AGAIN  IN 
LOUISIANA— IN  ARKANSAS-SCURVY— THE  MOBILE  CAMPAIGN— MUSTERED  OUT- 
HOME  AGAIN. 

AMONG  the  regiments,  numbering  more  than  twenty  of  infantry,  which 
were  recruited  and  organized  in  the  State  of  Iowa  under  the  President's 
proclamation  of  July  2d,  1862,  calling  for  three  hundred  thousand  addi 
tional  volunteers,  the  Twentieth  was  among  the  first.  In  the  patriotic 
ardor  under  which  the  regiment  was  quickly  recruited  the  counties  of  Scott 
and  Linn  vied  with  each  other,  and  each  contributed  five  companies  to  the 
organization.  They  were  ordered  to  rendezvous  at  Clinton,  and  there  the 
organization  of  the  regiment  was  completed  on  the  25th  of  August,  the 
command  then  numbering  nine  hundred  and  two  officers  and  enlisted  men. 
William  McE.  Dye,  who  had  served  as  Captain  in  the  regular  army,  was 
appointed  Colonel ;  Joseph  B.  Leake,  who  had  conspicuously  served  in  the 
State  Senate,  Lieutenant-Colonel ;  and  William  Gr.  Thompson,  who  had 
also  been  in  the  legislature,  Major.  Of  these,  Leake  had  recruited  a  com 
pany  and  was  promoted  from  captain  thereof.  Constant  S.  Lake,  who  had 
served  with  the  First  Iowa,  was  appointed  Adjutant ;  Jasper  H.  Rice, 
Quartermaster ;  Doctor  Henry  Ristine,  Surgeon,  with  A.  0.  Blanding  and 
K.  S.  Marlin,  Assistants,  and  Reverend  Uriah  Eberhart,  Chaplain.  The 
line  officers  of  the  regiment  were :  Captains  —  E.  N.  Bates,  Ed. 
Coulter,  M.  L.  Thompson,  Dolphus  Torrey,  Chester  Barney,  N.  M.  Hub- 
bard,  Charles  Altmann,  R.  H.  Lucore,  Charles  C.  Cook,  S.  B.  Byram ;  First 
340 


TWENTIETH     INFANTRY.  341 

Lieutenants — Charles  L.  Drake,  James  M.  Dennison,  Harrison  Oliver,  A. 
H.  Brooks,  J.  G.  G.  Cavendish,  William  Corbett,  F.  E.  Starck;  Joseph  J. 
Holland,  Stephen  L.  Dows,  Elijah  Stone ;  Second  Lieutenants — Joseph  C. 
McClelland,  David  Cavin,  Robert  M.  Lytle,  Charles  E.  Squires,  Edward  E. 
Davis,  Manson  H.  Crosby,  John  B.  Parcell  (soon  resigning,  succeeded  by 
George  A.  Bennett),  Wilson  Wightman,  James  W.  Carver,  and  Elias 
Taylor. 

The  regiment  remained  at  Clinton  only  about  one  week  after  organjfa- 
tion.  Several  of  the  officers  and  not  a  few  of  the  men  having  seen  service, 
schools  of  instruction  and  drill  were  at  once  instituted,  and  the  command 
immediately  began  to  fit  itself  for  the  duties  of  campaigning.  There  was 
an  agreeable  relaxation  from  these  studies  and  exercises  one  day,  however, 
when  the  patriotic  ladies  of  Lyons  visited  the  encampment  in  large  num 
bers,  and  in  behalf  of  the  donor,  Mrs.  Harrison,  presented  the  regiment  a 
beautiful  flag.  The  Reverend  G-.  F.  Magoun  made  a  very  handsome  and 
eloquent  speech,  on  presenting  the  flag  in  behalf  of  the  donors,  and  was 
responded  to  in  an  equally  handsome  manner  by  Major  Thompson  on  the 
part  of  Colonel  Dye,  who  made  no  claims  to  oratory. 

At  dusk  of  the  31st,  the  regiment  went  aboard  steamers  and  moved  to 
Davenport.  The  "Bill  Hinderson,"  "Add.  Hine,"  "Canada,"  and  a 
large  barge  were  used  for  the  purpose  of  transporting  the  regiment  on 
this  its  first  voyage!  Time  came,  before  the  war  closed,  when  the  same 
regiment  moved  with  more  comfort  on  a  single  steamer  no  larger  than  one  of 
these.  Now  all  was  confusion.  Every  private  had  as  much  baggage  as  a 
field  marshal,  and  every  officer  enough  to  supply  a  division  head-quarters. 
So  the  three  steamers  and  the  barge  were  crowded  "ram-jam  full"  of  men 
and  luggage — so  full  that  Captain  Barney  says  his  sleeping-apartment 
for  the  night  was  "an  old  cheese-box,  with  his  back  against  the  wall — 
the  only  unappropriated  spot  he  could  find  upon  the  boat." 

On  the  morning  of  September  1st  the  fleet  made  the  port  of  Davenport, 
and  a  disembarkation  was  effected  a  short  distance  above  the  city.  Hence 
the  regiment  marched  by  the  Burtis  House  on  "Camp  Herron,"  of  which 
it  took  forcible  possession,  and  found  the  sutler  fully  established.  Here 
the  regiment  spent  a  few  gala  days,  the  citizens  of  Davenport,  more  espe 
cially  the  ladies,  visiting  the  camp  in  large  numbers,  to  the  great  joy  of  the 
command  and  the  great  violence  of  rigid  discipline.  On  the  morning  of 
the  5th,  the  regiment  marched  to  the  landing  and  embarked  for  St.  Louis 
on  the  steamer  Metropolitan,  amid  a  large  concourse  of  citizens  of  both 
sexes.  Adjutant-General  Baker  went  on  board,  which  was  the  signal  for 
the  departure  of  the  boat.  Moving  down  the  river  to  the  point  below 
Rock  Island,  General  Baker  went  ashore,  and  as  the  boat  pushed  off,  the 
boys  brushed  away  the  tears  of  parting  from  friends,  perhaps  forever,  and 


342  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

as  Davenport  sank  out  of  sight  behind  them  began  to  talk  hopefully  of  the 
future.  Soon  a  severe  storm  came  on,  and  John  C.  Magill  in  the  midst  of 
it  fell  overboard,  and,  in  spite  of  all  exertions  to  save  him,  was  drowned. 
And  so  amid  sorrow,  and  storm,  and  death  the  Twentieth  spent  its  first 
night  from  home  more  gloomily,  perhaps,  than  any  other  of  its  whole 
history;  for  it  was  not  long  till  partings  from  friends,  and  death,  and 
storms  had  become  so  frequent  as  to  excite  but  little  feeling.  Such  is 
army  education. 

The  regiment  arrived  at  St.  Louis  on  the  morning  of  the  8th,  and  at  once 
marched  from  the  levee  to  Benton  Barracks,  where  it  first  came  into  the 
presence  of  an  army.  The  command  remained  in  the  Barracks  not  quite 
one  week,  several  of  the  men  becoming  sick  and  two  dying  within  that 
time,  when  it  moved  by  cars  to  Holla.  Thence  it  took  up  its  first  line  of 
march  in  the  field  for  Springfield,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Leake  in  command, 
Colonel  Dye  having  command  of  the  brigade,  and  after  many  adventures, 
and  no  little  suffering  from  the  want  of  water  on  a  considerable  part  of  the 
route,  arrived  at  Springfield  on  the  24th.  Here  the  regiment  was  placed  in 
a  brigade,  with  the  Thirty-seventh  Illinois,  First  Iowa  Cavalry,  and  one 
section  of  the  First  Missouri  Light  Artillery,  Colonel  Dye 'commanding, 
and  assigned  to  the  division,  at  this  time  commanded  by  General  Totten,  a 
most  eccentric  genius,  but  an  excellent  soldier. 

Having  remained  at  Springfield  a  few  days  the  regiment  marched  to  Pond 
Springs  and  went  into  camp.  Here  it  halted  two  days,  and  being  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  field  of  Wilson's  Creek,  many  of  the  men,  and  doubtless  all 
who  had  belonged  to  the  First  Iowa,  of  whom  there  were  several  in  the  regi 
ment,  visited  the  spot  where  Iowa  valor  first  became  distinguished.  The 
citizens  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  encampment  were,  many  of  them,  igno 
rant  and  shiftless  human  beings  as  any  part  of  our  country  possessed.  They 
were  of  secession  proclivities  most  decidedly,  and  perhaps  a  majority  of 
them  had  been  at  one  time  or  other  in  the  rebel  army  under  "Pap  Price" 
as  they  called  the  confederate  general.  Our  troops,  therefore,  thought  the 
irregular  confiscation  of  their  property  nothing  more  than  a  lawful  spoiling 
of  the  Egyptians.  They  had  large  quantities  of  paper  on  what  they  called 
the  "Bank  of  Fac-Simile,"  that  is  to  say,  imitation  notes  of  confederate 
currency,  purporting  on  their  face  to  be  fac-similes.  With  this  "money" 
they  engaged  in  a  considerable  commerce  with  the  inhabitants  of  this  part 
of  our  country,  buying  milk,  butter,  eggs,  roast  pig,  vegetables,  "dip  can 
dles,"  fence-rails,  and  what  not,  and  as  often  as  possible  making  trades 
where  the  change  would  be  in  their  favor.  Besides,  there  were  many  of 
the  citizens  who  were  quite  willing  to  exchange  their  "Lincoln  greenbacks" 
for  this  worthless  trash,  and  the  soldiers  could  not  find  it  in  their  hearts  to 
refuse  accommodating  them.  One  of  the  omcers'  servants  exchanged  a 


TWENTIETH     INFANTRY.  343 

twenty  dollar  patent  medicine  advertisement  for  twenty  dollars  in  green 
backs,  and  if  the  rebel  did  not  learn  the  value  of  Holloway's  Pile  Ointment 
it  was  his  own  fault.  But  commerce  has  a  demoralizing  effect,  and  it  was 
peremptorily  stopped  by  General  Totten  just  as  the  Bank  of  Fac-Simile 
failed  without  a  penny  of  assets.  More  serious  business  was  in  hand.  I 
ought  to  add,  for  chronological  accuracy,  that  the  "Fac-Simile"  business, 
of  which  I  have  here  given  the  outline,  was  more  profitably  carried  on  after 
wards  than  just  at  this  time. 

General  Blunt,  commanding  the  first  division  of  the  army,  was  at  this 
time  farther  advanced  in  the  enemy's  country  than  the  Second  Division. 
His  command  was  for  the  most  part  composed  of  cavalry  and  mounted  in 
fantry,  capable  of  moving  with  great  celerity  from  place  to  place,  and  al 
ways  anxious  to  have  a  fight,  more  especially  if  the  enemy  could  be 
whipped  by  them  alone,  and  as  anxious  to  receive  reinforcements  whenever 
it  was  understood  the  enemy  was  approaching  in  considerable  force.  It  so 
happened,  therefore,  that  both  the  Second  and  Third  Divisions  seemed  to 
play  a  secondary  part  to  the  First  Division,  for  a  considerable  period,  dur 
ing  which  the  enemy,  in  small  force,  laid  himself  liable  to  be  suddenly 
attacked  and  defeated  by  a  mounted  army,  before  the  infantry  could  come 
up,  of  which  Blunt  took  advantage,  and  in  several  affairs  of  no  great  im 
portance  in  themselves,  and  of  no  account  to  the  general  cause  on  the  fron 
tier,  won  no  little  cheap  reputation,  and  at  the  same  time  appeared  to  cast 
the  other  two  divisions  in  the  shade,  so  far,  at  any  rate,  as  public  opinion 
went.  When  the  great  battle  came  off,  of  which  these  affairs  were  the 
mere  skirmishes  between  tne  pickets,  all  this  was  reversed.  Blunt  acted 
with  great  gallantry  and  energy  throughout,  being  ever  a  dashing  and  effi 
cient  officer,  and  it  could  have-  been  no  fault  of  his  that  during  the  months 
of  October  and  November  he  did  about  all  the  fighting,  and  the  other  two 
divisions  about  all  the  marching  and  hard  work.  During  these  two  months 
our  regiment  marched  more  than  five  hundred  miles,  often  moving  through 
out  an  entire  night,  passing  over  the  mountainous  regions  of  northwestern 
Arkansas,  crossing  creeks  and  rivers,  much  of  the  time  over  horrible  roads 
and  in  weather  which  was  disagreeable  beyond  description.  It  is  usual  for 
troops  to  be  more  healthy  while  on  the  march  than  when  in  camp.  But 
the  campaignings  of  our  regiment  at  this  time  seem  to  have  been  accom 
panied  by  the  worst  effects  of  marching  and  the  worst  effects  of  life  in 
camp.  The  roads  were  much  of  the  time  so  bad  that  it  was  impossible 
for  the  trains  to  keep  pace  with  the  column,  so  that  the  troops  were  com 
pelled  to  bivouac  many  nights  during  the  whole  of  which  the  rain  fell  in 
torrents,  making  them  shiver  out  the  long  hours  in  the  most  dreary  discom 
fort  which  it  is  possible  for  the  mind  of  man  to  conceive.  A  great  many 
of  the  men  succumbed  before  these  difficulties,  and  the  hospitals  were  soon 


344  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

overflowing  with  sick  men  who  not  long  before  were  having  such  jolly  times 
at  Pond  Springs.  The  two  months  which  preceded  the  battle  of  Prairie 
Grove  probably  formed  the  gloomiest  era  in  the  history  of  the  Twentieth. 

During  that  era,  which  I  have  thus  generally  described,  its  history,  more 
in  detail,  was  about  as  follows :  Early  on  the  morning  of  October  1st,  the 
men  struck  tents  and  took  up  line  of  march  "for  the  front,"  an  indefinite 
locality,  where,  according  to  rumor,  Blunt  had  been  engaged,  and  had  been 
defeated.  On  the  day  following,  a  forced  march  was  made  to  Spring  River, 
where  the  command  halted  a  day,  and  then  made  a  night  march  in  the 
direction  of  Newtonia.  The  first  part  of  the  night,  the  moon  shone  brightly 
on  the  bristling  bayonets  of  the  column  rapidly  moving  over  a  high  prairie, 
but  about  midnight  a  storm  came  on  just  as  the  line  of  march  came  into  a 
dense  forest,  and  the  command  trudged  slowly  on  through  the  gloom  and 
rain,  morning  finding  them  some  distance  from  Newtonia.  The  enemy 
under  Rains  was  posted  there  behind  a  stone  fence,  and  it  was  the  intention 
of  the  Union  generals  to  surprise  him,  coming  up  from  three  sides.  The 
storm  and  darkness  had  delayed  the  Second  Division,  so  that  it  came  up 
too  late  for  the  affair  which  took  place  on  the  morning  of  the  5th,  but  our 
regiment  joined  in  the  pursuit  of  the  rebels  and  here  had  its  first  skirmish 
with  the  enemy,  losing  two  men  wounded.  The  regiment  then  went  into 
camp  near  Newtonia,  and  remained  quiet  a  few  days.  Again  breaking 
camp  during  a  heavy  rain,  the  command  marched,  with  some  halting,  to 
Cassville,  and  having  pitched  tents  there  remained  a  short  time  in  camp. 
Here  the  Army  of  the  Frontier,  General  Schofield  commanding,  was  fully 
organized,  but  our  regiment  remained  as  before  assigned.  After  which 
event,  it  participated  in  marches  and  countermarches  in  face  of  the  enemy, 
in  the  vicinity  of  Pea  Ridge,  the  men  sleeping  on  their  arms  or  marching 
by  night,  and  almost  constantly  on  the  move  till  the  close  of  the  month, 
when  the  command  moved  back  into  Missouri,  without  having  as  yet  seen 
an  armed  enemy  except  at  the  affair  of  Newtonia.  By  irregular  move 
ments,  General  Totten  some  days  moving  only  a  short  distance,  on  others 
making  severe  forced  marches,  our  regiment  on  the  20th  of  November  went 
into  encampment  at  "Camp  Lyon,"  within  a  day's  march  of  Springfield. 

So  far  as  the  second  division  was  concerned,  the  campaign  had  appeared 
to  the  troops  to  have  been  utterly  meaningless  and  useless,  as  well  as  heart 
less  and  cruel.  Though  the  men  had  marched  themselves  barefoot,  nothing 
appeared  to  show  that  they  had  accomplished  anything  of  any  the  least  use 
to  the  cause,  here  or  elsewhere.  But  some  of  the  troops  had  learned  to 
"jay-hawk."  The  commissariat  of  the  Union  army  was,  perhaps,  never 
abundantly  supplied  in  this  region  of  country,  and  at  this  time  it  was  impos 
sible  for  the  trains  always  to  be  up  with  the  troops.  Every  man,  therefore, 
on  the  general  rule  of  self-preservation,  became  his  own  commissary,  and 


TWENTIETH     INFANTRY.  345 

i 

jay-hawking  developed  into  a  science,  based  upon  military  necessity.  The 
country  was  not  rich ;  it  everywhere,  by  its  farms  laid  waste,  its  ruins  of 
burned  buildings,  its  general  air  of  desolation,  gave  most  palpable  evidence 
of  the  sad  ravages  of  war ;  but  milk,  butter,  corn-bread,  honey  could  be 
had  at  many  places,  while  swine  and  domesticated  fowls  were  still  abundant. 
These  it  was  the  business  of  the  jay-hawker  to  take  and  bring  into  camp, 
and  where  many  were  jay-hawkers  it  may  readily  be  supposed  there  was 
little  danger  of  absolute  starvation.  It  is  but  simple  justice  to  state,  ho.w-' 
ever,  that  the  Twentieth  Regiment  of  Iowa  Volunteers  did  not  participate 
in  the  "jay-hawking"  forays  of  which  the  country  heard  so  much.  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Leake  depended  upon  regular  supplies,  and,  when  they  were 
not  forthcoming,  he  obtained  them  by  the  ordinary  foraging  parties,  in  all 
ways  conducted  according  to  the  laws  of  war.  General  Totten  was  himself 
a  strict,  rigid  disciplinarian,  and  it  is  certain  the  stories  with  which  the 
country  was  filled  touching  these  jay-hawking  operations  did  not  at  all 
apply  to  the  Second  and  Third  Divisions  of  the  Army  of  the  Frontier. 
Most  assuredly  they  did  not  to  any  Iowa  regiment  in  that  army.  In  the 
Twentieth,  the  rein  of  discipline  was  never  relaxed  for  a  single  day,  the 
Lieutenant-Colonel  commanding  having  too  correct  a  notion  of  its  efficacy 
to  permit  any  species  of  pillaging  whatever,  whether  called  "jay-hawking" 
or  anything  else.1 

The  regiment  remained  at  Camp  Lyon  the  rest  of  the  month,  the 
monotony  of  camp  life  being  enlivened  by  daily  drills  occupying  several 
hours.  The  command  was  now  very  much  reduced  by  sickness  and  by  the 
deaths  which  had  already  occurred,  and  its  dress  parades  were  not  largely 
attended.  But  a  great  load  of  presents  came  from  friends  at  home,  and, 
with  the  letters  which  accompanied  them  sent  joy  and  gladness  to  the 
hearts  of  all.  There  was  at  least  one  oasis,  covered  with  bright  flowers, 
and  sparkling  with  sweet  waters,  on  the  general  desert  of  frontier  cam 
paigning.  This  was  the  knowledge  that  they  were  constantly  borne  kindly 
in  the  memories  of  kind  friends  at  home.  Of  this  they  never  ceased  to 
have  substantial  evidences. 

The  officers  and  men  of  the  regiment  had  not  finished  writing  letters 
home,  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  messages  and  presents,  when  the  bugle 
suddenly  sounded  the  notes  of  war.  On  the  evening  of  December  3d,  a 
courier  arrived  with  intelligence  that  Blunt,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
miles  distant,  was  threatened  with  attack,  and  needed  prompt  assistance. 

i  I  ought  to  observe  also  that  I  do  not  agree  with  the  opinion  of  the  troops  that  their  campaign 
had  been  meaningless  and  without  result.  General  Schofield's  army  had  relieved  Missouri  from 
rebels,  and  the  campaign,  so  severe  in  its  results  upon  the  Union  troops,  had  been  of  considerable 
importance  and  value,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter.  General  Curtis  telegraphed  its  entire  success,  and 
ordered  Schofield  to  withdraw  from  Arkansas,  and  during  the  absence  of  Schofield,  Herron  and 
Blunt  reaped  the  glory  of  Prairie  Grove. 
44 


346  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Long  before  the  stars  faded  from  the  sky  on  the  morning  of  the  4th,  the 
division  was  in  motion.  As  day  dawned  on  the  morning  of  the  7th,  that 
division  was  marching  rapidly  southward  through  the  streets  of  Fayette- 
ville,  Arkansas,  more  than  an  hundred  miles  from  Camp  Lyon,  and  not 
long  after  the  sun  came  up  on  that  bright  Sunday  morning  it  was  deploying 
into  line  of  battle  on  the  field  of  Prairie  Grove. 

Of  the  glorious  engagement  which  there  took  place,  and  of  the  glorious 
part  the  Twentieth  sustained  therein,  I  have  spoken  in  the  preceding 
chapter.  To  get  there,  the  regiment  had  made  a  march  of  one  hundred 
and  ten  miles  in  three  days.  If  this  had  been  over  the  smooth,  hard  roads 
of  Europe,  with  the  streams  all  spanned  by  bridges,  and  the  hills  leveled 
by  the  engineer,  it  would  have  been  accounted  wonderful,  and  would  justly 
have  excited  the  admiration  of  military  savans.  But  every  mile  traveled 
on  this  frontier  was  equivalent  to  two  on  the  ordinary  roads  of  the  East. 
The  country  was  mountainous,  the  streams  had  to  be  waded,  the  roads 
were  bad.  The  soldiers  of  the  Twentieth  Iowa  Volunteers,  having  made 
this  march,  went  into  the  battle  with  fine  spirits,  but  with  their  feet  bleed 
ing  like  those  of  Washington's  army  when  it  marched  into  the  dreary 
winter  quarters  of  Valley  Forge.  The  regiment  lost  between  forty  and 
fifty,  in  killed  and  wounded,  out  of  two  hundred  and  seventy  engaged.2 

After  the  battle,  the  army  went  into  encampment  on  the  field,  and  the 
dead  having  been  buried  and  the  wounded  removed  to  hospitals  at  Fayette- 
ville,  there  remained  until  after  Christmas,  taking  that  rest  which  the 
troops  of  the  Second  and  Third  Divisions,  in  especial,  so  much  needed. 

The  battle  of  Prairie  Grove  had  been  of  the  utmost  benefit  to  the  Union 
cause.  It  had  saved  Missouri  from  devastation  and  pillage  at  the  close  of 
the  year,  as  effectually  as  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge  had  done  near  the  begin 
ning  of  the  year.  It  had  broken  up  in  rout  and  demoralization  an  army 
of  twenty-five  thousand  men,  most  of  whom  were  soon  scattered  all  over 
a  wide  extent  of  country — in  Missouri,  Arkansas,  Louisiana,  and  Texas — 
completely  satisfied  of  the  hopelessness  of  the  Confederate  cause  in  this 

2  The  following  is  the  list  of  casualties :  Major  William  G.  Thompson,  severely  wounded. 

Company  A— Killed,  Daniel  W.  Bobbins.  Company  B—  Wounded,  Corporal  George  C.  Miller. 
Company  C— Killed,  Lieutenant  Harrison  Oliver.  Wounded,  Lieutenant  R.  M.  Lytle;  Corporal  Wil 
liam  Murray;  J.  F.  Jacobs.  Company  D — Wounded,  David  Ross,  Alexander  A.  Watson,  James  For- 
ber,  William  A.  Akely,  W.  J.  L.  Hunt.  Company  E— Killed,  Daniel  M.  Sullivan,  John  Menig. 
Wounded,  Lieutenant  J.  G.  G.  Cavendish ;  John  Kessler,  Henry  Gertz,  Webster  Spencer,  Martin 
Rhomberg,  Lemuel  Harker,  Thomas  J.  Moore.  Company  F— Wounded,  J.  0.  Parker,  Milton  J. 
Elliott,  Walter  Lewis,  E.  J.  Reynolds.  Company  G — Killed,  Sergeant  Thomas  B.  Miles ;  Corporal 
Richard  Carnes.  Wounded,  Lieutenant  F.  E.  Starck ;  Sergeants  Robert  Speer,  J.  M.  Matthews ; 
Corporal  John  C.  Murphy ;  Joseph  Pattison,  Joseph  Speer,  William  F.  Culbertson,  Samuel  McFate, 
Harvey  J.  Brown,  William  A.  Jamieson.  Company  H— Wounded,  L.  McCurdy.  Company  I— Killed, 
Stephen  S.  Wood.  Wounded,  George  W.  Daniels.  Company  K— Killed,  Sergeant  F.  M.  Steele. 
Wounded,  Lieutenant  E.  Stone;  Corporal  L.  L.  Whitney;  Rufus  Fisk,  M.  C.  Knapp.  James  McKane, 
William  Criswell. 

Making  eight  killed;  thirty-nine  wounded — total,  forty-seven. 


TWENTIETH     INFANTRY.  347 

quarter.  Though  bands  of  lawless  troopers  continued  to  prey  upon  Mis 
souri,  and  though  Mannaduke  succeeded  in  making  a  foray  into  the  State 
not  long  after  the  battle,  it  was  two  years  afterwards  before  any  considerable 
rebel  army  appeared  north  of  the  Arkansas.  When  the  Union  army  had 
sufficiently  reposed,  it  followed  up  the  victory  of  the  7th  December  by  the 
capture  of  Van  Buren. 

The  march  thither  from  the  encampment  on  Prairie  Grove  began  early 
on  the  morning  of  December  27th.  ' '  Providing  ourselves  nominally  wi,t(h  ' 
six  days'  rations  (in  reality  with  two),  we  set  out  at  daybreak,"  says  Captain 
Barney,  "  marching  rapidly  all  day  until  the  moon  went  down  at  two  o'clock 
on  the  following  morning,  when  we  made  a  temporary  halt  at  the  southern 
slope  of  Boston  Mountains — a  distance  of  thirty-two  miles,  our  road  lying 
over  the  roughest  country  we  had  yet  passed  through,  up  the  steepest 
ascents  and  down  almost  perpendicular  declivities."  This  important  foray, 
which  resulted  in  the  further  dispersion  of  Hindman's  army,  in  the  capture 
of  Van  Buren,  a  depot  of  supplies,  the  destruction  of  several  steamers, 
and  immense  quantities  of  stores — all  which  achievements  were  made  prac 
ticable  by  the  victory  of  Prairie  Grove — was  principally  the  work  of  the 
mounted  troops,  and  the  famous  ' '  mule  howitzers, ' '  as  Blunt' s  mountain- 
howitzers  were  called  by  the  Indians  and  the  army  generally.  The  infantry 
joined  in  the  triumphal  entry  into  the  town,  and  forming  in  the  public 
square  made  the  welkin  ring  with  shouts  and  singing  ' '  John  Brown. ' ' 

Our  regiment  returned  to  Prairie  Grove  in  time  to  be  mustered  on  the 
afternoon  of  December  31st.  It  had  marched  considerably  more  than  an 
hundred  miles,  and,  as  it  spent  one  day  at  Van  Buren,  it  had  averaged 
thirty-four  miles  each  day.  General  Schofield  met  his  troops  on  their 
return  from  Van  Buren  and  assumed  command. 

He  presently  moved  to  Fayetteville,  and  halting  near  there  a  few  days 
began  a  series  of  marches  and  countermarches,  through  mud,  and  rain,  and 
snow,  whereby  the  troops  were  exhausted,  and  not  knowing  the  object  of 
the  movements — to  prevent  the  escape  of  Marmaduke  through  the  passes 
of  the  Boston  Mountains — did  some  grumbling.  At  length  on  the  23d  of 
April,  after  six  months  of  active  operations  in  Missouri  and  Arkansas,  our 
regiment  marched  into  Holla,  and  on  the  next  day  moved  by  cars  to  St. 
Louis. 

Here,  the  command  was  scattered,  part  being  on  duty  at  Benton  Bar 
racks,  part  down  the  Mississippi  some  distance,  patrolling  the  river,  the 
principal  portion  at  the  arsenal,  all  doing  excellent  service  at  a  period  when 
an  uprising  of  traitors  in  St.  Louis  was  expected,  and  when  the  rebels  in 
heavy  force  were  threatening -the  city.  The  regiment  afterwards  encamped 
at  "  Camp  Gamble,"  formerly  called  Camp  Jackson,  and  noted  as  the  spot 
where  Captain  Nathaniel  Lyon  gave  the  first  palpable  example  of  a  vigo- 


348  IOWA    AND     THE     KEEELLION. 

rous  prosecution  of  the  war.  On  the  10th  of  May,  the  second  anniversary 
of  General  Lyon's  capture  of  Camp  Jackson,  that  event  was  remembered 
by  a  magnificent  celebration,  in  which  the  regiment  took  part,  and  was  re 
viewed,  with  the  other  troops  in  the  city,  by  Major-General  Curtis. 

Five  days  afterwards  the  regiment  moved  by  rail  to  Pilot  Knob.  Here 
it  went  into  encampment,  and  remained  somewhat  more  than  a  fortnight, 
having  a  fine  opportunity  to  drill  which  was  improved  to  the  utmost  by 
both  officers  and  men.  On  the  morning  of  the  3d  of  June,  marching 
orders  were  received,  and  on  the  same  day  the  regiment  moved  for  St.  Gen- 
evieve,  on  the  Mississippi  River.  Here,  with  that  portion  of  the  Army  of 
the  Frontier  under  command  of  Major-General  Herron,  who  had  been  most 
justly  promoted  for  his  victory  of  Prairie  Grove,  the  regiment  embarked 
on  the  steamer  "  J.  D.  Perry,"  and  was  soon  on  a  voyage  to  reenforce  the 
army  before  Vicksburg. 

Speaking  of  the  arrival  of  the  regiment  at  St.  Genevieve,  Captain 
Barney  says :  ' '  Our  campaigns  in  Missouri  here  ended.  We  had  marched 
on  foot  since  leaving  Holla  on  the  16th  of  September,  1862,  eleven  hun 
dred  and  twenty-seven  miles — most  of  our  marches  being  made  during  the 
winter  season, exposed  to  the  rains,  and  over  roads  at  times  almost  impassa 
ble  on  account  of  the  mud.  Much  of  the  time  we  had  been  on  half  rations, 
and  with  inadequate  supplies  of  clothing.  The  hardships  endured  on 
these  inarches  had  thinned  our  ranks  more  than  would  as  many  hard- 
fought  battles.  And  now,  even  after  the  lapse  of  time,  and  subsequent 
more  stirring  scenes  of  sieges  and  battles  in  which  we  took  part,  our  memo 
ries  still  retain  vivid  recollections  of  the  lonely  wayside  graves  where  we 
deposited  the  bodies  of  our  comrades  along  the  route  of  these  unparalleled 
marches.  They  fell,  not  in  battle,  but  by  disease  contracted  while  in  the 
performance  of  duties  beyond  their  strength,  and  under  circumstances  of 
peculiar  hardship.  We  shall  never  cease  to  honor  their  memories  for  the 
heroism  which  enabled  many  of  them  at  times,  even  while  suffering  under 
disease,  to  still  continue  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties." 

The  command  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo  River  on  the  llth, 
and  was  ordered  to  report  at  Haine's  Bluff.  Moving  thither,  it  was  ordered 
back  to  Young's  Point,  where  it  disembarked.  Marching  across  the 
peninsula  to  a  point  opposite  Warrenton,  it  there  crossed  the  Mississippi, 
and  on  the  14th  took  position  on  the  left  of  the  beleaguering  army.  From 
this  time  until  the  capitulation  the  regiment  took  an  active  part  in  the 
siege,  pushing  forward  the  works,  the  whole  command,  or  heavy  details 
therefrom,  being  engaged  night  and  day.  Many  in  the  command  became 
sick,  but  the  losses  by  casualty  of  battle  were  trifling.  At  ten  o'clock  on 
the  morning  of  July  4th,  the  regiment,  at  the  head  of  the  division, 


TWENTIETH     INFANTRY.  349 

marched  into  the  rebel  works,  and  was  the  first  on  the  left  to  plant  the  flag 
of  the  Union  on  the  battlements  of  Vicksburg. 

The  regiment  had  just  got  comfortably  fixed  in  camp  inside  the  rebel 
works,  when  marching  orders  were  received.  It  went  aboard  transports  on 
the  llth,  having  been  ordered  to  reenforce  General  Banks,  at  Port  Hudson. 
But  intelligence  of  the  surrender  of  that  place  having  been  received,  the 
destination  of  the  army  under  command  of  General  Herron,  was  changed 
to  Yazoo  City,  whither  it  at  once  proceeded.  The  enemy  evacuated  the*? 
city  upon  the  approach  of  the  army  and  the  gun-boats,  leaving  much 
property  to  fall  into  our  hands.  The  regiment  joined  in  the  march  to 
Black  River,  and  bore  its  full  share  of  the  discomforts  thereof.  On  the 
22d  it  was  again  in  camp  at  Vicksburg,  but  remained  there  only  three  days. 
General  Herron  was  ordered  to  join  the  Army  of  the  Gulf.  The  division 
accordingly  bade  farewell  to  comrades  of  the  grand  army  with  whom  it  had 
shared  so  much  suffering  and  so  much  glory,  and  embarking  on  transports 
moved  into  a  department  where  there  were  no  Vicksburgs  to  be  taken,  and 
where  there  was  no  Grant  to  take  them  if  there  had  been.  If  we  shall 
find,  therefore,  the  history  of  the  Twentieth  regiment  for  nearly  a  year 
after  its  departure  from  Vicksburg  to  be  somewhat  tame  and  monotonous, 
the  fault  must  lie  at  the  door  of  the  general  commanding  the  department. 
After  Banks  was  relieved  by  the  accomplished  and  energetic  Canby,  the 
troops  in  that  department  had  something  besides  garrison  duties,  balls,  and 
disastrous  expeditions  to  engage  their  attention,  and  to  give  them  that 
fame  for  which  true  soldiers  are  ever  willing  to  spill  their  blood  and  give 
their  lives. 

The  regiment,  upon  arriving  at  Port  Hudson,  disembarked  and  went 
into  encampment,  where  it  remained  about  three  weeks  for  no  other  pur 
pose,  as  it  seemed,  than  to  be  greatly  reduced  by  sickness  and  death. 
Thence  the  regiment  sailed  for  Carrollton,  near  New  Orleans,  and  encamp 
ing  there  a  fortnight  recovered  to  some  extent  from  the  effects  of  the  camp 
at  Port  Hudson.  Here  there  was  considerable  drilling  by  company,  and  a 
good  deal  of  reviewing.  On  the  7th  of  September,  the  command  again 
embarked,  taking  only  blankets  and  six  days'  rations  in  haversacks,  and 
steamed  up  the  Mississippi.  This  was  the  admirable  preparation  made 
for  an  "expedition"  which  lasted  more  than  a  month,  which  involved 
much  labor  on  fortifications  about  Morganza,  much  marching  and  counter 
marching  in  rear  of  that  place,  an  infinite  amount  of  dirty  clothes,  the 
same  quantity  of  profanity ;  and  resulted  in  the  capture  of  the  main  portion 
of  the  Nineteenth  Iowa  and  Twenty-sixth  Indiana,  on  the  29th  of  Septem 
ber.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Leake,  of  the  Twentieth,  was  in  command  of  this 
outpost,  and  was  captured  with  the  command.  It  is  proper,  therefore, 


350  IOWA    AND    THE     REBELLION. 

that  I  should  here  relate  the  circumstances  of  this  unhappy  and  painful 
disaster. 

THE  COMBAT  OF  STERLING  FARM. 

When  our  regiment  embarked  for  Morganza,  as  we  have  seen,  it  moved 
in  company  with  General  Herron's  division  of  the  Thirteenth  Corps.  At 
this  time  General  Thomas  Greene,  rebel,  with  a  considerable  force,  was 
annoying  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  near  the  mouth  of  Red  River 
and  below.  General  Herron  was  instructed  to  keep  Greene's  forces  back 
of  the  Mississippi,  and  to  attract  their  attention  whilst  a  Union  column 
should  move  against  them  from  the  direction  of  Bayou  Teche.  Herron 
was  at  this  time  in  poor  health,  on  which  account  the  energy  and  watchful 
ness  necessary  to  command  in  the  face  of  the  enemy  were  in  abeyance. 

On  the  12th,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Leake  was  sent  out  toward  the  Atchafa- 
laya  to  observe  the  enemy.  He  had  but  a  small  command — the  Nineteenth 
Iowa,  the  26th  Indiana,  a  section  of  the  First  Missouri  Light  Artillery, 
and  a  battalion  of  cavalry,  all  much  reduced  by  sickness,  so  that  the  whole 
force,  even  upon  the  addition  of  a  company  of  mounted  infantry  composed 
of  details  from  different  regiments  in  the  division,  under  Lieutenant  Wal 
ton,  of  the  Thirty-fourth  Iowa,  amounted  to  scarcely  six  hundred  effective 
men.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Leake  was  ordered  to  remain  at  "Norwood's 
plantation,"  more  than  half  way  between  Morganza  and  the  Atchafalaya, 
on  the  right  bank  of  which  the  rebels  were  encamped  in  force.  On  the 
13th  Lieutenant-Colonel  Leake  moved  to  the  vicinity  of  the  Atchafalaya, 
and  drawing  the  enemy's  fire,  ascertained  his  position.  The  next  day,  he 
sent  his  pickets  out  in  all  directions,  and  learning  that  his  position  could 
be  approached  by  the  enemy  on  roads  leading  to  his  rear  both  from  north 
and  south,  retired  on  the  night  of  the  14th  to  "  Sterling  Farm,"  a  stronger 
position  than  Norwood's,  but  still  isolated  from  the  main  command  at 
Morganza.  Practical  roads  for  the  rebels  would  still  enable  them  to  attack 
him  in  rear. 

He  was  thoroughly  aware  of  the  imminent  danger  of  his  position.  He 
made  it  fully  known  to  General  Herron,  even  going  so  far  as  to  visit  him 
in  his  state-room  on  a  steamer  at  Morganza.  General  Yandever  visited 
the  post,  and  was  persuaded  that  it  was  not  tenable.  Nevertheless,  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Leake  was  ordered  to  hold  it  "as  long  as  the  water  held 
out."  Wherefore,  in  obedience  to  orders,  but  against  his  own  judgment, 
he  held  the  outpost,  and  endeavored  by  sleepless  vigilance  and  unwearied 
energy,  and  by  every  possible  means,  to  guard  his  little  band  against  over 
whelming  attack.  His  pickets  were  constantly  on  the  watch,  and  over  so 
much  space  as  they  could  cover  a  spider  could  hardly  have  crept  without 
their  observing  it.  There  was  skirmishing  every  day.  "Every  night," 


TWENTIETH     INFANTRY.  351 

says  J.  Irvine  Dungan,  of  the  Nineteenth,  in  his  excellent  history  of 
that  regiment,  "every  night  the  pickets  were  visited,  each  post  by  Colonel 
Leake,  and  we  all  thought  him  much  too  strict.  An  air  of  vigilance  pre 
vailed,  and  there  never  was  a  camp  in  which  each  man  more  felt  the  im 
portance  of  care  and  watchfulness,  such  was  the  force  of  our  commander's 
example. ' ' 

The  morning  of  September  29th  was  rainy  and  disagreeable.  About 
thirty  minutes  before  noon  Colonel  Leake' s  pickets  north  of  his  position 
were  driven  in,  firing  as  they  fell  back.  In  two  minutes  his  infantry  were 
in  line  of  battle.  By  some  mistake  of  the  artillerymen  one  of  the  guns  was 
taken  where  it  could  be  of  no  service,  but  in  an  incredibly  short  time  after 
the  pickets  gave  warning  of  the  approaching  enemy  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Leake  was  giving  them  an  effective  fire  from  his  single  useful  gun  and  his 
musketry.  The  combat  became  animated  at  once.  The  Union  commander 
fought  with  a  desperate  endeavor  to  break  through  the  rebel  lines,  but  in 
vain.  There  were  two  brigades  and  a  battalion  opposed  to  him  from  the 
direction  of  the  first  attack.  Greene  was  moving  against  him  with  still 
stronger  force  from  the  west,  whilst  a  considerable  body  of  cavalry  by  a 
detour  was  coming  up  on  the  south.  These  troops  were  dressed  in  our 
army  blue  and  at  first  deceived  Lieutenant-Colonel  Leake  who  supposed 
them  his  own  horsemen  who  were  on  picket  in  this  direction.  By  this  time 
the  combat  had  been  going  on  some  time  with  fearful  fury.  Taking  every 
advantage  of  position  ;  using  the  levee  of  Bayou  Fordoche  as  a  breastwork, 
and  making  the  most  of  every  house,  fence  and  tree,  this  gallant  little  band 
of  now  less  than  five  hundred  men  fought  five  thousand  for  two  hours  and 
ten  minutes,  and  then,  being  completely  surrounded,  gave  themselves  up 
prisoners  of  war. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Leake  held  his  men  well  in  hand,  and  kept  them  as 
well  protected  as  could  be,  so  that  his  losses  in  killed  and  wounded  were 
only  about  fifty.  The  rebels  lost  more  than  this  number  slain  on  the  field, 
and  admitted  a  loss  of  two  hundred  wounded,  among  them  one  Colonel  and 
two  Majors.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Leake  was  also  wounded,  but  did  not 
yield  the  command.  Lieutenants  Kent  and  Roberts,  of  the  Nineteenth 
Iowa,  were  killed,  Captain  Taylor,  mortally  and  Lieutenants  Woods  and 
Robb,  severely  wounded, 

Such,  in  brief  was  the  combat  of  Sterling  Farm,  or  the  Battle  of  Fordoche, 
as  it  was  called  by  the  rebels — a  combat  which  ought  never  to  have  been 
fought,  but  which  was  waged  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Leake  and  his  com 
mand  with  heoric  courage  and  in  the  best  manner  possible.  Everything 
was  done  by  that  ofiicer  which  could  have  been  done  with  his  force  and 
position.  It  was  a  painful  disaster,  resulting  in  the  long  imprisonment  of 
many  brave  men,  in  addition  to  the  losses  on  the  field.  General  Dana  re- 


352  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

lieved  General  Herron  very  shortly  before  the  battle,  but  1  am  constrained 
to  say  the  latter  was  responsible  for  the  disaster.  He  informed  Dana  that 
the  position  was  secure.  Had  his  powers  not  been  impaired  by  illness, 
General  Herron  would  doubtless  have  thought  and  acted  very  differently. 

Colonel  Dye  being  in  command  of  the  brigade,  that  of  the  regiment  now 
fell  to  Major  Thompson.  On  the  10th  of  October  it  embarked  on  steamers 
and  moved  again  to  Carrollton  where  it  went  into  the  old  encampment. 
Here  it  remained  in  quiet  and  comfort  for  a  fortnight.  On  the  24th,  it  em 
barked  on  Gulf  transports,  forming  a  part  of  the  Texas  expedition.  On 
the  2d  of  November,  after  a  stormy  voyage,  a  landing  was  attempted.  In 
this  attempt  several  men  were  drowned,  among  them  William  Bice  and 
Morgan  Parsons  of  the  Twentieth,  but  a  landing  was  not  effected  until  the 
4th.  The  troops  then  landed  on  the  island  of  Brazos  Santiago,  Texas. 

On  the  islands,  waters,  and  mainland  of  this  State,  the  regiment  re 
mained  many  weary  months,  being  compelled  to  submit  to  a  sort  of  honora 
ble  military  exile,  in  obedience  to  that  policy,  which,  under  General  Banks, 
resulted  in  nothing  but  cotton,  disaster,  and  "expeditions!"  Having  re 
mained  in  the  vicinity  of  Point  Isabel  about  a  week,  the  command  em 
barked  on  the  transport  "Planter,"  and  sailed  to  the  southern  end  of 
Mustang  Island.  Immediately  upon  landing  it  commenced  marching  along 
the  sandy  beach,  dragging  two  twelve-pounder  howitzers  by  hand,  the  men 
carrying  their  knapsacks  and  sixty  rounds  of  extra  ammunition.  The 
march  was  continued  till  midnight.  At  the  northern  extremity  of  the 
island  the  rebels  had  some  earthworks,  thrown  up  to  defend  the  entrance  to 
Corpus  Christi  and  Aranzas  Bays.  These  works  were  captured  by  two 
Maine  regiments,  before  the  arrival  of  the  Twentieth  with  the  artillery, 
those  gallant  regiments  making  a  splendid  and  bloodless  charge,  with  their 
arms  at  a  right-shoulder-shift ! 

The  regiment  remained  on  Mustang  Island,  garrisoning  the  works,  for 
more  than  seven  months.  The  duties  of  the  garrison  were  exceedingly 
light,  and  a  number  of  expeditions  were  made  up  the  bay  to  Corpus  Christi, 
Lamar,  St.  Mary's,  and  other  places,  with  a  twofold  object — first,  to  gratify 
the  spirit  of  adventure  natural  to  the  western  character ;  and,  secondly,  to 
procure  lumber  with  which  to  erect  barracks  and  houses  for  the  comfort 
and  convenience  of  the  troops.  When  the  parties  engaged  in  these  expe 
ditions  returned,  they  were  usually  accompanied  by  Union  men  and  their 
families  who  took  advantage  of  the  presence  of  the  garrison  to  escape  from 
the  tyranny  and  persecution  of  the  insurgent  government,  its  aiders  and 
abettors.  There  were  some  of  these  expeditions  accompanied  by  great 
danger,  and  followed  by  results  of  importance.  The  bays  of  Texas  are  not 
easily  navigated  at  any  time,  and  sudden  gales  of  wind,  amounting  almost 
to  tornados,  frequently  arise,  so  that  sailing  here  has  all  the  adventure  of 


TWENTIETH     INFANTRY.  353 

a  voyage  on  the  high  seas,  and  a  great  many  more  breakers  to  arouse  the 
fear  of  mariners.  But  squalls,  breakers,  reefs  could  not  prevent  the  men 
of  the  Twentieth  from  capturing  Texan  towns  and  Texan  lumber.  A  de 
tachment  of  the  regiment,  under  Captain  Barney,  also  captured  the  block 
ade-running  schooner  "Lizzie  Bacon,"  and  compelled  a  noted  pilot  of 
those  waters  to  run  her  from  St.  Mary's  to  Mustang  Island.  But  all  these 
operations  which  served  to  enliven  garrison  life  were  accompanied  by  triflijig 
casualties.  The  capture  of  Captains  Coulter  and  Torrey,  in  Decemberf  Was 
about  all  the  loss  that  befell  the  command. 

When  that  expedition  which  returned  with  the  "Lizzie  Bacon"  came  in, 
about  the  middle  of  May,  1864,  the  regiment  was  found  to  be  in  command 
of  Captain  M.  L.  Thompson,  Major  Thompson  having  resigned.  Although 
Major  Thompson  was  not  a  strict  disciplinarian,  he  had  great  courage,  and 
a  heart  overflowing  with  the  milk  of  human  kindness.  He  left  behind  him 
the  affection  of  every  man  in  the  regiment.  Captain  Barney  relates  the 
following,  to  illustrate  the  Major's  military  style:  "I  will  here  relate  an  in 
cident,"  he  says,  "which,  although  it  may  disparage  Major  Thompson's 
reputation  as  a  'martinet'  in  discipline,  will  nevertheless  illustrate  the  per 
fect  freedom  with  which  he  was  at  all  times  approached  by  men  of  the 
regiment;  his  uniform  kindness,  gentlemanly  deportment,  and  coolness  and 
bravery  on  the  battle-field,  had  long  since  secured  for  him  the  friendship  of 
every  member  of  the  command.  Notwithstanding  undue  familiarity  some 
times  indulged  by  the  men  and  line  officers,  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  a 
regimental  commander  whose  orders  were  more  cheerfully  obe3red  than  were 
his.  A  picket  post  was  established  about  one  mile  west  of  camp,  and  much 
care  taken  by  the  Major  that  picket-duty  was  performed  in  strict  accordance 
with  the  '  regulations. '  When  the  men  were  supposed  to  have  become  per 
fect  in  this  duty,  he  one  morning  visited  the  line  of  pickets  with  a  friend, 
in  order  to  show  him  how  well  they  were  instructed,  and  performed  their 
duties.  On  approaching  the  sentinel,  who  was  lying  down  on  a  sand-hill, 
they  were  greeted  with  the  following  salutation,  addressed  to  the  Major: 
'Hallo,  Bill,  got  any  whiskey?'  Being  thrown  off  his  guard,  he  replied, 
'No.  really,  now,  I  forgot  that  canteen!'  " 

On  the  24th  of  June,  1864,  the  troops  touched  their  caps  in  farewell 
salute  to  Mustang  Island,  and  sailed  to  Brazos  Santiago.  Thence  our  regi 
ment  marched  to  Brownsville.  Here  it  remained,  on  garrison  duty,  till  the 
evacuation  of  the  place  on  the  29th  of  July.  The  time  was  spent  in  drill 
ing,  inspections,  visiting  the  Mexican  town  of  Matamoras,  and  in  occasion 
ally  getting  into  line  to  repel  a  threatened  attack,  said  threatened  attack 
invariably  consisting  of  the  approach  of  a  few  ragamuffin  guerrilla-men,  who 
took  this  way  of  amusing  the  garrison  whilst  cotton  was  being  carried  across 
the  river  a  few  miles  above.  There  never  was  either  real  attack  or  failure 
45 


354  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

in  the  passage  of  the  cotton.  General  Canby,  whose  troops  of  friends  were 
not  in  the  cotton  business,  failed  to  see,  therefore,  that  the  possession  of 
Brownsville  was  of  any  earthly  account  to  the  Union  cause,  and  the  troops 
of  the  army  gladly  evacuated  Texas  for  a  field  of  more  active  operations. 

The  march  from  Brownsville  to  Brazos  Santiago  was  made  along  the  crooked 
Eio  Grande,  and  on  the  2d  of  August  the  good  ship  ' '  Panama, ' '  in  tow  of  the 
steamer  ' '  City  of  Richmond' '  set  sail  for  New  Orleans.  On  the  evening  of  the 
6th,  the  regiment  was  encamped  at  Carrollton.  The  stay  here  was  short. 
The  regiment  moved  to  Fort  Gaines,  Alabama,  sailing  on  two  steamers,  so 
that  one  part  arrived  just  after  the  surrender,  and  the .  other  a  day  or  two 
afterwards.  The  whole  took  part  in  the  siege  and  bombardment  of  Fort 
Morgan,  but  in  all  these  operations,  resulting  in  a  most  cheering  Union 
triumph,  happily  suffered  no  loss  at  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

At  the  close  of  the  first  week  in  September  the  regiment  sailed  for  New 
Orleans,  but  halted  there  only  a  short  time.  It  moved  up  the  river,  and 
disembarked  at  Morganza.  Here  Lieutenant-Colonel  Leake  rejoined  the 
command,  and  was  received  with  unmixed  satisfaction  by  all  his  old  com 
rades.  The  regiment  remained  at  Morganza  about  one  month,  drilling 
much  of  the  time,  and  taking  exhilarating  exercise  in  "races"  to  and  from 
the  Atchafalaya,  On  the  12th  of  October  the  command  moved  up  the 
river  on  steamers,  and  on  the  18th  disembarked  at  Duvall's  Bluffs,  on 
White  River,  Arkansas.  Here  and  at  Brownsville,  not  very  far  distant, 
the  regiment  remained  till  January  1865. 

The  health  of  the  men  was  bad.  Scurvy  had  prevailed  in  all  the  com 
panies,  and  its  effects  were  still  visible,  though  the  disease  itself  had  some 
time  before  abated.  The  weather  was  as  bad  as  it  could  be,  even  in 
Arkansas.  Hence,  when  Mr.  George  Smith,  of  Davenport,  arrived  in  the 
latter  part  of  November,  with  fabulous  amounts  of  sanitary  stores  from 
' '  the  ever- to-be  remembered  and  generous-hearted  patriots  of  Scott  county, ' ' 
he  was  received  with  the  utmost  kindness,  and  when  he  departed  a  few 
days  afterwards  he  carried  with  him  the  grateful  resolutions  of  the  regi 
ment,  and  intelligence  of  its  improvement  in  health  and  spirits.  During 
this  period  the  regiment  made  scouts  to  some  distance  from  head-quarters, 
worked  on  fortifications  which  were  never  of  any  use,  and,  upon  the  whole, 
had  about  as  blue  and  disagreeable  a  time  as  troops  would  naturally  be 
supposed  to  have  in  Arkansas.  But  the  sanitary  stores  cured  the  scurvy, 
and  when  the  regiment  on  the  8th  of  January,  1865,  evacuated  Arkansas, 
it  had  good  health  and  spirits,  and  shortly  afterwards  encamped  in  a  "mud- 
hole"  near  Kennerville,  Louisiana,  without  grumbling  or  complaint. 

On  the  16th  of  February  the  regiment  embarked  on  steamers,  on  the 
next  day  came  to  anchor  in  Pensacola  Bay,  Florida,  and  disembarking  went 
into  camp  at  Florida  Point.  Here  it  remained  till  the  campaign  of  Mobile, 


TWENTIETH     INFANTRY.  355 

in  which,  from  beginning  to  end,  it  took  such  part  as  was  most  creditable 
to  itself,  and  reflected  honor  upon  the  State  and  upon  the  service.  It  is 
well  known  to  all  familiar  with  this  brilliant  campaign,  that  the  march  of 
the  armj^from  Pensacola  to  Mobile  was  exceedingly  toilsome  and  difficult — 
that  it  was  accompanied  by  labors  of  a  very  onerous  nature.  It  was  on 
this  difficult  march  that  the  regiment  received  the  following  compliment, 
which  was  ordered  to  be  read  to  the  command,  drawn  up  in  line,  on  the, 
morning  of  March  29th : 

"General  Orders  No.  8. 

"  HEAD  QUARTERS  SECOND  DIVISION,  THIRTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS,  ) 
«  IN  THE  FIELD,  March  2Sth,  1865.  ) 

"  I.  The  General  commanding  appreciates  the  ready  and  generous  efforts  of  the  troops  in  pro 
moting  this  difficult  march.  These  labors  assure  future  success,  and  every  patriot  will  feel  grateful 
to  the  soldiers  who  have  endured  them.  The  General  particularly  thanks  Lieutenant-Colonel  J.  B- 
Leake,  commanding  the  Twentieth  Iowa  Volunteers,  for  the  valuable  and  rapid  service  of  his  regi 
ment  this  morning,  showing  by  the  amount  done,  how  much  can  be  accomplished  by  officers  giving 
their  personal  interest  and  attention  to  their  duty. 

"  By  order  of  BRIGADIER-GENERAL  C.  C.  ANDREWS, 

"  GEORGE  MONROE, 
"  Assistant  Adjutant-General." 

The  regiment  took  part  in  the  siege  of  Blakely,  and  was  with  the  assault 
ing  column  which  so  gloriously  carried  the  works  on  the  evening  of  April 
9th.  Though  this  assault  was  made  in  the  teeth  of  a  terrible  fire  of  both 
artillery  and  musketry,  the  losses  were  very  slight  in  the  whole  column.  A 
shell  passed  through  the  blue  field  of  the  flag  presented  to  the  regiment  by 
its  friends  in  Scott  County,  but  not  a  man  was  injured.  Private  George 
Bolton,  of  Company  K,  had  been  severely  wounded  during  the  siege, 
making  the  only  casualty  in  the  regiment  during  the  operations  against 
Mobile. 

The  regiment  moved  across  the,  bay  to  Mobile  on  the  14th,  and  was 
assigned  to  duty  under  Brigadier- General  George  L.  Andrews,  provost 
marshal  general  of  the  military  division  in  the  city.  Most  fortunately  it 
was  ordered  to  brigade  head-quarters,  out  of  the  city,  on  the  23d,  and 
remaining  there  a  few  days  escaped  the  terrible  explosion  which  occurred 
two  days  afterwards.  It  returned  to  the  city  after  the  disaster,  and  con 
tinued  in  the  performance  of  duty  there  till  mustered  out  of  service,  on 
the  8th  of  July.  It  proceeded  from  Mobile  to  Clinton,  Iowa,  where  it  was 
received  with  great  kindness  by  the  citizens,  who  came  out  to  welcome  the 
command  in  large  numbers,  notwithstanding  the  rain  was  coming  down  in 
torrents.  What  was  more,  they  treated  the  brave  men  to  a  sumptuous 
supper.  On  the  27th,  the  disorganization  was  completed,  and  the  Twen 
tieth  Iowa  passed  into  history.  The  officers  of  the  regiment  when  it  was 
disbanded  were:  William  McE.  Dye,  Colonel;  Joseph  B.  Leake,  Lieu- 


356  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

tenant-Colonel ;  C.  S.  Lake,  Adjutant ;  J.  H.  Rice,  Quartermaster ;  A.  0. 
Blanding,  Surgeon;  K.  S.  Marlin,  Assistant;  Reverend  Richard  King, 
Chaplain.  Company  A— Captain  Henry  W.  Chace  ;  Lieutenant  John  N. 
Coldron.  Company  B— Captain  E.  Coulter ;  Lieutenants  James  M.  Den- 
nison,  James  0.  Stewart.  Company  C— Captain  M.  L.  Thompson ;  Lieu 
tenants  R.  M.  Lytle,  William  M.  Johnson.  Company  D — Captain  Charles 
E.  Squires ;  Lieutenants  George  W.  Thompson,  Thomas  F.  Allen.  Com 
pany  E — Captain  Edward  E.  Davis ;  Lieutenant  M.  F.  Weller.  Company 
F — Lieutenant  M.  H.  Crosby.  Company  G — Captain  Charles  Altman; 
Lieutenants  Frederick  E.  Starck,  J.  W.  Moore.  Company  H — Captain 
George  A.  Gray;  Lieutenant  William  A.  Scott.  Company  I — Captain 
Joseph  C.  McClelland ;  Lieutenant  James  W.  Carver.  Company  K — Cap 
tain  Henry  B.  Doolittle.  Captain  Edward  Coulter  had  been  commissioned 
major,  but  not  mustered,  and  Lieutenant  Crosby  had  likewise  been 
appointed  Captain.  So,  these  Sergeants  had  been  appointed  Lieutenants, 
namely:  Cyrus  Wynn,  Martin  Rhomberg,  M.  H.  Pierce,  George  B.  Woods, 
Edward  Evershed,  Dudley  E.  Stedman,  Joseph  D.  Barnes,  and  Patrick 
Gaffney.  It  numbered  four  hundred  and  sixty-four  men,  rank  and  file. 
They  at  once  sought  their  homes  in  Scott  and  Linn  counties,  where  they 
were  received  with  unmixed  hospitality,  and  with  about  the  same  affection 
ate  welcome  which  parents  extend  to  favorite  children;  the  newspapers 
vied  with  each  other  in  articles  of  welcome,  and  Mrs.  TIRZAH  T.  M.  CURRY, 
of  Davenport,  lent  the  resources  of  her  delightful  genius  to  the  occasion : 

King  out  a  welcome  !  Lo !  they  come, 

Our  heroes  from  the  war. 
They  bear  their  banners  seamed  and  rent ; 

They  wear  the  victor's  scar  1 

Three  times  the  harvest  moon  hath  smiled 

On  fields  of  golden  grain, 
Since  they  went  forth  at  duty's  call, 

Our  freedom  to  maintain. 

And  fairer  hands  have  bound  the  sheaves 

And  gathered  in  the  corn, 
While  hearts  all  true  and  hopeful  looked 

And  waited  for  the  morn. 

• 
The  morn  has  come.    Our  hearts  go  out 

To  meet  the  "  boys  in  blue," 
As  homeward,  homeward,  still  they  come, 

The  loyal,  brave  and  true. 

Paeans  for  those  who  bear  aloft 

Our  banner  without  stain  I 
Dirges  for  those  who  sleep  to-day 

Amid  the  honored  slain! 


TWENTIETH     INFANTRY.  357 


Oh  I  hallowed  field  of  Prairie  Grove, 
Where  nineteen  heroes  fell  I 

They  sleep  beneath  one  spreading  tree, 
Which  marks  their  slumber  well. 

And  other  fields  and  hill-eides  fair 

Are  hallowed  by  the  dust 
Of  those  we  sent  with  blessings  forth, 

High  hope  and  holy  trust. 

Some  feet  grew  weary  on  the  march 

Across  Missouri's  plains ; 
Some  fainted  on  Arkansas'  hilla 

Where  desolation  reigns. 

And  some  in  dungeons,  dark  and  damp, 
And  noisome,  pined  for  home, 

While  others  breathed  their  lives  away 
Where  sea  waves  fret  and  foam. 

All  did  their  "  life-work,"  nobly,  well 

Each  fills  a  patriot's  grave, 
Each  grave  a  precious  legacy 

To  the  land  they  died  to  save. 

Then  Paeans  to  those  who  bear  aloft 

Our  banner  without  stain ! 
Dirges  for  those  who  sleep  to-day 

Amid  the  honored  slain ! 


CHAPTER    XX. 

FIRST   CAVALRY. 

FITZ  HENRY  WARREN,  ITS  FIRST  COLONEL-ORGANIZATION—MOVE  TO  ST.  LOUIS- 
ACTIVE  OPERATIONS  IN  MISSOURI-BATTLE  OF  PRAIRIE  GROVE—  CAPTURE  OF 
VAN  BVREN,  ARKANSAS— AGAIN  ON  DUTY  IN  MISSOURI— INNUMERABLE 
SCOUTS— MOVE  TO  PILOT  KNOB— MARCH  INTO  ARKANSAS— THE  CAPTURE  OF  LITTLE 
ROCK— "WINTER  QUARTERS"— THE  ARKANSAS  CAMPAIGN— MOVE  TO  TEXAS- 
GENERAL  CUSTER,  THE  HERO  OF  THE  LASH  I 

FITZ  HENRY  WARREN,  one  of  the  most  accomplished  gentlemen  among 
the  politicians  of  Iowa,  and  one  of  the  most  able  journalists  of  America, 
became  associate  editor  of  the  New  York  Tribune  about  the  time  the  war 
broke  out.  He  had  been  First  Assistant  Post  Master-General,  and  had  re 
signed  that  office,  in  a  fit  of  indignation  because  Millard  Fillmore  approved 
the  Fugitive  Slave  Act.  He  afterwards  came  near  being  Senator  of  the 
United  States,  but  though  always  an  eminent  man  continued  to  be  a  private 
citizen  from  his  manly  retirement  in  1851  till  he  became  connected  with  the 
Tribune  in  1861,  unless  we  except  certain  candidatures  rather  honorary 
than  of  actual  benefit.  He  left  his  home  in  Burlington  for  his  new  duties 
just  after  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter,  and  from  the  National  Capital  wrote 
for  the  then  most  widely  circulated  political  journal  of  the  country  a  series 
of  bold,  keen,  powerful  letters  which  attracted  universal  attention  and  won 
the  general  admiration. 

At  Washington,  Warren  was  numbered  among  those  select  few  who  saw 
the  end  from  the  beginning ;  who  were  in  earnest  against  treason  from  the 
start ;  who  did  not  see  the  wisdom  of  playing  war ;  who  did  not  bow  with 
very  respectful  obeisance  before  the  genius  of  the  octogenarian  commander- 
in-chief ;  and  who  used  to  retire  regularly  every  evening  to  rooms,  opposite 
Willard's  noted  hotel,  to  exercise  their  talents  in  satire.  Here  were  sena 
tors  and  ex-senators,  members  of  congress  and  ex-members,  generals,  and 
those  who  afterwards  were  generals,  and  prominent  citizens  of  the  Republic 
who  had  never  consented  to  hold  any  office,  all  intently  engaged  in  the  cur 
rent  business  of  discussing  the  war  and  condemning  the  way  in  which  it 
seemed  to  be  waged.  But  they  could  not  oust  the  octogenarian.  That 
358 


FIRST     CAVALRY.  359 

required  some  terrible  disaster.  It  came  in  the  defeat  of  Bull  Hun,  which, 
by  a  singular  coincidence,  resulted  in  the  retirement  of  General  Scott  from 
the  army  and  of  Colonel  Warren  from  the  Tribune.  The  former  retired  to 
the  "retired  list,"  and  the  latter  from  the  field  of  journalism  to  the  theatre 
of  war. 

Some  weeks  before  the  disaster  of  Bull  Hun,  Colonel  Warren  had  been 
elected  to  the  command  of  the  First  Iowa  Volunteer  Cavalry,  and  he  now 
fully  determined  to  accept  the  military  position  which  had  been  offeijeff. 
him.  The  first  regiment  of  volunteer  cavalry  raised  in  Iowa  was  recruited 
from  a  large  section  of  the  State — from  Lee  county  to  Floyd,  and  from 
Allainakee  to  Decatur,  embracing  much  more  than  half  the  geographical 
area  of  our  territory,  upon  which  were  living  three-fourths  of  our  people. 
Though  there  were  some  obstacles  thrown  in  the  way  of  enlisting  troops 
for  the  cavalry  arm  of  the  service,  six  companies  of  the  First  were  in  camp 
near  Burlington  in  July,  1861 ;  others  came  during  the  following  month, 
and  the  regiment  was  fully  organized  about  the  last  of  August,  one  com 
pany,  however,  not  being  at  this  time  present.  It  was  mustered  into  the 
service  at  Davenport,  in  the  early  part  of  September. 

There  was  an  abundance  of  political  talent  among  the  officers  of  this 
regiment.  Besides  Colonel  Warren,  there  was  Charles  E.  Moss,  Lieute 
nant-Colonel,  who  had  been  a  dragoon  in  the  Mexican  war,  a  noted  orator 
of  Lee  county,  who  had  as  great  a  capacity  for  speaking  as  any  audience 
ever  had  for  hearing.  He  was  an  intense  radical,  as  atrabilarious  as  John 
Randolph,  and  when  mounted  on  his  charger  presented  the  very  picture  of 
Don  Quixote  de  la  Mancha.  Dan  Anderson,  Captain  of  Company  II,  had 
long  represented  his  district  in  the  Senate.  P.  Gad  Bryan,  Captain  of 
Company  D,  was  the  most  popular  democrat  in  the  western  part  of  Iowa. 
Of  a  generous  nature,  addicted  to  joining  the  church  once  in  a  while,  it 
was  almost  impossible  to  defeat  him.  when  he  ran  for  office,  which  he  fre 
quently  did.  William  E.  Leffingwell,  Captain  of  Company  B,  was,  per 
haps,  the  finest  orator  in  the  democratic  party  in  Iowa,  whilst  men  of  all 
parties  freely  acknowledged  his  abilities  and  his  native  good  dispositions. 
He  had  been  a  candidate  for  Congress.  Captain  William  Thompson,  of 
Company  E,  had  been  a  member  of  congress.  He  had  been  for  years  con 
nected  with  the  leading  democratic  journal  of  the  State,  and  after  his  party 
lost  the  reins  of  power  it  was  usual  for  him  to  preside  at  its  State  conven 
tions  or  take  a  prominent  part  therein,  much  to  the  disgust  of  Judge 
McFarland,  of  Boone  county,  who  was  of  a  jealous  disposition,  and  some 
times  on  these  occasions  and  some  others  took  too  much  whiskey.  Captain 
H.  H.  Heath,  of  Company  L,  was  the  leader,  in  1860,  of  the  Breckinridge 
wing  of  the  democracy.  This  wing,  like  the  Bell-Everett  wing,  was  ex 
tremely  weak  in  Iowa,  but  its  leaders  were  all  the  more  active  and  belligerent 


360  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

on  that  account.  Captain  Heath  made  the  best  fight  possible  under  the 
circumstances,  and  manfully  left  the  party  at  the  call  of  patriotism.  There 
were  others  in  the  regiment  of  less  or  more  note — Martin  L.  Morris,  who 
had  been  treasurer  of  State,  who  was  the  first  Quartermaster ;  Doctor  J. 
C.  Stone,  the  first  Adjutant,  arid  several  line  officers. 

The  regiment  remained  in  camp  near  Burlington  till  the  early  part  of 
October,  when  Colonel  Warren  was  ordered  to  report  at  St.  Louis.  By  the 
middle  of  that  month,  the  regiment,  numbering  about  one  thousand  two 
hundred  men,  was  in  Benton  Barracks.  The  first  and  second  battalions 
were  soon  sent  into  the  field.  The  third  remained  at  Benton  Barracks, 
under  command  of  Colonel  Warren.  The  eight  companies  which  marched 
into  the  field,  were  engaged  throughout  the  entire  winter  of  1861-2,  in 
patrolling  a  large  portion  of  Missouri.  The  country  was  infested  by  guer 
rilla-men.  Many  of  them  were  hunted  down  by  the  First  Cavalry,  and 
shot.  Political  broils  were  quieted.  The  squadrons  were  stationed  at 
different  places — Otterville,  Boonville,  Fayette,  Georgetown — from  all 
which  scouts  were  made  in  different  directions,  and  the  disaffected  every 
where  prevented  from  rising  in  opposition  to  the  government.  The  section 
of  country  patrolled  by  the  troopers  of  the  First  was  most  unhealthy  for 
guerrilla-men.  If  one  showed  his  hand  or  his  head,  there  was  a  ball 
through  it.  Four  of  the  companies,  in  company  with  a  detachment  of  the 
First  Missouri  Cavalry,  attacked  and  routed  a  rebel  force  under  the  noted 
Poindexter,  at  Silver  Creek,  in  the  month  of  January.  The  same  com 
panies,  in  the  month  of  February,  made  a  successful  raid  to  Warsaw,  cap 
turing  several  confederate  officers,  among  them  Brigadier-General  Price, 
son  of  the  distinguished  Major-General.  In  these  and  similar  services 
these  eight  companies  spent  an  active  winter — almost  constantly  in  the 
saddle,  now  on  one  side  of  the  Missouri,  now  on  another — always  protect 
ing  Union  citizens,  and  ever  a  terror  to  evil  doers.  Perhaps  no  body  of 
cavalry  ever  performed  a  larger  amount  of  scouting  and  active  outpost  ser 
vice  than  these  companies  performed  from  the  1st  of  November,  1861,  to 
the  1st  of  March,  1862.  Had  the  same  amount  of  service  been  done  on 
noted  fields  of  battle  it  would  have  immortalized  the  command  in  history 
and  in  song. 

Meanwhile,  the  Third  Battalion  remained  in  barracks  near  St.  Louis, 
perfecting  itself  in  the  cavalry  drill.  Early  in  March,  it  was  ordered  to 
Sedalia.  It  left  Benton  Barracks  on  the  6th,  as  well  drilled  and  fine 
appearing  a  body  of  troops  as  any  in  the  cavalry  branch  of  the  service,  not 
excepting  regulars,  and  reached  Sedalia  on  the  9th,  where  it  joined  the 
First  Battalion,  Mtyor  Torrence.  Here  it  halted  but  a  few  days.  On  the 
12th,  the  two  battalions  marched  for  Clinton,  forty-five  miles  distant,  where 


FIRST     CAVALRY.  361 

regimental  head-quarters  were  established,  though  the  regiment  was  not 
there  concentrated,  on  the  14th. 

At  this  place  head-quarters  remained  until  the  8th  of  April,  when  they 
were  moved  to  Butler,  some  twenty-five  or  thirty  miles  further  west,  and 
not  very  far  from  the  boundary  line  between  Missouri  and  Kansas.  But 
meanwhile  the  regiment,  scattered  by  squadron  or  company  over  a  wide 
extent  of  country,  was  scouting  constantly,  up  to  the  utmost  endurance  of 
horse-flesh.  Shortly  after  Colonel  Warren  advanced  to  Butler,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Moss,  in  command  of  two  companies,  marched  from  Osceola  to 
Montevallo,  and  was  there  attacked  by  a  band  of  desperadoes,  posted  in  a 
house  and  barn.  They  soon  suffered  for  their  temerity,  however,  being 
handsomely  whipped  and  driven  from  their  cover  with  severe  loss.  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Moss  here  lost  two  men  killed  and  several  wounded.  In  the 
early  part  of  the  following  month  Colonel  Warren,  with  two  hundred  men 
of  his  regiment  and  a  section  of  artillery  marched  to  the  river  Marais  des 
Cygnes.  He  returned  from  his  raid  on  the  llth,  bringing  in  thirty  prison 
ers  and  considerable  quantities  of  powder  and  lead  captured  from  the 
enemy.  In  July,  Major  Grower  defeated  Quantrill  near  Pleasant  Hill,  after 
a  short  but  spirited  and  decisive  contest,  in  which  the  outlaws  lost  very 
heavily  in  killed  and  wounded.  The  First  Cavalry  in  this  combat,  which 
was  conducted  in  the  most  skilful  manner  by  Major  Grower,  and  fought 
with  the  greatest  dash  by  his  troops,  lost  three  killed  and  ten  wounded, 
among  the  latter  Lieutenants  Reynolds  and  Foster,  and  Adjutant  Kerr. 
On  the  2d  of  August,  Captain  Heath,  with  a  detachment  numbering  less 
than  one  hundred  men,  made  a  bold  attack  on  a  largely  superior  force  of 
rebels,  under  command  of  a  certain  Glowers,  a  notorious  brigand,  who  was 
strongly  posted  in  a  thick  grove  on  Clear  Creek,  about  two  miles  from  the 
town  of  Taberville.  Captain  Heath  delivered  attack  so  vigorously  and  suc 
cessfully  that  he  had  well  nigh  completely  whipped  and  routed  the  enemy 
before  Captain  Caldwell,  who  was  posted  about  a  mile  from  the  field  at  the 
commencement  of  the  fight,  came  up.  Captain  Heath  lost  four  men  killed 
and  fourteen  wounded  in  this  gallant  affair,  himself  being  among  the^ 
latter.1 

On  the  7th,  Colonel  Warren,  in  obedience  to  orders,  evacuated  the  post 
of  Butler,  and  on  the  following  day  all  the  companies  of  his  regiment  met 
together  at  Clinton,  for  the  first  time  since  they  were  together  at  regi 
mental  rendezvous  at  Burlington.  Two-thirds  of  the  regiment  all  the  time 
during  this  period  of  ten  months,  and  all  of  it,  half  the  time,  had  been  ac 
tively,  constantly  engaged.  The  field  of  their  services  had  not  been  where 
the  war  was  waged  by  large  armies  attracting  the  attention  of  their  coun- 

1  The  killed  were :  Albert  C.  Alford,  Caleb  C.  Botwood,  Michael  J.  Driscoll,  of  Company  L,  and 
Elisha  A.  Roland,  of  Company  M. 
46 


362  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

trymen.  But  it  had  been  where  there  were  many  and  secret  dangers; 
where  the  utmost  watchfulness,  the  most  wakeful  vigilance,  day  and  night, 
were  necessary  to  prevent  bands  of  stealthy  foes,  animated  by  the  fell  spi 
rits  of  treason  and  hate,  from  making  a  wide  waste  of  this  devoted  land, 
giving  it  over  to  conflagration,  rapine,  and  sack.  I  have  briefly  related  two 
or  three  of  the  more  prominent  affairs  in  which  the  regiment  was  engaged 
during  this  period.  There  were  others,  of  less  or  more  importance.  But 
all  the  time,  in  the  midst  of  darkness  and  of  storm,  as  well  as  in  the  sun 
shine,  the  troops,  or  parts  of  the  command,  were  on  the  move.  They  used 
their  powers  to  the  utmost  stretch  of  human  endurance,  and  compelled 
their  horses  to  travel  till  oftentimes  they  fell  dead  on  the  march.  They 
became  the  most  successful  bushwhackers,  in  the  good  meaning  of  that 
term,  the  world  ever  saw.  They  gained  no  great  fame.  But  they  per 
formed  invaluable  service  to  Missouri,  and  to  the  general  cause ;  and  were 
the  bones  of  the  outlaws  and  desperadoes,  which,  through  many  a  forest 
glade  and  along  many  a  lonely  lane,  now  crumble  into  dust  in  western  Mis 
souri — victims  of  the  vigilance  and  the  carbines  of  the  First  Iowa  Cavalry — 
were  these  to  be  counted  to  their  credit,  it  would  be  found  that  they  had 
slain  as  many  enemies  of  the  government  as  usually  fall  in  a  great  battle. 

On  the  16th,  the  regiment  moved  to  Sedalia.  But  meantime  Colonel 
Warren,  with  a  large  detail  of  officers  and  men  had  marched  northward 
from  Clinton,  to  reenforce  Blunt,  then  threatened  with  attack  by  a  large 
force  under  Coffee.  The  Unionists,  under  the  command  of  Major  Foster, 
Missouri  State  Militia,  were  defeated  at  the  battle  of  Lone  Jack,  on  the 
16th,  but  Warren  and  Blunt  coming  up  immediately  afterwards,  the  rebels 
retreated.  The  Unionists  briskly  pursued,  but  were  unable  to  come  up 
with  the  enemy.  In  this  chase,  Colonel  Warren  marched  about  three 
hundred  miles.  Near  the  close  of  the  month,  the  regiment  was  again  at 
"  Camp  Warren,"  near  Clinton,  where  it  remained,  the  men  all  the  while 
scouting  as  before  till  the  20th  of  September.  Here  Colonel  Warren  re 
ceived  his. commission  as  Brigadier-General,  and  bidding  a  kind  farewell  to 
his  beloved  comrades  of  the  First,  departed  for  another  field  of  duty.  He 
was  succeeded  by  Colonel  James  0.  Gower,  promoted  from  Lieutenant- 
Colonel. 

Taking  up  line  of  march  for  Springfield,  the  regiment  reached  that  place 
September  28th,  and,  assigned  to  the  Second  Brigade,  First  Division,  Army 
of  Southwest  Missouri,  Colonel  Dye,  Twentieth  Iowa,  commanding  brigade, 
encamped  at  "Camp  McClellan,"  twelve  miles  west  of  Springfield.  From 
this  time  until  past  the  middle  of  November  the  regiment  was  engaged  in 
inarching  and  countermarching  over  southwestern  Missouri  and  north 
western  Arkansas,  and  in  occasional  skirmishing  with  the  enemy,  but  with 
out  a  general  engagement.  On  the  18th  of  November,  the  regiment  went 


FIRST     CAVALRY.  363 

into  camp  near  Wilson's  Creek,  some  twelve  or  fifteen  miles  from  Spring 
field.  A  scout  thence  into  Arkansas  in  the  latter  part  of  the  month,  con 
cluded  the  inarches  of  the  regiment  till  the  campaign  of  Prairie  Grove. 
The  regiment,  meantime,  had  been  transferred  to  the  Third  Division,  Gen 
eral  Herron  commanding,  Army  of  the  Frontier. 

During  the  afternoon  of  December  3d,  the  regiment  hastily  broke  camp, 
and  marched  with  the  division  to  the  reenforcement  of  Blunt,  at  Cane  Hill, 
Arkansas.  At  daylight  on  the  morning  of  the  6th,  two  battalions  under 
Colonel  (rower  (Lieutenant- Colonel  Bryan  with  one  battalion  being  detailed 
as  rear  guard  for  the  division  train)  left  the  camp-ground  of  the  army,  and 
at  12  o'clock  at  night  reported  at  General  Blunt's  head-quarters,  having 
marched  forty-seven  miles,  and  been  in  the  saddle  eighteen  consecutive 
hours.  In  the  battle  of  Prairie  Grove,  which  ensued,  the  regiment  took 
quite  as  conspicuous  and  gallant  a  part  as  any  troop  of  horse  on  the  field, 
which  was  not  favorable  for  movements  of  cavalry  on  any  extended  scale. 
The  regiment  encamped  on  the  battle-field  after  the  engagement,  and  there 
remained  in  quiet  until  it  marched  on  the  heavy  and  brilliant  scout  which 
resulted  in 

THE  CAPTURE  OF  VAN  BUREN. 

When  General  Hiridman  suffered  defeat  at  Prairie  Grove,  he  put  his  de 
moralized  army  in  retreat  towards  Van  Buren,  and  by  a  disgraceful  deceit, 
whereby  the  white  flag  was  prostituted  and  his  own  name  forever  dis 
honored,  prevented  pursuit  by  the  Union  forces.  They  accordingly  went 
sullenly  into  encampment,  but  the  generals  determined  to  follow  up  the 
victory  so  soon  as  their  troops  had  rested  somewhat  from  their  labors.  On 
the  day  after  Christmas,  there  was  unusual  bustle  in  the  encampment. 
Orders  were  issued  which  plainly  indicated  a  forward  movement.  On  the 
morning  of  the  27th,  the  army  moved  from  camp  toward  Van  Buren,  the 
First  Division  by  way  of  the  road  along  the  western  base  of  the  mountain 
range,  and  the  Second  and  Third  Divisions  by  the  parallel  road  along  the 
summit,  usually  called  the  Telegraph,  and  sometimes  the  Wire,  road.  The 
command  rested  north  of  Lee's  Creek  during  the  night  of  the  27th.  Early 
on  the  morning  of  the  28th,  a  crossing  of  this  swollen  and  rapid  stream 
was  effected,  the  cavalry  carrying  over  the  infantry  en  croupe,  the  passage 
making  as  novel  and  mirthful  a  spectacle  as  often  can  be  seen  in  war. 
Many  of  the  horses  objected  to  carrying  double,  and,  though  others  more 
gentle  bore  their  burden  safely  across  the  stream,  there  was  a  great  deal  of 
rearing  and  plunging,  which  was  fun  for  the  troopers  and  a  serious  matter  to 
the  foot.  A  rude  bridge  of  logs  was  meanwhile  constructed  for  the  passage 
of  the  artillery.  Before  the  army  had  all  crossed  the  cavalry  was  ordered 
forward.  The  troopers  from  Blunt's  Division  soon  joined  the  others,  and  all 
went  forward  on  a  brisk  trot,  the  First  Iowa  Cavalry  leading  the  column. 


364  IOWA    AND     THE     EEBELLION. 

At  ten  o'clock,  the  advance  came  upon  two  regiments  of  rebel  cavalry,  at 
a  hamlet  called  Dripping  Springs,  eight  miles  north  of  Van  Buren.  The 
First  Cavalry  dashed  upon  them  in  the  most  intrepid  and  gallant  manner, 
and,  supported  by  the  rest  of  the  mounted  force  of  the  army,  and  by  four 
mountain  howitzers,  kept  up  a  brisk  running  fight  into  the  very  town  of 
Van  Buren.  At  Logtown,  which  is  a  mere  suburb  of  Van  Buren,  only  one 
mile  distant,  and  separated  therefrom  by  a  considerable  hill,  the  howitzers 
were  brought  forward,  and  the  cavalry  deployed  to  the  right  and  left. 
After  a  few  shots  from  the  howitzers,  the  cavalry  made  a  dash  en  masse 
into  Van  Buren,  galloping  down  the  hill  at  a  furious  speed.  Some  rode  to 
the  landing,  to  prevent  the  escape  of  rebels  across  the  river,  whilst  others 
galloped  down  the  bank  of  the  river,  after  certain  steamboats  which  were 
making  off  in  that  direction.  The  steamboats  were  captured,  and  brought 
back  to  the  landing.  The  rebels  essayed  to  drive  our  cavalry  from  the 
town  by  artillery  fire  from  the  south  side  of  the  river,  but  their  guns  were 
soon  silenced  by  Blunt' s  howitzers.  Before  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
we  were  in  complete  and  quiet  possession  of  Van  Buren.  We  had  cap 
tured  an  immense  amount  of  property — wagons,  commissary  stores,  four 
steamboats,  and  a  ferry  boat,  camp  and  garrison  equipage  in  great  quanti 
ties,  many  mules,  a  large  quantity  of  ammunition — and  nearly  one  hundred 
prisoners  of  war. 

The  night  of  the  28th  passed  quietly  by.  The  next  day  was  spent  in 
jubilation  over  the  victory,  which  had  been  gained  with  such  slight  loss — 
two  killed  and  as  many  wounded,  one  of  the  former  being  of  the  First  Cavalry, 
as  reported  by  correspondence  at  the  time.  The  celebration  of  the  victoiy 
consisted  of  the  marching  of  the  whole  infantry  force  of  the  Army  of  the  Fron 
tier,  and  two  batteries  in  parade  through  the  principal  streets  of  Van  Buren, 
the  field  bauds  in  front  of  the  different  regiments,  colors  flying,  and  the 
whole  spectacle  attracting  the  attention  of  the  citizens  universally.  The 
parade  over,  the  army  made  preparations  to  countermarch.  The  steam 
boats  and  the  ferry-boat  were  burned,  and  other  property  which  could  not 
be  carried  away  was  destroyed.  The  total  loss  to  the  confederate  cause 
from  this  foray,  and  capture  of  Van  Buren,  was  estimated  as  worth  about 
three  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

At  nine  o'clock  at  night  the  whole  Army  of  the  Frontier  was  in  motion  on 
the  countermarch.  The  First  Cavalry  reached  the  encampment  at  Prairie 
Grove  on  the  last  day  of  the  year,  having  taken  the  most  leading  part  in  a 
foray  which  was  esteemed  by  the  people  and  press  of  the  country  as  the 
most  dashing  and  daring  that  had  yet  taken  place. 

New  Year's  Day,.  1863,  was  spent  by  our  regiment  on  the  march.  It 
moved  to  the  west  bank  of  White  River  at  a  point  three  miles  east  of 
Fayetteville,  where  the  men  pitched  tents.  The  White  River  here  flows 


FIRST     CAVALRY.  365 

in  a  northwardly  direction.  It  sweeps  around  in  a  large  curve,  passing  up 
into  Missouri,  and  back  into  Arkansas  in  a  southeasterly  course.  The  town 
of  Athens  on  this  river  is  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  nearly 
due  east  of  Fayetteville,  also  on  the  river,  but  by  the  winding  course  of  the 
stream,  the  distance  is  three  or  four  times  as  great.  In  the  segment  formed 
by  the  line  between  these  two  towns,  and  White  River,  the  First  Cavalry 
had  its  field  of  active  operations  from  the  6th  to  the  22d  of  January — 
marching  during  this  period  to  Huntsville,  Kingston,  Yellville,  scouting  a 
wide  extent  of  country,  capturing  a  number  of  prisoners,  and  considerable 
confederate  property.  Thus,  on  the  13th,  Major  Caldwell,  commanding  a 
detachment,  destroyed  extensive  saltpetre  works  on  Buffalo  River,  and 
captured  a  number  of  prisoners  and  horses.  A  few  days  afterwards,  Colo 
nel  Gower,  commanding  a  brigade,  marched  to  Yellville,  where  many  pri 
soners  and  a  large  amount  of  property  were  taken.  On  the  17th,  the 
division,  Colonel  Gower,  now  commanding,  moved  northward,  and  on  the 
19th  encamped  on  the  south  bank  of  White  River,  opposite  Forsyth,  Mis 
souri.  On  the  22d,  the  command  made  a  passage  of  the  river,  nnd 
encamped  near  Forsyth.  Here  it  remained  in  quiet  about  three  weeks, 
when  the  regiment,  less  two  companies  left  at  Forsyth,  marched  about  forty 
miles  in  the  direction  of  Rolla,  and  established  camp.  Early  in  March  the 
command  again  mounted,  and  moved  three  marches  eastward,  and  en 
camped  at  Mountain  Grove.  On  the  last  day  of  the  month,  having  moved 
by  Gladden  Valley,  and  there  wheeled  northward,  tents  were  pitched  at  Lake 
Springs,  about  equi-distant  from  Rolla  on  the  one  hand  and  Pilot  Knob  on 
the  other. 

And  at  Lake  Springs  the  encampment  of  the  regiment  remained  until 
the  llth  of  June.  But  the  regiment  was  not  all  in  camp  all  this  time. 
General  Marmaduke  invaded  southeastern  Missouri  in  the  latter  part  of 
April,  with  seven  thousand  cavalry  and  fourteen  pieces  of  artillery.  On 
the  26th  he  attacked  Cape  Girardeau  and  was  handsomely  repulsed  by  the 
Union  garrison  under  General  John  McNeil.  Meanwhile,  a  considerable 
detachment  of  the  Second  and  Third  Divisions  of  the  Army  of  the  Frontier, 
embracing  the  larger  portion  of  the  effective  cavalry  force  of  those  divisions, 
with  artillery,  moved  from  Lake  Springs  against  Marmaduke.  This  detach 
ment,  under  command  of  General  William  Vandever,  moved  on  the  21st 
of  April  for  Pilot  Knob.  In  this  command  was  a  detachment  of  five  hun 
dred  men  from  the  First  Iowa  cavalry,  under  the  command  of  Major  Cald 
well.  The  column  reached  Pilot  Knob  on  the  23d,  and  there  remained 
under  arms  awaiting  the  approach  of  the  enemy,  who  was  reported  in  the 
vicinity.  On  the  25th,  the  First  Iowa  had  the  advance,  leading  the  column 
in  a  rapid  march  on  Fredericktown,  but  finding  no  enemy.  On  the  next 
day,  marched  for  Jackson,  full  forty  miles  distant,  and  at  night  bivouacked 


366  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

four  miles  from  the  town  and  one  from  the  enemy,  who  having  been  de 
feated  by  McNeil,  had  moved  thus  far  from  the  battle-field.  A  night 
attack  on  the  rebel  advance-guard  was  planned,  and  the  charge  entrusted 
to  the  First  Iowa.  At  midnight  Lieutenant  Hursh,  of  Company  F,  with  a 
platoon  of  eight  men,  and  two  howitzers,  these  loaded  with  musket  balls, 
stealthily  approached  to  within  thirty  yards  of  the  unsuspecting  rebels,  and 
discharging  howitzers  and  carbines  simultaneously,  effected  great  slaughter 
among  the  enemy.  "At  the  same  time,"  says  the  Missouri  Democrat, 
"  the  First  Iowa  cavalry  charged  upon  them,  and  not  a  man  of  the  entire 
force  escaped,  all  who  were  not  killed  or  wounded  being  taken  prisoners. 
All  their  guns,  horses,  camp  equipage,  and  several  thousand  dollars'  worth 
of  stolen  property  were  captured  by  the  Union  party. ' '  The  affair  was  a 
most  brilliant  one,  and  both  officers  and  men,  says  Major  Caldwell,  merited 
special  commendation.  Singularly  enough,  though  the  rebels,  so  soon  as 
they  recovered  from  their  surprise,  and  regained  their  presence  of  mind, 
offered  considerable  resistance,  not  a  man  of  our  regiment  was  harmed. 

The  pursuit  was  continued  by  Bloomfield  to  Chalk  Bluff  on  the  St. 
Francis  River,  our  advance  and  Marmaduke's  rear-guard  skirmishing  less 
or  more  during  the  entire  distance  of  about  ninety  miles.  On  the  last 
forty  of  these,  Major  Caldwell  had  the  advance,  and  on  the  1st  of  May, 
while  skirmishing  near  the  St.  Francis  he  lost  three  men  severely  wounded. 
On  the  next  day,  during  a  reconnoissance  to  the  river's  bank,  two  others 
were  wounded.  The  enemy  effected  a  passage  of  the  river,  however,  and 
Marmaduke's  raid  here  ended  with  a  considerable  artillery  duel  between 
the  forces  on  the  two  sides  of  the  stream.  The  trooper  got  away  with  all 
his  artillery  and  much  plunder.  General  Vandever  was  attacked  by  the 
newspaper  press  for  the  want  of  energy  which,  it  was  stated,  characterized 
his  purMiifc, ;  but  the  truth  is,  he  kept  as  close  to  the  enemy  and  annoyed 
him  as  effectually  as  any  one  would  have  been  able  to  do  with  his  inferior 
force.  Major  Caldwell,  marching  by  Bloomfield,  Cape  Girardeau  and 
Pilot  Knob,  reached  the  encampment  at  Lake  Springs  on  the  14th,  having 
marched  five  hundred  miles,  and  his  troops  having  suffered  no  little  from 
inclement  weather,  and  the  want  of  full  rations.2 

The  regiment  remained  in  camp  at  Lake  Springs,  in  unusual  quiet  for 
nearly  a  month  after  the  return  of  the  detachment  under  Major  Caldwell. 
On  the  5th  of  June,  it  was  transferred  from  the  Army  of  the  Frontier  to 
the  Second  Brigade,  Cavalry  Division.  On  the  llth,  the  command  broke 
camp  at  Lake  Springs,  and  three  days  thereafter  reported  to  Colonel  J.  M. 
Glover,  commanding  brigade,  at  Pilot  Knob,  near  which  post  our  regiment 
remained  encamped  till  the  beginning  of  the  following  month.  Up  to  the 

2  The  wounded  on  this  campaign  were :  Sergeant  William  Hunter,  and  Privates  William  George, 
Charles  D.  Esson,  Theodore  J.  Creamer,  and  Milton  S.  Clark. 


FIRST     CAVALRY.  367 

latter  part  of  March,  the  regiment  had  never  been  well  armed.  It  then 
received  two  hundred  and  fifty  Colt's  improved  arm}7  revolvers,  five  hun 
dred  sabres,  and  six  hundred  Sharp's  breech-loading  carbines,  making  the 
armament  nearly  complete,  and  very  much  more  effective  than  it  ever  had 
been  before.  While  in  their  Arcadian  encampment  near  Pilot  Knob,  the 
men  had  little  more  to  do  than  burnish  their  arms  and  accoutrements,  and 
at  considerable  leisure  prepare  themselves  and  their  horses  for  another 
campaign. 

The  duties  of  the  next  month  were  of  another  sort.  In  the  first  place, 
the  regiment  marched  at  least  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  moving  by 
Fredericktown,  Bloomfield,  and  Chalk  Bluff,  where  it  crossed  the  St. 
Francis,  to  Willsburg,  in  Arkansas,  several  long  marches  down  the  river. 
In  the  next  place,  the  men  of  the  regiment  performed  much  hard  labor  on 
fortifications  at  sundry  places  in  southeastern  Missouri,  which,  about  this 
time,  were  fortified  against  future  attack  by  the  enemy.  So  that,  with 
marches,  outpost  duty,  and  labor  on  fortifications,  the  command  had  more 
of  what  is  called  heavy  duty  in  the  army  during  the  hot  month  of  July 
than  it  had  been  called  upon  to  perform  at  any  previous  period  of  its  his 
tory.  Moreover,  a  detachment  of  fifty  men,  with  Captain  Jenks  and 
Lieutenant  Hursh,  performed  the  hazardous  march  from  Greenville  to 
Helena  with  dispatches,  safely  passing  and  repassing  through  the  enemy's 
country,  a  distance  of  about  one  hundred  miles.  The  march  was  continued 
in  a  southerly  direction  to  within  about  thirty  miles  of  Helena,  when,  on 
the  5th  of  August,  the  column  changed  its  course,  and  marched  on  Claren 
don,  on  the  White  River,  where  it  halted  a  fortnight. 

General  Steele  was  now  preparing  for  the  campaign  of  Little  Rock,  and 
two  days  after  our  regiment  encamped  near  Clarendon,  the  head  of  his 
column,  Colonel,  soon  afterwards  Brigadier-General,  Samuel  A.  Rice,  in 
command  of  the  advance,  moved  from  Helena  in  the  direction  of  Claren 
don,  where  in  due  time  the  forces  were  concentrated.  On  the  22d,  the 
army  moved  for  Little  Rock.  A  depot  having  been  established  at  Duvall's 
Bluff,  the  advance  approached  Brownsville,  midway  between  the  White 
and  the  Arkansas  Rivers,  on  the  26th.  Here  there  was  a  brisk  skirmish, 
the  First  Cavalry  having  the  extreme  front.  The  enemy  was  driven  from 
his  works  and  from  the  town,  but  on  the  next  day,  advantageously  posted 
behind  Bayou  Metoe  (sometimes  written  Meter,  and  sometimes,  with 
French  affectation,  Metaire),  offered  a  more  stubborn  resistance.  The 
First  Iowa,  in  the  heavy  skirmishing  which  here  took  place,  and  which 
well  nigh  developed  into  a  general  battle,  took  very  prominent  part, 
making  a  dashing  charge  to  capture  the  only  bridge  by  which  a  passage 
might  have  been  made  across  the  deep  and  miry  stream.  The  charge  was 
made  with  drawn  sabres,  in  a  most  gallant  manner,  the  troopers  rushing 


368  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

right  up  to  the  bridge  under  a  heavy  and  destructive  fire  from  the  enemy's 
artillery  and  sharp-shooters.  But  it  was  not  possible  to  save  the  bridge, 
the  rebels  having  prepared  everything  for  its  destruction  beforehand. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Anderson  here  had  his  horse  shot  under  him,  and  the 
regiment,  in  the  brief  charge,  sustained  a  loss  of  thirty-seven  in  killed  and 
wounded.3 

The  stream,  the  approach  to  which,  except  by  artificial  roads,  was  an  ex 
tensive  quagmire,  was  impracticable.  The  troops  therefore  withdrew,  and 
retired  to  their  encampment  at  Brownsville,  where  they  remained  a  few, 
days  in  quiet,  pickets  only  posted  on  the  bayou  to  observe  the  enemy. 
But  General  Davidson,  commanding  the  cavalry  division,  made  a  recon- 
noissance  around  the  enemy's  left  by  way  of  the  hamlet  of  Austin,  north 
of  Brownsville,  Rice  meanwhile  occupying  the  enemy's  attention  on  the 
front.  The  reconnoissance  lasted  two  days,  and  developed  the  impractica 
bility  of  a  movement  in  that  direction.  Hence  General  Steele  adopted  the 
southern  route,  whereby  he  would  cross  the  Arkansas  below  Little  Rock. 
The  movement  began  on  the  6th  of  September,  and  closed  on  the  10th, 
with  our  army  in  full  possession  of  the  capital,  having  gained  a  cheering 
victory  at  the  expense  of  little  blood  and  life,  the  casualties  of  the  whole 
campaign,  from  Clarendon  to  Little  Rock  not  exceeding  one  hundred. 

As  to  the  direct  capture  of  the  city,  this  may  be  here  stated :  The  cav 
alry  division  crossed  the  Arkansas  eight  miles  below  the  town  on  pontoons, 
under  cover  of  artillery  and  infantry.  The  Second  Brigade  of  cavalry  was 
placed  in  the  advance,  the  First  Iowa  moving  in  front  as  skirmishers. 
There  was  fighting  all  the  way  from  the  crossing  to  the  town,  which  at 
times  was  accompanied  by  as  much  firing  as  would  accompany  a  battle, 
During  the  entire  fight,  which  continued  nearly  all  day,  our  regiment  was 
on  the  extreme  front,  sometimes  slowly  fighting  its  way  forward  on  foot, 
anon  charging  with  drawn  sabre,  under  a  fire  of  artillery  and  musketry 
which,  if  sound  alone  had  been  eifective,  would  have  repulsed  the  Union 
troops.  The  regiment  during  the  day  regained  from  the  enemy  two  how 
itzers,  which  had  been  captured  from  the  Tenth  Illinois  Cavalry.  At  sun 
set,  the  enemy  evacuated  their  works,  retreating  to  Arkadelphia.  Our 
regiment  went  into  bivouac  in  the  southern  suburb  of  the  captured  city. 
Though  the  command  had  throughout  the  day  been  constantly  under  fire, 


8  Namely:  Company  A— Killed,  Hiram  Leland;  mortally  wounded,  Harvey  Wing;  severely 
wounded  and  captured,  C.  U.  Martin,  R.  E.  Granger ;  Wounded,  Lieutenant  R.  M.  Reynolds ;  Private 
A.  Vanserman.  Company  B— Privates  Crane  and  Scott.  Company  C—A.  E.  Stutsman  and  J.  K. 
Simmons.  Company  K—W.  W.  Williver  and  Sergeant  J.  M.  Russell.  Company  M— Corporal  W.  0. 
Gulick.  The  following  were  less  severely  wounded :  Company  A— A.  J.  Wilson.  Company  B— Ser 
geant  Allen;  Corporal  Carney;  Private  Smith.  Company  C— Corporal  S.  Chapman;  Privates  J. 
Boltz,  S.  B.  Welch,  W.  0.  P.  Keever.  Company  E—G.  Canterbury,  R.  Walker,  I.  N.  Hall,  J.  Willford. 
Company  K—  Sergeant  Dubois ;  E.  Harman.  Company  M—J.  Decker. 


FIRST     CAVALRY.  369 

and  in  exposed  position,  its  loss  was  singularly  light,  being  but  one  killed 
and  three  wounded,  among  the  latter  Major  Caldwell* 

While  the  regiment  is  thus  quietly  reposing  near  Little  Rock,  it  will  be 
convenient  to  take  up  the  thread  of  its  personal  history  and  bring  it  down 
to  this  time.  In  the  early  part  of  the  year,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Bryan  had 
been  honorably  discharged  the  service.  This  officer  had  been  so  popular 
with  the  command  that,  after  the  promotion  of  Colonel  Warren,  he  had  been 
elected  Colonel.  Governor  Kirk  wood,  however,  in  the  exercise  of  a  doubtful 
prerogative,  disregarded  the  election,  and  appointed  Gower  to  the  vacancy. 
Wherefore,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Bryan,  considering  himself  aggrieved,  threw 
up  his  commission.  It  is  but  simple  justice  to  say  that  he  was  very  popu 
lar  in  the  regiment,  universally  regarded  as  a  brave,  efficient  officer,  and 
large-hearted  man.  He  quitted  the  regiment  in  February,  1863.  In  the 
same  month,  Adjutant  Kerr,  Chaplain  Latham,  Captain  Wecoatt,  Lieu 
tenant  Bishop,  Company  A,  and  Lieutenant  Freeman,  Company  K,  were 
honorably  discharged.  Quartermaster  Sergeant  Donnell  succeeded  Kerr 
as  adjutant.  Doctor  Lothrop,  Assistant  Surgeon,  also  resigned  about  this 
time,  whilst  Captain  Heath  was  discharged  for  the  purpose  of  taking  a  ma 
jority  in  the  Seventh  Cavalry.  In  that  command  he  gradually  won  pro 
motion,  and  became  at  length  a  Brevet  Brigadier-General.  Captains 
Chase,  and  William  Thompson  were  promoted  Majors  during  the  period 
under  consideration,  and  several  changes  in  the  line  officers  occurred. 
During  the  month  before  the  capture  of  Little  Rock,  Colonel  Gower,  re 
signed  on  account  of  ill  health,  was  succeeded  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Daniel 
Anderson,  who  was  commissioned  Colonel  on  the  21st  of  August.  It  may 
be  proper  to  observe  that  Colonel  Gower  had  been  a  gallant,  skilful  com 
mander.  He  left  the  regiment  to  the  regret  of  all  the  officers  and  men,  who 
had  served  with  him  and  under  him.  He  never  recovered  from  the  disease 
contracted  while  he  was  in  the  army.  He  died  at  his  home  in  Iowa  City, 
in  the  fall  of  1865,  to  the  sincere  and  universal  regret  of  the  citizens  of  our 
old  capital.  When  Lieutenant-Colonel  Anderson  was  promoted,  Major  Cald- 
well,  one  of  the  most  worthy  officers  Iowa  ever  sent  to  the  field,  was  made 
Lieutenant-Colonel.  Captain  McQueen  was  at  the  same  time  made  Major. 
And  this  will  suffice  for  the  personnel  of  the  regiment  for  the  present. 

During  the  campaign  which  terminated  with  the  capture  of  Little  Rock, 
the  regiment,  like  all  regiments  in  the  army,  suffered  much  from  sickness. 
And  disease  had  so  fastened  upon  the  men  that  it  was  long  before  they  re 
covered.  Many  did  not  recover  at  all,  but  gradually  succumbed  to  the  fell 
destroyer,  and  in  this  distant  land  passed  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow 
of  death.  However,  Dr.  Cochran,  the  principal  surgeon,  a  skilful  physi- 

«  Kilted,  Charles  T.  Magill.  Wounded,  Major  J.  W.  Caldwell;  Privates  A.  J.  Hendrickson  and  E. 
J.  Davis. 

47 


370  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

cian  as  well  as  a  humane  man,  exerted  his  best  endeavors  to  restore  the 
health  of  the  command,  and  soon  measurably  succeeded.  During  the  re 
mainder  of  September  after  the  fall  of  Little  Rock,  and  the  month  follow 
ing,  the  regiment  remained  in  the  vicinity  of  the  capital,  engaged  on  police 
and  outpost  duties,  and  in  building  quarters  and  stables  that  the  coming 
winter  might  be  passed  in  comfort.  It  performed  no  marches.  During  the 
last  two  months  of  the  year  the  case  was  very  different.  The  regimental 
encampment  remained  near  Little  Rock,  but  a  lesser  or  greater  part  of  the 
command  was  much  of  the  time  in  the  saddle,  looking  for  rebels  or  for 
forage.  During  these  two  months  the  different  companies  of  the  regiment 
marched  more  than  six  thousand  miles.  They  moved  to  Pine  Bluff,  to 
Arkadelphia,  to  within  a  few  miles  of  Camden ;  they  skirmished  with  the 
enemy  on  several  occasions ;  they  scoured  the  country  roundabout  Little 
Rock  in  all  directions  in  search  of  forage,  for  lack  of  which  many  horses 
died.  The  men  themselves  were  without  great  coats  and  suffered  no  little 
from  exposure  to  the  inclement  season.  During  the  period  now  under 
review,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Caldwell  marched  to  Pine  Bluff  to  reenforce 
that  post,  and  being  out  one  week,  returned  without  casualty.  So,  a  de 
tachment  of  two  hundred  and  sixty  men,  under  Captain  Jenks,  moved  with 
detachments  of  other  regiments  on  a  rebel  encampment  near  Princeton, 
about  sixty  miles  south  of  Little  Rock,  and  on  the  8th  of  December,  Cap 
tain  Jenks  being  in  advance,  came  upon  the  camp.  A  brisk  skirmish  ensued, 
in  which  our  detachment  lost  two  men  wounded.5  The  camp  was  broken 
up,  a  number  of  rebels  killed  and  wounded,  and  considerable  camp  equi 
page  was  captured. 

Whilst  the  regiment  was  thus  engaged  near  Little  Rock  as  I  have  briefly 
described,  a  number  of  the  men  reenlisted,  but  the  year  1863  closed  with 
very  little  having  been  accomplished  in  the  way  of  making  the  command  a 
veteran  organization.  But  many  reenlisted  early  in  1864,  so  that  the  com 
mand  became  a  veteran  regiment.  During  the  period  of  reenlistment  the 
troops  were  engaged  about  Little  Rock  in  many  minor  operations. 

The  23d  of  March,  though  then  entitled  to  veteran  furlough,  the  regi 
ment  joined  the  column  under  Steele  which  on  this  day  commenced  that 
movement  afterwards  called  the  Camden  expedition.  It  took  a  prominent 
part  in  all  the  operations  of  this  campaign,  about  three  hundred  and  fifty 
men  of  the  regiment  acting  with  the  infantry  because  of  the  want  of  horses. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Caldwell  being  in  command  of  a  brigade,  Captain 
Crosby  had  command  of  the  First  Cavalry.  It  was  necessarily  much  on 
the  advance,  and  had  frequent  combats  with  the  enemy— a  spirited  engage 
ment  near  Arkadelphia  on  the  30th  ;  another  on  the  Little  Missouri,  April 
2d,  above  Elkin's  Ford,  where  the  main  army  crossed ;  in  the  engagement 

&  Privates  A.  McClasky  aud  C.  Smelser. 


FIRST     CAVALRY.  371 

of  the  next  day  it  took  conspicuous  part,  as  also  in  the  grand  skirmish  on 
Prairie  d'  Anne  on  the  10th ;  and  from  this  time  till  Camden  was  entered 
on  the  15th,  it  was  all  the  while  within  sound  of  the  enemy's  guns.  The 
losses  of  the  regiment  in  these  operations  were  five  slain,  and  twenty- 
five  wounded.  The  17th,  a  detachment  of  the  regiment  with  a  de 
tachment  of  the  Third  Missouri,  Major  Leonard,  marched  some  twenty 
miles  down  the  Washita  and  captured  a  steamboat,  laden  with  stores,  which, 
under  the  pilotage  of  Lieutenant  Foster,  First  Iowa,  was  safely  brought  to 
Camden. 

The  command  having  gallantly  volunteered  to  take  part  in  this  cam 
paign  at  a  time  when  it  was  entitled  to  furlough,  was  now  granted  the 
"  thirty  days  at  home"  usually  given  veterans.  Brigadier-General  E.  A. 
Carr  issued  an  order  announcing  the  furlough,  from  which  the  following 
extracts  are  noteworthy : 

«*  *  *  V.  The  Brigadier-General  commanding  the  division  has  been  highly  gratified  with  the 
cheerfulness  and  alacrity  shown  by  the  regiment  under  the  particular  hardships  of  this  campaign, 
as  well  as  by  its  handsomely  sustaining  the  reputation  for  bravery  which  belongs  to  Iowa  troops. 

"  VI.  To  Lieutenant-Colonel  Caldwell,  the  Division  Commander  is  under  obligations  for  the  skill 
and  bravery  he  has  shown  as  commander  of  the  Third  Brigade,  and  especially  for  his  untiring  energy 
and  hearty,  cordial  and  cheerful  co-operation  in  all  the  plans  of  the  compaign. 

"  By  order  of  BRIGADIER-GENERAL  E.  A.  CARR, 
"  C.  H.  DYER, 

"  A.  A.  General." 

The  recruits  and  non-veterans  being  left  in  command  of  Colonel  Ander 
son,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Caldwell  with  the  veterans  left  for  home  on  the 
24th,  marching  on  foot,  the  horses  having  been  turned  over  to  the  govern 
ment.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Drake,  Thirty-sixth  Iowa,  had  not  long  before 
started  for  Pine  Bluff  with  a  considerable  force  and  a  heavy  train.  He  was 
thoroughly  defeated  near  Mark's  Mills,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  with  the 
loss  of  the  train  and  most  of  his  troops.  The  veterans  of  the  First  Cavalry 
reached  Moro  River  on  the  morning  of  the  battle,  in  time  to  witness  the 
stampede  of  the  teamsters  and  camp  followers,  and  to  prevent  the  passage 
of  the  river  by  the  rebels.  They  having  gone  off  Lieutenant-Colonel  Cald 
well  retreated  in  the  direction  of  Camden,  and  meeting  the  retreating  army 
joined  the  column  on  the  27th.  The  veterans  took  their  place  in  the  army, 
participated  in  the  severe  battle  of  Jenkin's  Ferry  on  the  30th,  and  reached 
Little  Rock  on  the  2d  of  May.  Remaining  there  about  one  week  they  went 
north  on  furlough. 

The  veterans  left  Davenport  for  the  front  about  the  middle  of  July.  At 
Cairo,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Caldwell  was  ordered  to  report  with  his  com 
mand  at  Benton  Barracks.  The  12th  of  August,  he  moved  to  Mexico, 
Missouri,  and,  whilst  commanding  a  district  composed  of  several  counties, 


372  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

the  veterans  were  actively  engaged  in  scouting.  On  the  27th  of  September, 
the  savage  guerrilla,  Bill  Anderson,  attacked  and  captured  a  train  near  Cen- 
tralia,  and  atrociously  murdered  all  the  soldiers  aboard,  numbering  about 
thirty,  of  whom  seven  were  members  of  the  First  Cavalry,  namely :  Corpo 
ral  J.  Arnold;  Privates  Owen  P.  Gore,  George  Williams,  George 
Dilley,  Edward  Medary,  Samuel  Russell,  and  Charles  Carpenter.  The 
guerrilla  continued  his  deeds  of  horror  upon  troops  afterwards  coming 
up,  till  the  victims  of  the  Centralia  massacre  numbered  more  than  an 
hundred. 

At  the  time  of  Price's  invasion,  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  Jefferson 
City,  where  it  joined  the  forces  of  General  Rosecrans,  and  marched  on  the 
campaign  which  resulted  in  the  expulsion  of  the  rebels  from  the  State. 
Returning  to  Warrensburg  the  regiment  was  there  made  the  cavalry-escort 
of  Rosecrans  which  conducted  him  to  St.  Louis.  It  remained  at  Benton 
Barracks  till  January,  1865,  when  it  moved  to  Little  Rock,  where,  and  at 
Memphis,  the  non-veteran  portion  of  the  command  had  been  on  duty  since 
the  Camden  expedition.  Colonel  William  Thompson  was  now  in  com 
mand.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Caldwell,  after  three  and  a-half  years'  honora 
ble  service  had  been  mustered  out,  at  his  own  request,  in  the  fall  of  1864, 
and  been  succeeded  by  Major  Alexander  G.  McQueen. 

The  regiment  continued  to  serve  in  the  vicinity  of  Little  Rock  till  the 
war  was  practically  closed,  when,  instead  of  being  mustered  out  of  the  ser 
vice,  it  moved  by  Alexandria,  Louisiana,  to  Texas,  and  at  this  writing, 
(December,  1865),  is  on  duty  in  that  State.  The  principal  event  which 
has  taken  place  in  the  regiment  since  its  service  in  Texas  was  the  flogging 
of  one  of  its  members  by  order  of  General  Custer,  who  in  thus  violating 
law  and  humanity,  and  from  the  hero  of  many  a  mad  charge  sinking  into 
the  hero  of  the  lash,  justly  received  the  indignant  condemnation  of  the 
people  of  Iowa,  and  of  all  who  know  that  it  takes  something  besides  mere 
audacity  to  maintain  the  reputation  of  a  soldier,  not  here  to  mention  that 
of  a  gentleman  also.  Governor  Stone  earnestly  protested  against  this  bar 
barous  code  adopted  by  the  long-haired  young  general,  and  asked  that  the 
regiment  might  be  taken  from  Custer' s  command,  and  honorably  discharged 
the  service.  General  Warren  in  person  made  request  of  Secretary  Stanton 
to  order  the  command  mustered  out,  and  it  is  probable  that  before  these 
pages  come  before  the  public  eye  the  First  Iowa  Cavalry  will  have  taken 
its  place  in  history.  And  though  it  is  true  that  the  regiment  was  not 
called  to  the  more  glorious  fields  of  action,  except  at  Prairie  Grove,  it  is 
nevertheless  the  fact  that  its  history  is  a  record  of  gallant  deeds  and  most 
valuable  service  extending  through  a  period  of  nearly  five  years.  It  served 
longer  than  any  of  our  regiments,  except  the  Eighth  and  Twelfth  Infantry, 


FIRST     CAVALRY.  373 

and  throughout  the  whole  of  its  active  career,  left  no  single  blot  on  its 
bright  record.4 

*  The  officers  of  the  regiment,  up  to  January,  1865,  as  shown  by  the  Adjutant-General's  Reports, 
were:  Colonels  Fitz  Henry  Warren,  James  0.  Gower,  Daniel  Anderson,  William  Thompson.  Lieu- 
tenanLColoneU  Charles  E.  Moss,  P.  Gad  Bryan,  Joseph  W.  Caldwell,  Alexander  G.  McQueen.  Majors 
E.  W.  Chamberlain,  J.  0.  Gower,  J.  W.  Caldwell,  William  M.  G.  Torrence,  P.  Gad  Bryan,  Daniel 
Anderson,  Levi  Chase,  William  Thompson,  A.  G.  McQueen,  James  D.  Jenks,  John  McDermott. 
Adjutants  Joseph  C.  Stone,  David  A.  Kerr,  John  A.  Donnell.  . 

LINE  OFFICERS.  Company  A — Captains  W.  M.  G.  Torrence,  A.  G.  McQueen,  Robert  M.  Reynolds  ; 
Lieutenants  A.  G.  McQueen,  R.  M.  Reynolds,  John  A.  Bishop,  John  R.  Marshall,  John  L.  Russell. 

Company  B — Captains  William  E.  Leffingwell,  Samuel  S.  Burdett,  Joseph  T.  Foster;  Lieutenants 
S.  S.  Burdett,  J.  T.  Foster,  William  H.  Defreest,  Henry  P.  Sniffer,  Hiram  S.  Heberling. 

Company  C—  Captains  Levi  Chase,  Thomas  Jones ;  Lieutenants  Benjamin  Raney,  Thomas  Jones, 
Albert  F.  Dean,  Matthew  Ronaldson,  William  A.  Clark,  Thomas  J.  R.  Perry,  Clinton  M.  Turner. 

Company  D — Captains  P.  Gad  Bryan,  James  D.  Jenks,  George  M.  Walker;  Lieutenants  James  D. 
Jenks,  William  R.  Shriver,  George  M.  Walker,  James  G.  Rutter,  William  B.  Ramsey. 

Company  E — Captains  William  Thompson,  Thomas  A.  Bereman ;  Lieutenants  William  P.  McClure, 
Silas  R.  Nugen,  Thomas  A.  Bereman,  Simmer  B.  Marshall,  William  A.  Coulter,  Christian  Kauffman. 

Company  F—  Captains  James  0.  Gower,  James  R.  Elliott,  Philip  E.  Shafer,  Charles  Dustin;  Lieu 
tenants  James  R.  Elliott,  Philip  E.  Shafer,  Charles  Dustin,  Jacob  Hursh,  Charles  W.  W.  Dow. 

Company  G — Captains  James  D.  Thompson,  John  McDermott ;  Lieutenants  H.  H.  Heath,  John 
McDermott,  E.  S.  Foster,  Solomon  Smith,  Albert  W7.  Hosford. 

Company  H—  Captains  Daniel  Anderson,  Riley  Wescoatt,  William  S.  Whisenand;  Lieutenants 
Riley  Wescoatt,  William  S.  Whisenand,  Albert  U.  McCormack,  Samuel  T.  Craig. 

Company  /—Captains  Joseph  W.  Caldwell,  David  C.  Dinsmore ;  Lieutenants  David  C.  Dinsmore, 
Amos  Dilley,  William  H.  Kitterman. 

Company  K — Captain  Robert  L.  Freeman ;  Lieutenants  Thomas  H.  Barnes,  Albert  L.  Freeman, 
Charles  F.  Keeler,  James  M.  Russell. 

Company  L — Captains  II.  H.  Heath,  David  C.  Mclntyre ;  Lieutenants  David  C.  Mclntyre,  James 
M.  Simeral,  John  M.  Enochs. 

Company  J/— Captains  William  II.  Ankeny,  James  P.  Crosby ;  Lieutenants  James  Crissy,  Edward 
A.  Dunhan,  James  P.  Crosby,  Solomon  Townsend. 

The  Surgeons  of  the  regiment  were:  M.  M.  Cochran,  Charles  H.  Lothrop  ;  and  Assistants  David  B. 
Allen,  Charles  H.  Lothrop,  Charles  B.  Bosbyshell,  Abraham  B.  Hershe,  James  Hervey,  Asa  Morgan  ; 
Quartermasters  Martin  L.  Morris,  Samuel  C.  Dicktrson,  C.  H.  Albers,  William  W.  Fluke ;  Commis 
sary  Henry  L.  Dashiell ;  Chaplains  Rev.  James  W.  Latham,  Rev.  James  S.  Rand. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

SECOND   CAVALRY. 

RENDEZVOUS  AT  DAVENPORT— MOVE  TO  ST.  LOUIS— BIRD'S  POINT— NEW  MADRID- 
ISLAND  NO.  TEN— SIEGE  OF  CORINTH— BATTLE  OF  FARMINGTON— RAIDS— BATTLE 
OF  IUKA— BATTLE  OF  CORINTH— RAIDS  AND  COMBATS— THE  GRIERSON  RAID- 
VARIOUS  MOVEMENTS— BATTLE  OF  MOSCOW— OPERATIONS  DURING  THE  WINTER 
OF  1863-4^REENLISTMENT— OPERATIONS  DURING  THE  SUMMER  OF  1864— BATTLE 
OF  TUPELO— OLD  TOWN  CREEK— EXPEDITION  TO  OXFORD— MOVE  TO  REENFORCE 
GENERAL  THOMAS— COMBATS,  BY  DAY  AND  NIGHT— BATTLE  OF  FRANKLIN- 
BATTLE  OF  NASHVILLE— MARCH  TO  HUNTSVILLE— HORSES  AND  ARMS  TURNED 
OVER  TO  OTHER  REGIMENTS— "  ROLL  OF  HONOR"— CONCLUSION. 

THE  various  companies  which  formed  the  Second  Iowa  Cavalry  were 
enrolled  in  different  parts  of  the  State,  the  counties  which  are  bordered  by 
the  Mississippi,  from  Clayton  to  Lee,  especially  Muscatine,  Scott  and  Jack 
son,  contributing  a  generous  share  of  its  constituent  parts,  whilst  Harrison 
on  the  Missouri,  Cerro  Gordo,  Mitchell,  Winnebago,  and  other  counties  of 
the  north,  Johnson,  Polk,  Hardin,  Tama,  Story,  and  several  others  of  the 
centre,  were  largely  represented  in  the  command.  The  rendezvous  of  the 
companies  for  regimental  organization  was  at  Davenport,  whither  they  pro 
ceeded  in  the  latter  part  of  the  summer  of  1861,  and  where  they  were  formally 
entered  the  service  of  the  United  States,  between  the  30th  of  August  and 
the  28th  of  September.  The  aggregate  strength  of  the  regiment,  when 
fully  organized,  was  about  one  thousand  and  fifty. 

Desirous  of  securing  an  experienced  and  efficient  commander  for  this 
troop  of  horse,  Governor  Kirkwood  offered  the  colonelcy  to  Captain  W.  L. 
Elliott,  of  the  Third  Cavalry,  United  States  army,  and  he,  receiving  the 
permission  of  the  War  Department,  accepted  the  commission.  "  He  was 
a  strict  disciplinarian,"  says  Sergeant  Pierce,  in  his  history  of  the  regiment, 
"  every  inch  a  soldier;  and  to  his  untiring  efforts  as  our  instructor  in  the 
science  of  war,  are  we  in  a  great  measure  indebted  for  whatever  honor  we 
afterwards  won  as  a  regiment."  Edward  Hatch,  who  had  been  captain  of 
Company  A,  was  Commissioned  Lieutenant-Colonel.  He  afterwards  became 
a  Brevet  Major-General,  and  one  of  the  best  cavalry  officers  in  the  service. 
374 


SECOND     CAVALRY.  375 

W.  P.  Hepburn,  of  Marshall  county,  Datus  E.  Coon,  of  Cerro  Gordo, 
and  Hiram  W.  Love,  of  Johnson,  were  the  majors ;  the  first  a  lawyer  and 
politician,  who  rose  one  rank,  the  second  an  editor,  who  became  a  general 
officer,  the  third,  a  man  of  business,  who  was  compelled  by  ill  health  to 
leave  the  service  before  promotion.  The  Adjutant  was  Charles  F.  Marden ; 
Quartermaster,  William  B.  Blaney ;  Commissary,  R.  M.  C.  Kirtland ; 
Surgeon,  George  Reeder ;  Assistant,  George  H.  Noyes ;  Chaplain,  Reverend 
Charles  G.  Truesdell,  which  last,  however,  was  not  appointed  immediately 
after  the  organization  of  the  regiment.1 

The  regiment  remained  near  Davenport  for  nearly  three  months  after  in 
formal  organization,  having  commodious,  comfortable  barracks  on  the  Scott 
County  Fair  Grounds,  and  a  fine  field  for  drill.  The  time  was  occupied  in 
learning  the  school  of  ' '  the  trooper  dismounted, ' '  and  acquiring  a  know 
ledge  of  fencing  under  a  German  adept  who  taught  the  officers  for  the 
trifling  consideration  of  five  dollars  each,  and  the  enlisted  men  for  half 
the  money.  So  that,  before  the  Second  Cavalry  had  left  Davenport,  offi 
cers  and  men  were  expert  in  the  use  of  the  sabre,  and  efficient  in  the 
foot  drill  of  troopers.  During  the  stay  of  the  regiment  here,  the  body  of 
Lieutenant-Colonel  "Wentz,  Seventh  Iowa,  who  was  the  first  field  officer 
from  the  State  to  fall  in  the  service,  was  returned  to  Davenport,  and  the 
Second  Cavalry  formed  part  of  the  large  procession  which  followed  this 
gallant  officer  to  the  grave.  Before  the  departure  of  the  regiment  Adjutant- 
General  Baker,  in  behalf  of  the  State  authorities,  presented  the  command 
with  a  stand  of  colors. 

The  7th  of  December  the  regiment  left  Davenport,  under  orders  to  pro 
ceed  to  Benton  Barracks,  Missouri.  Duly  reaching  the  barracks,  where 

i  To  continue  the  personal  account  of  the  regiment,  I  may  state,  that  the  captains  of  the  compa 
nies  were,  in  their  order:  Frank  Hatch,  Thomas  Wilson  (after  the  promotion  of  Captain  Hepburn 
.o  Major),  Henry  Egbert,  George  C.  Graves,  Frank  A.  Kendrick,  Granville  Berkley,  William  Lundy, 
James  P.  Sanford,  Stephen  A.  Bishop,  David  J.  Crocker,  William  W.  Eaton,  Joseph  McConnell. 
The  Lieutenants,  in  the  order  of  the  companies  were :  Charles  C.  Horton,  James  M.  Hannam  (soon 
appointed  Quartermaster  Second  Battalion,  and  succeeded  by  William  B.  Brunton) ;  Paul  A.  Queal, 
Richard  M.  Hampton  ;  Joseph  H.  Freeman  (soon  appointed  Adjutant  Second  Battalion  and  succeeded 
by  Michael  Connor),  Benjamin  F.  Stiles;  Gustavus  Washburn,  Joseph  E.  Jewett  (soon  promoted 
Major  Fovirth  Cavalry,  and  succeeded  by  Samuel  Noel);  Anton  Scherer,  Gustave  Schmitzer  (not 
long  after  organization  made  Adjutant  First  Battalion,  and  succeeded  by  James  P.  Metcalf);  Wil 
liam  L.  Church,  George  R.  Ammond;  William  Pickering,  Joseph  W.  Eystra;  George  B.  Harrington, 
Benjamin  Owen ;  William  W.  Mills  (December  1st,  made  Adjutant  Third  Battalion,  and  suc 
ceeded  by  John  W.  Wright),  A.  M.  Goodrich ;  Samuel  Gilbert  (promoted  Quartermaster  First  Batta 
lion,  December  1st,  and  succeeded  by  Charles  P.  Moore),  Jacob  F.  Bandy ;  W.  S.  Belden,  Frederick 
S.  Dunham ;  Samuel  Foster,  Andrew  D.  McCombs. 

I  should  have  stated  that  Lieutenant  George  R.  Amrnond  was  made  Quartermaster  of  the  Third 
Battalion  and  succeeded  in  the  line  by  Peter  Reilly,  who,  having  been  promoted  from  Second  Lieu 
tenant  was  succeeded  by  Thomas  G.  Beaham,  Lieutenant  Church  resigning  before  the  regiment  left 
the  State.  I  may  state,  too,  that  in  the  foregoing  list  of  the  line  officers.  I  have  endeavored  to  give 
the  names  of  those  who  left  the  rendezvous  with  the  regiment  for  the  front.  There  were  some  who 
were  commissioned  as  line  officers  in  the  regiment  who,  because  of  transfer  to  other  commands,  or 
resignation,  never  served  outside  of  the  Scott  county  Fair  Grounds,  with  the  Second  Cavalry. 


376  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

the  men  were  crowded  into  close  quarters,  they  began  at  once  to  become 
sick  with  one  complaint  or  another,  and  during  the  stay  of  the  regiment  at 
this  unhealthy  locality,  which  was  about  two  months,  it  lost  some  sixty  men 
by  death.  Here  the  men  drew  horses,  equipments,  and  sabres,  and  as 
many  as  were  not  prostrated  by  disease,  were  drilled  in  the  "school  of  the 
trooper  mounted. ' ' 

February  17th,  the  regiment  moved  by  steamer  down  the  river  to  Bird's 
Point.  The  notorious  rebel  Jeff.  Thompson  was  at  this  time  creating  trou 
ble  in  the  country  in  rear  of  Bird's  Point.  Major  Love,  with  his  battalion, 
marched  in  pursuit  of  him,  but  though  Colonel  Elliott  soon  moved  to  reen- 
force  the  Major,  Thompson  was  not  caught,  though  his  command  was  dis 
persed  by  other  troops  who  had  been  sent  out  for  a  similar  object.  The 
battalion  under  Major  Love  among  other  captures  took  possession  of  a 
newspaper  office  at  Charleston,  and  issued  one  number  of  the  "Indepen 
dent,  ' '  the  work  thereon,  both  editorial  and  mechanical,  being  done  by  men 
of  the  command. 

But  they  had  not  joined  the  army  to  engage  in  the  newspaporial  busi 
ness.  Returning  to  Bird's  Point  near  the  close  of  the  month,  the  regiment 
made  preparations  for  the  march  on  New  Madrid,  of  which,  indeed,  the 
movement  against  Thompson  was  a  preparatory  reconnoissance.  The  march 
of  the  cavalry  from  the  time  it  left  Bird's  Point  was  exceedingly  difficult. 
It  drove  in  the  enemy's  scouts  and  light  bodies  of  cavalry,  moving  all  the 
while  over  a  country  almost  impracticable,  fording,  sometimes  swimming 
swamps  scarcely  penetrable.  On  one  occasion  the  men  inarched  for  near 
half  a  day  through  water  up  to  their  horses'  bellies.  Meanwhile,  General 
Pope  had  sat  down  before  New  Madrid,  where  our  regiment  joined  him  on 
the  12th,  in  time  to  participate  in  the  attack  and  bombardment  of  that 
place,  in  so  far  as  cavalry  might  participate  therein.  From  the  time  of  the 
capture  of  the  city  to  the  6th  of  April  the  regiment  was  continually  occu 
pied  in  guarding  trains,  in  scouting,  and  on  picket  duty.  Upon  the  fall  of 
Island  No.  Ten  with  its  immense  materiel — the  grand  trophy  of  engineer 
ing  skill  of  the  whole  war — the  regiment  crossed  the  Mississippi,  and  its 
advance,  under  Lieutenant  Gustave  Schmitzer,  were  the  first  troops  to 
enter  the  Island.  This  officer,  with  eight  men  and  a  guide,  on  nearing  the 
rebel  works,  discovered  that  they  were  evacuated  by  the  enemy,  although 
many  stragglers  were  to  be  seen  on  every  side.  The  advance  dashed 
among  these,  and  supposing  the  entire  army  to  b^  upon  them  they  surren 
dered  to  the  number  of  eighty-six  before  Colonel  Elliott  came  up.  The 
regiment  captured  about  two  hundred  prisoners,  and  was  justly  entitled  to 
the  credit  of  being  the  first  to  enter  the  works  of  Island  No.  Ten.  It  pur 
sued  the  retreating  rebels  toward  Tiptonville,  beating  the  swampy  woods 
for  prisoners,  and  returned  to  camp  at  New  Madrid  after  an  absence  of  five 


SECOND     CAVALRY.  377 

days.  The  regiment  accompanied  the  expedition  down  the  river,  but  the 
attack  of  Fort  Pillow  was  abandoned,  and  our  regiment  landed  at  Hamburg, 
Tennessee,  on  the  23d,  and  at  once  took  position  on  the  left  of  General 
Halleck's  army  then  moving  on  Corinth  by  gradual  approaches. 

It  is  known  to  the  intelligent  reader  that  General  Pope  chafed  no  little 
under  the  bit  of  these  slow  approaches,  and  that  his  restive  nature  found 
as  much  exercise  as  was  compatible  with  Halleck's  order  "  not  to  bring  on 
a  general  engagement,"  in  frequent  reconnoissances  by  his  infantry  and 
raids  by  his  cavalry.  The  position  of  the  Army  of  the  Mississippi,  too,  on 
the  left  of  our  lines,  whence  the  enemy's  communications  by  the  Memphis 
and  Charleston  Railroad  were  threatened,  called  for  constant  vigilance  and 
no  little  activity  on  the  part  of  General  Pope.  Wherefore,  from  soon  after 
the  time  at  which  the  Second  Iowa  Cavalry,  an  active  regiment,  joined  in 
what  is  called  the  siege  of  Corinth,  until  the  evacuation,  more  than  a  month 
afterwards,  it  performed  services  of  great  value,  and  was  engaged  in  skir 
mishes  which  were  only  not  battles  because  fought  so  near  the  field  of 
Shiloh.  Thus,  to  illustrate  the  active  operations  of  the  command,  it 
marched  to  Monterey  on  the  29th,  attacked  and  destroyed  a  considerable 
camp  of  the  enemy,  and  took  eleven  prisoners,  losing  one  man  killed,  and 
three  wounded  in  the  affair.  A  few  days  afterwards  it  moved  southward 
and,  having  destroyed  a  heavy  trestle-work  on  the  railroad  with  much  of 
the  track  besides,  returned  safely  to  camp,  bringing  in  a  number  of 
prisoners,  wagons,  and  mules. 

On  the  8th  of  May,  General  Pope  made  a  reconnoissance  in  force  to  the 
town  of  Farmington,  at  that  time  considerably  in  advance  of  our  main 
lines.  He  drove  the  rebels  from  the  town  and  took  possession  thereof,  but 
in  the  evening  retired  with  his  main  force,  leaving  only  a  picket  in  the 
place.  In  the  operations  of  this  day  the  Second  Cavalry  lost  two  men 
killed  and  six  wounded.  Lieutenant  Washburn  here  cut  his  way  through 
the  enemy,  after  being  surrounded,  but  lost  his  horse,  which  fell  beneath 
him,  struck  by  a  dozen  bullets. 

On  the  next  day  the  severe  skirmish,  which  has  been  called  the  battle  of 
Farmington,  took  place.  General  Paine,  commanding  a  force  of  some  half- 
dozen  regiments,  remained,  after  the  reconnoissance  of  the  8th,  in  advance 
of -General  Pope's  camp,  and  beyond  a  creek  flowing  hard  by.  The  rebels, 
for  the  purpose  of  capturing  this  advance  guard  of  the  Army  of  the  Mis- 
sisippi,  moved  from  behind  their  works  in  heavy  force  on  the  morning  of 
the  9th,  Price  making  a  considerable  detour  to  the  right,  to  get  in  rear  of 
Paine,  and  Van  Dorn  moving  for  direct  attack.  Happily,  Price  moved  too 
far  to  the  right  to  accomplish  the  object,  or  Van  Dorn  delivered  attack  too 
soon,  so  that  Paine,  after  an  obstinate  fight  of  several  hours'  duration,  was 
able  to  make  good  his  retreat  to  the  principal  encampment. 

48 


378  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

But  it  is  next  to  certain  he  would  have  been  cut  off,  had  it  not  been  for 
the  invaluable  services  of  the  Second  Cavalry.  A  little  after  ten  o'clock 
Lieutenant- Colonel  Hatch,  commanding  the  regiment,  received  an  order 
from  Colonel  Elliott,  commanding  brigade,  to  hasten  to  the  assistance  of 
Paine.  In  five  minutes,  the  regiment  was  mounted  and  galloping  to  the 
aid  of  their  comrades  beyond  the  creek.  Coming  upon  the  field,  Paine 
was  discovered  in  retreat  before  an  overwhelming  force  of  rebels — several 
thousand  infantry  and  twenty-four  pieces  of  artillery.  The  Union  forces 
could  retreat  only  by  a  single  line  across  the  creek,  where  there  was  but  the 
merest  apology  for  a  bridge.  Paine  was  in  imminent  danger  of  capture. 
The  rebels  were  preparing  to  charge,  and,  could  they  gain  a  certain 
eminence  lying  between  the  two  forces  with  their  artillery,  they  would  com 
mand  the  bridge  and  render  passage  impossible.  To  prevent  the  rebels 
from  gaining  this  coveted  eminence  the  Second  Iowa  was  ordered  to  form 
for  a  charge.  Drawing  their  sabres,  the  men  instantly  took  position,  and 
were  soon  sweeping  over  the  hill  in  a  mad  but  resistless  charge.  Protected 
somewhat  by  the  cloud  of  dust  which  the  horses  raised,  the  regiment 
dashed  right  on  the  rebel  artillery,  and  actually  drove  the  gunners  from 
their  pieces.  But  a  large  army  of  infantry  was  in  support,  and  the  regi 
ment  was  repulsed.  Paine,  however,  had  time  to  eifect  a  crossing  of  the 
creek,  and  when  the  Second  regained  its  position  the  battle  was  ended. 

It  had  saved  the  day.  The  charge  only  occupied  a  few  minutes'  time, 
but  in  that  short  period  fifty  of  the  regiment  had  been  killed  and  wounded, 
and  as  many  more  unhorsed  by  the  "fire  of  the  enemy.  It  was  a  charge  of 
the  utmost  audacity,  the  like  of  which  ,was  never  made  except  by  troops 
of  the  most  daring  courage.  Captain  Henry  Egbert,  Captain  William 
Lundy,  and  Lieutenant  Benjamin  Owen  were  wounded,  the  last  named 
being  also  captured.  The  conduct  of  men  and  officers,  says  the  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  commanding,  was  in  every  respect  commendatory ;  and  he  specially 
mentions  Major  Coon,  Major  Hepburn,  Captains  Crocker,  McConnell,  Ken- 
drick,  Eaton,  Egbert,  Lundy,  Bishop,  Graves,  Freeman,  and  Lieutenants 
Moore,  Reily  (who  carried  two  of  the  enemy's  guns),  Foster,  Bilden,  Owen, 
Horton,  Queal  (who  daringly  cheered  his  men  to  the  very  muzzles  of  the 
rebel  cannon),  Schmitzer,  Metcalf,  and  Eystra,  as  having  exhibited  gallant 
and  meritorious  conduct. 

The  regiment  made  good  its  retreat  to  camp,  but  did  not  have  many  days 
of  rest  before  it  was  again  ordered  to  move.  On  the  13th,  a  part  of  the 
command  had  a  skirmish  near  Farmington,  but  met  with  no  loss.  Mean 
while  the  army  steadily  but  slowly  approached  Corinth,  and  by  the  20th 
was  strongly  entrenched  behind  works  which,  at  an  average  distance  of 
about  four  miles  from  the  town,  extended  from  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  rail 
road  on  the  north  round  to  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  railroad  on  the 


SECOND     CAVALRY.  379 

east.  Now  there  was  much  for  the  army  to  do.  Siege  guns  were  to  be 
brought  up,  batteries  were  to  be  completed,  and  a  thousand  other  things 
done  before  a  bombardment  could  be  fully  commenced.  The  main  army 
was  not  idle,  and  the  cavalry  was  active.  On  the  26th,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Hatch  made  a  reconnoissance  to  the  south  of  our  lines,  performing  a  very 
laborious  night  march,  now  over  hills  and  now  through  swamps,  to  the 
vicinity  of  Jacinto,  returning  on  the  following  morning  with  valuable  infor 
mation. 

By  this  time  Halleck  was  about  ready  to  fight,  or  if  he  was  not  his  army 
was.  The  enemy's  communications  on  the  east  were  destroyed,  another 
movement  of  our  forces  on  the  right  would  destroy  them  on  the  west,  and 
the  destruction  of  the  railroad,  south,  would  leave  Beauregard  completely 
isolated  at  Corinth,  before  a  mighty  army  impatient  for  battle  and  confident 
of  victory.  Colonel  Elliott,  commanding  the  Second  Brigade,  cavalry 
division,  which  Brigade  consisted  of  the  Second  Iowa  and  Second  Michigan, 
was  selected  to  perform  this  difficult  and  dangerous  sendee.  He  was 
ordered  to  march  to  Boonville,  and  destroy  the  railway  there  and  a  large 
quantity  of  supplies,  known  to  be  in  depot  at  that  place.  He  left  camp 
at  midnight  of  the  28th.  The  result  of  the  exploit  is  thus  summed  up  by 
General  Pope  in  a  dispatch  to  General  Halleck : 

"It  gives  me  pleasure  to  report  the  brillliant  success  of  the  expedition 
sent  out  on  the  28th  inst. ,  under  Colonel  Elliott,  with  the  Second  Iowa 
Cavalry.  After  forced  marches,  day  and  night,  through  a  very  difficult 
country  and  obstructed  by  the  enemy,  he  finally  succeeded  in  reaching  the 
Mobile  and  Ohio  railroad  at  Boonville,  at  two  o'clock,  A.M.,  on  the  30th. 
He  destroyed  the  track  in  many  places  south  and  north  of  the  town,  blew 
up  one  culvert,  destroyed  the  switch,  and  burned  the  depot  and  locomotive 
and  train  of  twenty-six  cars  loaded  with  supplies  of  all  kinds.  He  destroyed 
ten  thousand  stand  of  small  arms,  three  pieces  of  artillery,  and  a  great 
quantity  of  clothing  and  ammunition  and  paroled  two  thousand  prisoners 
which  he  could  not  keep  with  his  cavalry.  The  enemy  had  heard  of  his 
movements,  and  had  a  train  of  box  cars,  with  flying  artillery  and  five  thou 
sand  infantry  running  up  and  down  the  road  to  prevent  him  from  reaching 
it.  The  whole  road  was  lined  with  pickets.  Colonel  Elliott's  command 
subsisted  on  meat  alone,  such  as  they  could  find  in  the  country.  For 
daring  and  dispatch,  this  expedition  has  been  distinguished  in  the  highest 
degree,  and  entitles  Colonel  Elliott  and  his  command  to  high  distinction. 
The  result  will  be  embarrassing  to  the  enemy,  and  contribute  greatly  to  their 
loss  and  demoralization." 

After  due  allowance  for  General  Pope's  imaginative  turn  of  mind,  it  is 
true  that  this  raid  was  a  brilliant  exploit.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hatch  reports 
substantially  the  facts  of  Pope's  dispatch,  and  they  are  therefore  true. 


380  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

The  rebel  general  Beauregard,  smarting  under  the  lashes  of  Southern 
public  opinion  which  were  laid  on  him  mercilessly  for  his  evacuation  of 
Corinth,  published  a  letter  in  the  Mobile  News,  denying  the  statements, 
making  light  of  Colonel  Elliott's  achievement,  and  actually  charging  him 
with  burning  alive  four  sick  rebel  soldiers,  who  were  in  the  depot !  But 
Brigadier-General  Granger  flatly  contradicts  Beauregard,  and  fully  corro 
borates  Pope.  The  sick  were  all  removed,  and  the  captures  made  as  stated. 
The  loss  of  the  Second  Iowa  on  the  expedition  was  two  men  killed,  the 
same  number  wounded,  and  a  few  captured,  the  whole  being  less  than 
half  a  score.  For  his  success  in  this  affair  Colonel  Elliott  was  soon  after 
wards  promoted  a  brigadier-general.  He  was  succeeded  in  the  Colonelcy 
by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hatch,  who  was  succeeded  by  Major  Hepburn.  Cap 
tain  Frank  A.  Kendrick,  of  Company  E,  was  promoted  Major.  But  these 
promotions  were  not  made  till  about  one  month  after  the  affair  of  Boon- 
ville,  or  the  commissions  received  till  some  time  after  that. 

Meantime,  the  regiment  performed  much  active  service.  Company  E, 
being  a  part  of  General  Pope's  body-guard,  was  about  the  first  troop  to 
enter  Corinth,  after  its  evacuation.  The  regiment  was  soon  in  camp  near 
by,  but  did  not  remain  inactive.  About  this  time,  the  Second  Michigan 
Cavalry,  in  the  brigade  with  the  Second  Iowa,  received  a  new  commander, 
in  the  person  of  Colonel  Philip  Henry  Sheridan.  This  officer,  now  Major- 
General  Sheridan,  and  Edward  Hatch,  had  many  qualities  in  common — 
dashing  bravery,  unbending  will,  great  energy,  quick  and  clear  perception. 
They  both  had  iron  constitutions  too,  and  were  almost  invulnerable  by 
fatigue.  But  perhaps  that  which  gave  them  so  much  power  over  their 
troops  so  that  they  would  go  any  where  and  do  any  thing  ordered,  was  the 
fact  that  they  never  wanted  their  men  to  go  or  do  where  they  were  not 
themselves  willing  to  join.  They  now  commenced  their  career  together, 
and  as  Sheridan  became  one  of  the  best  general  officer?  in  the  service  or  in 
any  service,  so  did  Hatch  become  the  most  efficient  leader  of  cavalry  in 
the  Union  armies. 

If  I  have  not  been  misled  by  statements  in  publications  of  a  general  na 
ture,  Colonel  Sheridan  was  under  Elliott  in  the  Boonville  expedition  of 
which  mention  has  already  been  made.  After  the  evacuation  of  Corinth, 
the  cavalry  was  posted  south  of  that  place,  in  the  vicinity  of  Boonville,  as 
a  cover  for  the  Union  army.  During  the  first  half  of  June,  it  was  con 
stantly  engaged  in  scouts,  reconnoissances,  and  skirmishes.  The  Second 
Iowa  was  then  relieved  from  duty  at  the  front,  and  moved  to  camp  near 
Farmington,  where  for  near  a  fortnight  the  command  enjoyed  rest  and 
blackberries.  It  had  been  almost  constantly  engaged  in  active  operations 
in  the  field  for  four  months.  "  We  had  saddled  up,"  says  Sergeant  Pierce, 
"  nearly  every  morning  at  three  o'clock,  and  much  of  the  time  we  had  slept 


SECOND     CAVALRY.  381 

at  night  in  line  of  battle,  each  man  holding  his  horse  by  the  bridle. 
Hardly  a  day  during  this  time  had  passed  without  more  or  less  skirmishing 
by  the  regiment  with  the  rebels."  During  this  period  it  had  been  engaged 
in  three  campaigns — those  of  New  Madrid,  Island  No.  Ten,  and  Corinth — 
and,  besides  its  scoutings,  raids,  reconnoissances,  laborious  marches,  and 
ordinary  combats,  had,  by  its  splendid  charge  at  Farmington,  saved  at  once 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  Union  army,  and  redeemed  the  mounted  arm 
of  the  service  from  the  general  reputation  of  inefficiency  which  up  to  that 
time  had  obtained. 

But  rest  and  blackberries  were  not  long  enjoyed.  In  the  latter  part  of 
June,  the  bugle  again  called  the  command  to  saddle,  and  on  the  1st  of 
July  it  was  fighting  the  battle  of  Boonville.  This  brilliant  Union  victory, 
gained  by  Colonel  Sheridan,  in  command  of  a  brigade  consisting  of  his  own 
and  the  Second  Iowa  regiments  of  cavalry  was  brought  about  like  this : 
Colonel  Sheridan  in  the  latter  part  of  June  moved  to  Boonville  with  his 
command,  for  the  purpose  of  covering  the  main  army,  twenty  miles  in  rear, 
and  of  observing  the  rebels  who  were  near  by  and  bent  on  mischief.  On 
the  1st  of  July,  he  was  attacked  by  a  rebel  force  of  nine  regiments,  num 
bering  nearly  five  thousand  men,  under  the  command  of  Chalmers.  After 
skirmishing  for  some  time,  Sheridan  fell  back  toward  his  camp,  advantage 
ously  situated  on  the  edge  of  a  swamp,  where  he  could  not  readily  be 
flanked.  Here  the  Second  Michigan  dismounted,  and  acting  as  riflemen 
on  the  centre,  the  Second  Iowa  on  the  wings  harassing  and  galling  the 
enemy's  flanks,  he  held  the  rebels  at  bay  for  some  time.  Finding  that 
they  were  likely  to  surround  him,  Sheridan  had  recourse  to  that  ready 
strategy  and  fine  audacity  which  have  since  placed  him  among  the  first 
captains  of  modern  history.  He  sent  a  detachment  of  the  Second  Cavalry, 
numbering  less  than  one  hundred  men,  around  to  the  rear  of  the  enemy  by 
a  detour  of  several  miles,  with  orders  to  attack  promptly  and  vigorously  at 
a  certain  time,  while  he  would  make  a  simultaneous  charge  in  front.  The 
plan  succeeded  admirably.  The  detachment  gained  the  enemy's  rear, 
without  having  been  seen  till  the  men  were  near  enough  to  fire  their  car 
bines,  and,  having  emptied  these,  they  dashed  with  drawn  sabres  upon  the 
enemy,  who,  supposing  them  to  be  the  advance  guard  of  a  large  force,  were 
thrown  into  disorder.  Before  they  had  time  to  recover  from  their  confu 
sion  and  dismay,  Sheridan  charged  them  in  front  with  such  fury  that  they 
fled  from  the  field  in  utter  rout,  leaving  many  dead  and  wounded  in  our 
hands.  They  retreated  twenty  miles,  throwing  away  arms,  knapsacks, 
coats,  and  everything  which  could  impede  their  flight  before  our  pursuing 
riders.  This  brilliant  affair  made  "Phil.  Sheridan"  a  brigadier-general. 
He  had  whipped,  and  badly  whipped,  nearly  five  thousand  men  with  only 


382  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

about  eight  hundred,  for  this  was  the  strength  of  his  command  at  this 
time. 

Colonel  Hatch — for  he  had  been  commissioned  Colonel  two  days  before 
the  fight — here  fought  splendidly.  It  would  have  been  quite  impossible 
for  Sheridan  to  have  won  the  battle  without  the  most  hearty  and  skilful 
cooperation  on  the  part  of  Hatch  and  his  command.  The  regiment  never 
behaved  better.  Colonel  Hatch  speaks  in  high  terms  of  the  conduct  of  the 
regiment,  and  makes  special  mention  of  the  gallantry  of  Captains  Gilbert 
and  Queal.  The  loss  of  the  regiment,  considering  the  character  of  the 
engagement,  was  remarkably  small,  being  only  twenty-two,  killed,  wounded, 
and  missing. 

After  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy,  the  regiment  returned  to  camp  at  Boon 
ville,  and  there  remained  a  few  days,  when  it  moved  to  Kienzi,  about  half 
way  between  Boonville  and  Corinth,  arriving  the  9th  of  July.  Here  the 
regiment  had  its  encampment  for  nearly  two  months,  during  the  most  of 
which  period  it  was  quiet.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  month,  Colonel  Hatch 
made  a  reconnoissance  to  Bipley,  but  finding  no  enemy  returned  after 
marching  about  sixty-five  miles.  About  one  month  afterwards,  too,  the 
quiet  of  camp  was  suddenly  broken  by  an  attack  on  the  part  of  the  rebel 
Faulkner,  with  some  two  thousand  five  hundred  troopers.  The  attack  was 
so  suddenly  made  that  it  came  near  being  a  surprise.  Colonel  Hatch  was 
sitting  on  court-martial  at  Bienzi.  Adjourning  the  court  he  hastened  to 
the  camp,  and  soon  was  in  pursuit  of  Faulkner,  who  was  driven  off  quite 
as  rapidly  as  he  had  come  up.  Hatch  pursued  him  on  the  gallop  for  many 
miles,  overtaking  him  two  or  three  times,  and  inflicting  damage,  and  at 
last  putting  him  in  utter  rout,  with  a  loss  of  a  number  of  prisoners  and  a 
large  quantity  of  arms  and  ammunition.  In  the  affair  the  Second  Iowa 
lost  six  men  wounded  and  four  horses  killed.  Four  men  were  also  lost 
from  fatigue  and  heat. 

The  "fall  campaign"  of  our  regiment  was  one  of  exceeding  activity, 
embracing  the  battle  of  luka,  the  battle  of  Corinth,  and  General  Grant's 
expedition  into  Central  Mississippi,  as  the  principal  movements  in  which  it 
took  part.  This  period  of  active  operations,  so  far  as  the  Second  Iowa 
Cavalry  is  concerned,  began  early  in  September  and  closed  about  the  close 
of  the  year,  when  Grant,  abandoning  his  designs  on  Vicksburg  for  the 
present,  fell  back  behind  the  frontier  of  Tennessee. 

On  the  5th  of  September,  the  cavalry  at  Bienzi  broke  camp  and  marched 
southward  with  the  object  of  observing  Price,  who  was  reported  moving 
northward  with  a  heavy  column  of  rebels.  That  astute  general,  however, 
made  good  his  march  to  luka,  having  passed  by  Boonville  on  the  east 
before  the  cavalry  reached  that  place.  It  returned  to  Bienzi.  On  the  day 
of  the  battle  of  luka,  the  cavalry  marched  far  to  the  right  of  General  Bose- 


SECOND     CAVALRY.  383 

crans'  principal  column,  and  at  Pay  ton's  Mills  had  a  brisk  skirmish  with 
Faulkner's  troopers,  routing  them  in  a  few  minutes,  a  number  of  killed, 
wounded,  and  prisoners  falling  into  our  hands.  Though  the  Second  Iowa 
Cavalry  this  day  marched  forty-five  miles,  had  a  skirmish  with  the  enemy, 
and  captured  and  destroyed  a  rebel  camp,  with  much  property,  upon 
returning  to  the  field  of  luka,  it  was  ordered  to  stand  to  horse  all  night. 
On  the  20th  it  moved  to  luka,  and  entered  that  place  just  as  Price's  rear 
guard  was  leaving.  Hatch  took  the  advance  in  the  pursuit,  and  compelled 
the  rebels  to  abandon  a  part  of  their  train.  But  he  was  ordered  to  Jacinto 
in  the  evening. 

With  the  cavalry,  the  campaign  of  Corinth  immediately  followed  the 
battle  of  luka.  Colonel  Hatch,  now  commanding  a  brigade  of  troopers, 
was  constantly  engaged  scouting,  reconnoitering,  gaining  information  as  to 
the  movements  and  strength  of  the  enemy.  General  Rosecrans  called 
Hatch's  Cavalry  "the  eye  of  the  army."  His  troopers  were  perpetually 
in  the  saddle,  by  night  as  well  as  by  day,  so  that  a  crow  could  scarcely  fly 
over  the  field  of  their  observations  without  their  knowledge.  They  per 
formed  services  which  did  much  to  enable  General  Rosecrans  to  win  the 
remarkable  victory  of  Corinth  early  in  October.  In  that  battle,  the  Second 
Iowa  also  did  good  service  on  our  light,  the  first  and  second  battalions  act 
ing  as  couriers  and  provost  guard  on  the  field.  The  regiment  joined  in  the 
pursuit  which  followed  the  battle,  going  as  far  as  Ripley,  and  returning  to 
Corinth  on  the  13th. 

The  battle  of  Corinth  was  the  last  general  engagement  which  took  place 
in  the  department  with  which  we  now  have  to  do  during  the  year  1862, 
except  the  disastrous  battle  of  Chickasaw  Bayou  near  the  end  of  the  year. 
But  General  Grant's  campaign  in  central  Mississippi,  whilst  resulting  in  no 
advantage  to  the  Union  cause,  required  heavy  and  constant  duty  from  the 
cavalry.  For  the  purpose  of  joining  in  this  campaign,  the  Second  Cavalry 
moved  from  Corinth  the  2d  of  November,  arriving  at  Grand  Junction  the 
4th.  Here  it  remained  till  the  12th.  From  this  time  till  the  28th  of 
December,  it  was  almost  all  the  while  on  the  move,  Major  Coon  in  com 
mand,  Colonel  Hatch  being  in  command  of  the  brigade.  An  imperfect 
outline  of  its  history  during  this  period  of  activity  may  be  laid  down  thus : 
The  12th,  moved  in  reconnoissance  on  Holly  Springs,  skirmishing  nearly 
all  day,  Captain  Horton  adroitly  "gobbling"  a  rebel  patrol  in  the  evening, 
entered  Holly  Springs  next  morning  driving  the  rebels  out  of  town,  while 
Lieutenant  Foster  this  day,  in  command  of  a  company,  absolutely  whipped 
a  whole  regiment;  the  19th,  Hatch  marched  on  Ripley,  some  thirty-five 
miles  southeast  of  Grand  Junction,  dashed  into  the  town  on  the  morning 
of  the  20th,  dispersed  a  large  force  of  rebels  under  Faulkner,  capturing 
many  prisoners,  horses,  and  mules;  on  the  28th,  the  cavalry  marched 


384  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

southward  from  the  junction,  forming  the  advance  of  the  main  army  which 
this  day  moved ;  the  next  day,  the  troopers  drove  the  enemy  from  Holly 
Springs  again,  and  compelled  them  to  seek  cover  behind  their  strong  works 
on  the  Tallahatchee ;  Grant  having  flanked  them  from  their  works,  Hatch 
crossed  the  river  on  the  2d  of  December,  and  joined  Colonel  Lee,  com 
manding  cavalry  division,  at  Oxford,  skirmishing  much  on  the  way,  and 
capturing  on  this  day  more  than  one  hundred  prisoners  ;7  Colonel  Dickey, 
Fourth  Illinois  Cavalry,  having  assumed  command  of  the  division,  the 
battle  of  Coffeeville  was  fought  on  the  5th,  wherein  the  Unionists  sustained 
a  severe  defeat,  and  were  saved  from  utter  rout  by  Colonel  Hatch,  who,  as 
well  as  Colonel  Lee,  had  demurred  to  the  advance  which  brought  our 
troopers  so  near  destruction  at  the  hands  of  a  vastly  superior  force ;  the 
regiment  here  lost  twenty-two,  killed  and  wounded,  and  was  filled  with 
chagrin  at  this  unnecessary  defeat,  the  more  so,  because,  before  Colonel 
Dickey  took  command,  the  cavalry  had  advanced  sixty  miles  without  dis 
aster,  and  had  sent  one  thousand  five  hundred  prisoners  to  the  rear;  the 
command  retired  to  the  "  Yocana"  River;  on  the  14th,  marched  on  a  raid  to 
the  southeast,  going  to  Tupelo  and  Okolona,  and  destroying  large  quan 
tities  of  forage  and  commissary  stores;  returning  by  Pontotoc,  Colonel 
Hatch  there  learned  that  Van  Dorn  was  moving  against  Holly  Springs,  and 
advised  that  he  be  harassed  and  delayed  by  the  troopers,  but  Colonel 
Dickey  not  seeing  the  importance  of  the  advice  disregarded  it,  whereby 
Van  Dorn  accomplished  the  defeat  of  the  whole  expedition ;  Hatch  was 
again  in  motion  on  the  21st,  but  now  forming  the  rear-guard  of  the  army, 
retiring  northward,  and  destroying  the  railway  to  a  complete  wreck  between 
Coffeeville  and  the  Tallahatchee ;  on  Christmas  day  the  brigade  saddled  up 
for  a  rapid  march  eastward  with  the  object  of  intercepting  Van  Dorn  at 
Okolona;  in  this,  notwithstanding  the  swiftness  of  his  march,  Colonel 
Hatch  failed,  and  on  the  28th  returned  to  camp,  when  the  campaign  closed. 
The  regiment  marched  to  La  Grange,  Tennessee,  and  went  into  winter 
quarters. 

The  campaigns  of  the  year  1863  were  everywhere  memorable,  and  were, 
in  fact,  decisive  of  the  contest,  in  favor  of  the  Union  arms.  The  capture 
of  Vicksburg,  the  defeat  of  Lee  at  Gettysburg,  the  great  victory  at  Chatta 
nooga,  placed  the  military  power  of  the  insurgents  in  a  waning  condition, 
and  made  their  defeat  a  mere  question  of  time.  These,  the  three  great 
events  of  the  year,  were  accompanied  by  innumerable  lesser  achievements, 
which,  combined  with  the  others,  made  patent  the  fact  that  the  armies  of 
Union  Volunteers  were  the  most  accomplished  troops,  the  most  efficient 
soldiers,  the  world  had  ever  seen.  Perhaps  the  Vicksburg  campaign  was 
better  illustrative  of  this  than  any  other,  and  not  only  because  of  the 
bravery,  endurance  and  all  soldierly  qualities  of  the  troops  directly  engaged, 


SECOND     CAVALRY.  385 

but  of  those  also  who  took  part  in  the  campaign,  indirectly  arid  at  a  dis 
tance  ;  many  of  whom,  indeed,  took  part  therein  so  indirectly  and  at  such 
a  distance,  that  careless  thinkers  might  not  have  thought  of  any  connection 
at  all  between  the  auxiliaries  and  the  principal  command. 

The  troops  whose  cantonments  were  along  our  frontier  lines  in  Tennessee 
and  Mississippi,  gained  by  the  campaigns  of  1862 — Henry,  Donelson, 
Shiloh,  Corinth,  in  May,  and  Corinth,  in  October — were  General  Grant's 
auxiliaries,  and  many  of  these  commands,  though  they  never  saw  Vicks- 
burg,  had  good  right  to  inscribe  that  victory  on  their  banners.  Among  the 
most  active  of  these  was  the  Second  Iowa  Cavalry,  whose  services,  during 
the  first  part  of  the  era  under  consideration  especially,  were  not  only  bril 
liant,  but  of  great  value  to  the  Union  arms. 

Leaving  winter  quarters  at  La  Grange,  the  10th  of  March,  1863,  Colonel 
Hatch,  for  about  one  month,  was  actively  engaged  in  operations  over  a 
considerable  portion  of  northern  Mississippi — preventing  the  concentration 
of  rebel  forces,  capturing  and  destroying  property  contraband  of  war,  and 
in  many  ways  inflicting  damage  on  the  insurgents — marching  several  hun 
dred  miles  altogether,  and  performing  several  exploits  of  great  skill  and 
daring.  These  operations  over,  Colonel  Hatch,  commanding  brigade,  made 
preparations  for  that  movement,  which  gained  so  much  eclat  at  the  time, 
which  was  of  great  value  to  the  principal  campaign  under  Grant,  and 
which  was  called 

"TELE  GRIERSON  RAID." 

The  orders  for  this  expedition  were  made  known  in  camp  on  the  after 
noon  of  April  16th.  The  column,  consisting  of  the  Second  Iowa,  the 
Sixth  Illinois,  Lieutenant-Colonel  R.  Loomis,  the  Seventh  Illinois,  Colonel 
Edward  Prince,  with  five  pieces  of  light  artillery,  two-pounders,  was  to 
move  early  the  next  morning,  with  the  object  of  cutting  the  railroad  and 
telegraph  communications  with  the  rebel  army  at  Vicksburg,  in  rear  of 
that  city,  of  inflicting  damage  generally  upon  the  enemy's  resources  in 
central  Mississippi,  having  done  which,  it  was  to  make  way  by  the  best 
route  it  could  find  into  the  Union  lines  in  the  Department  of  the  Gulf. 
On  the  night  of  the  16th,  Colonel  B.  H.  Grierson,  Sixth  Illinois,  arrived 
at  La  Grange  and  assumed  command  of  the  expedition,  by  virtue  of 
seniority  of  rank. 

On  the  next  morning  the  column  started  on  this  wild  march,  and 
bivouacked  for  the  night  near  Ripley.  Here  Colonel  Hatch  separated  from 
the  principal  command  moving  at  some  distance  to  the  left  thereof,  skir 
mishing  all  day  of  the  18th  with  Smith's  regiment  of  partisans.  He  re 
joined  the  column  a  few  miles  south  of  Pontotoc,  and  led  the  advance 
thence,  avoiding  Houston,  to  Clear  Spring,  about  thirteen  miles  southeast 


386  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

of  Houston.  Colonel  Hatch  now  had  under  his  command  only  about  five 
hundred  men,  Major  Love  having  returned  to  La  Grange  with  a  consider 
able  detachment,  including,  I  believe,  troopers  from  all  the  regiments  in  the 
column.  At  Clear  Spring,  Colonel  Hatch  again  left  the  column  with  his 
regiment,  and  took  no  further  direct  part  in  the  raid.  Colonel  Grierson 
moved  on,  and,  after  destroying  many  miles  of  railway  and  telegraph,  im 
mense  quantities  of  property,  making  a  successful  diversion  in  favor  of 
General  Grant,  marching  through  sunshine  and  storm,  surmounting  almost 
insurmountable  difficulties,  reached  Baton  Rouge  on  the  2d  of  May.  "  This 
expedition,"  says  General  Grant  himself,  "was  skilfully  conducted,  and  re 
flects  great  credit  on  Colonel  Grierson  and  all  of  his  command.  It  has  been 
one  of  the  most  brilliant  cavalry  exploits  of  the  war,  and  will  be  handed 
down  in  history  as  an  example  to  be  imitated."  Colonel  Grierson' s  name 
at  once  became  the  synonym  for  energy  and  pluck,  and  he  was  most  justly 
promoted  for  his  gallant  achievement. 

But  it  is  probably  true  that  Colonel  Hatch  insured  the  success  of  the  ex 
pedition,  in  like  manner  as  Sherman,  on  a  grander  scale,  insured  the  suc 
cess  of  our  arms  on  Missionary  Ridge,  himself  bearing  the  heavy  brunt  of 
battle  and  appearing  to  be  defeated,  whilst  other  corps  and  other  generals 
pressed  on  to  the  glorious  victory  which  his  immolation  was  placing  within 
their  power.  On  the  morning  of  the  21st,  Colonel  Grierson  pushed  on 
directly  southward  from  Clear  Spring,  leaving  orders  with  Colonel  Hatch 
to  proceed  to  the  railroad  at  West  Point,  destroy  the  railroad  bridge  over 
the  Oka  Tibbyhah  south  of  that  place,  thence  move  rapidly  southward  to 
Macon,  and,  having  there  destroyed  the  railroad  and  government  stores,  re 
turn  northward  to  La  Grange  by  such  route  as  might  be  found  practicable. 
Inasmuch,  however,  as  Colonel  Hatch  was  in  the  first  place  to  attract  the 
attention  of  the  enemy  to  himself,  and  to  conceal  by  a  stratagem  the  march 
of  Grierson — which  he  did  so  successfully  as  to  give  the  principal  column 
nearly  two  days'  start  of  the  forces  which  had  concentrated  against  it — it 
was  very  soon  discovered  that  Hatch  would  have  all  that  it  was  within  the 
power  of  man  to  do  to  accomplish  a  retreat  for  his  own  command. 

Spending  some  time  in  obliterating  Colonel  Grierson 's  trial,  Hatch 
marched  in  the  direction  of  West  Point,  but  had  proceeded  only  about  ten 
miles,  when,  at  the  village  of  Palo  Alto,  he  was  attacked  in  rear  and  on 
both  flanks  by  a  force  consisting  of  Smith's  regiment  of  partisan  rangers, 
Bartoe's  regiment,  and  Inge's  battalion,  all  under  General  Gholson,  whilst 
between  him  and  West  Point  was  an  Alabama  regiment  with  several  pieces 
of  artillery.  Willing  to  continue  the  deceit  upon  the  enemy  who  supposed 
they  were  attacking  Grierson' s  main  column,  Hatch  made  a  most  gallant 
fight,  using  his  little  two-pounder,  his  revolving  rifles  and  his  carbines  to 
the  best  advantage,  driving  the  enemy  some  three  miles,  capturing  arms 


SECOND     CAVALRY.  387 

and  horses,  and  retaking  a  company  which  had  been  cut  off  on  the  first  at 
tack.  Yet  he  kept  his  men  so  well  concealed  behind  hedges  and  fences 
that  he  suffered  no  loss,  whilst  the  rebels  acknowledged  that  twenty-five 
of  their  number  had  been  killed  and  wounded. 

Correctly  judging  that  the  time  consumed  in  the  skirmish  at  Palo  Alto 
had  given  the  rebels  opportunity  to  guard  the  railroad  at  and  below  West 
Point,  Hatch  moved  on  northward.  He  was  in  the  face  of  an  enemy  who 
largely  outnumbered  him,  who  was  entirely  familiar  with  the  country,  and 
who  had  a  friend  in  every  citizen.  Nevertheless,  Hatch  continued  his  re 
treat  to  La  Grange,  where  he  arrived  in  safety,  and  without  mentionable 
loss,  on  the  26th.  He  had  attacked  Okolona,  driving  before  him  the 
enemy's  cavalry  and  State  militia,  burning  barracks  for  five  thousand  men, 
and  destroying  stores  and  ammunition;  he  had  repulsed  Chalmers  with 
loss,  near  Birmingham  and  Molino ;  he  had  marched  by  by-ways,  and  bridle 
paths,  and  through  swamps  and  fields  where  there  were  no  roads  at  all ;  he 
had  crossed  one  stream  in  the  entirely  unique  manner  of  throwing  the 
horses  bodily  over  the  bank  into  the  river,  driving  them  in  the  right  direc 
tion  with  long  poles,  and  catching  them  as  they  emerged  on  the  other  side, 
the  men  themselves  crossing  on  a  l '  foot-log, ' '  and  carrying  their  saddles  on 
their  backs ;  he  had,  besides  the  damage  inflicted  on  the  enemy  already 
noted,  captured  fifty  rebels,  and  killed  and  wounded  not  less  than  twice  as 
many  more,  and  taken  nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty  horses  and  mules,  so 
that  when  he  marched  into  camp  at  La  Grange  his  troops  were,  upon  the 
whole,  better  mounted  than  when  they  had  left  there,  ten  days  before. 

Immediately  after  his  return  to  La  Grange,  Colonel  Hatch  took  command 
of  a  brigade  just  formed,  consisting  of  his  own  regiment,  the  Sixth  Iowa 
Infantry,  mounted,  a  regiment  of  West  Tennessee  cavalry,  and  four  pieces 
of  artillery.  The  command  soon  moved  on  a  raid  southward,  going  as  far 
as  Okolona,  and  returning  the  5th  of  May,  with  three  hundred  captured 
horses  and  mules,  more  than  a  score  of  prisoners,  and  a  number  of  negroes. 
In  a  few  days  it  marched  in  a  southwesterly  direction  to  Senatahoba,  some 
eighty  miles  from  La  Grange,  and  having  captured  many  horses  and  mules, 
returned  after  an  absence  of  five  or  six  days.  On  the  countermarch,  Hatch 
was  attacked  at  Wall  Hill  by  Chalmers,  but  our  gallant  riders  and  the  little 
guns  soon  sent  him  scampering  to  the  right  about.  It  is  stated  that,  in 
consideration  of  his  warlike  genius,  the  fair  ladies  of  Senatahoba  presented 
him  a  crinoline  petticoat  and  a  corn-cob  pipe. 

The  encampment  of  the  regiment  remained  at  La  Grange  till  near  the  last 
of  August,  where  the  labors  and  taste  of  the  men  made  comfortable  and 
agreeable  quarters,  so  that  the  summer  in  this  healthful  and  pleasant  locality 
passed  happily  by.  But  not  without  much  activity  and  adventure  away 
from  the  encampment.  The  principal  events  of  the  summer  were :  1.  A 


388  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

raid  to  Panola,  nearly  an  hundred  miles  southwest  of  La  Grange,  which  re 
sulted  in  the  capture  of  much  property,  and  the  laying  waste  of  a  wide  ex 
tent  of  country  in  retaliation  for  guerrilla  attacks  on  steamboats  navigating 
the  Mississippi.  2.  The  march  against  Forrest,  who  had  entered  Tennessee, 
and  the  skirmish  of  Jackson,  on  the  13th  of  July,  in  which  the  rebels  were 
driven  from  the  town  and  severely  punished,  the  Second  Iowa  losing  Lieu 
tenants  John  K.  Humphreys  and  Frank  L.  Stoddard,  wounded,  and  two 
men  missing.  In  this  engagement  the  Union  loss  was  fourteen,  that  of  the 
rebels  more  than  one  hundred  and  seventy-five.  3.  The  raid  on  Grenada. 
On  this  expedition  Major  Coon  commanded  detachments  from  the  Second 
Iowa,  Third  Michigan,  and  Eleventh  Illinois,  numbering  five  hundred  well 
mounted  men.  The  raid  was  most  successful,  Major  Coon,  after  reaching 
Grenada  through  great  difficulties  from  the  enemy  and  from  storms,  de 
stroying  two  depots,  sixty  locomotives,  five  hundred  cars  of  all  kinds, 
machine  shops,  two  large  flouring  mills,  and  a  large  number  of  army  wagons 
and  returning  in  safety  on  the  23d  of  August,  after  an  absence  of  eleven 
days,  and  an  achievement  worthy  of  all  admiration. 

A  few  days  afterwards  the  regiment  moved  to  Memphis,  and  remained 
there  in  quiet  till  the  first  of  November.  The  regiment,  Lieutenant-Colo 
nel  Hepburn  commanding,  then  marched  to  Colliersville,  to  the  relief  of  the 
garrison,  threatened  by  Chalmers  with  a  heavy  body  of  troopers,  and  came 
up  just  in  time  to  have  a  fight,  in  which  the  rebels  were  most  decidedly 
whipped,  losing  forty-one  slain  on  the  spot,  about  two  hundred  wounded, 
and  fifty  prisoners,  among  the  latter  being  eight  commissioned  officers,  in 
cluding  one  brigadier-general.  The  battle  was  followed  by  a  galloping  pur 
suit  of  the  enemy  for  not  less  than  ten  miles,  nor  did  the  chase  surcease  till 
the  rebels  had  placed  themselves  beyond  the  Tallahatchee.  The  regiment 
returning  by  La  Grange  went  into  camp  at  Colliersville  on  the  14th,  where 
it  spent  a  quiet  fortnight. 

On  the  28th,  Colonel  Hatch,  commanding  a  brigade,  consisting  of  his 
own  regiment,  the  Sixth  and  Ninth  Illinois,  and  eight  pieces  of  artillery, 
moved  northward,  for  the  purpose  of  luring  the  rebel  General  S.  D.  Lee, 
then  at  Oxford  with  a  considerable  force,  into  a  movement  in  the  same 
direction.  He  succeeded.  On  December  1st,  Hatch  marched  rapidly  from 
the  vicinity  of  Covington,  some  forty-five  miles  north  of  the  railroad,  for 
Pocahontas,  whither  Lee  was  reported  as  marching.  Pocahontas  is  twenty 
miles  westward  of  Corinth.  Hatch  reached  Middletown,  some  miles  west 
of  Pocahontas  on  the  2d,  and  learned  that  Lee  was  threatening  Salisbury, 
still  further  west.  There  was  skirmishing  on  the  3d,  with  slight  loss  on 
either  side.  On  the  next  day,  Lee,  making  a  feint  attack  on  La  Grange, 
delivered  real  attack  against  Moscow,  ten  miles  further  west,  and  which  was 
garrisoned  by  Colonel  Kendrick,  formerly  of  the  Second  Iowa,  with  a  few 


SECOND     CAVALRY.  389 

hundred  black  soldiers.  Colonel  Hatch  was  not  deceived  by  the  feint.  He 
moved  swiftly  to  Moscow,  and  there  fought  a  considerable  battle,  which  re 
sulted  in  a  decided  Union  triumph.  Sixty  slain  rebels  were  left  on  the  field, 
and  the  enemy  lost  heavily  in  wounded  and  prisoners.  Hatch  lost  eleven 
killed,  thirty  wounded,  and  forty  missing.  He  was  himself  dangerously 
wounded,  being  shot  through  the  lung  with  a  minie  ball.  He  kept  the 
field,  however,  passing  from  place  to  place  in  an  ambulance,  till  the  rebels 
had  retreated.  Forrest,  meanwhile,  moved  into  Tennessee,  with  some  three 
thousand  men.  A  large  force  both  of  infantry  and  cavalry  was  sent  into 
the  field  to  oppose  him,  but  it  met  with  ill  success.  Forrest  got  away  with  a 
large  number  of  conscripts.  Major  Coon,  commanding  brigade  (Captain 
Graves  being  in  command  of  the  regiment)  made  an  energetic  pursuit,  but  was 
ordered  to  countermarch  about  the  time  he  came  up  with  the  enemy.  This 
closed  the  operations  of  the  regiment  for  the  year.  Indeed,  the  regiment 
reached  the  encampment  at  Colliersville  on  the  last  day  thereof. 

The  2d  of  January,  1864,  it  broke  camp  there,  and  on  the  4th,  pitched 
tents  at  Memphis,  where  it  remained  about  one  month,  receiving  during 
this  period  of  repose  a  large  number  of  recruits.  On  the  5th  of  February 
the  regiment  moved  to  Germantown,  and  there  joined  the  column  under 
General  W.  Sooy  Smith,  which  marched  into  Mississippi  with  the  object 
of  aiding  and  at  the  proper  time  joining  General  Sherman,  who  was  already 
sweeping  like  a  whirlwind  toward  Meridian.  General  Smith  failed.  The 
history  of  his  failure  is  well  known.  On  the  retreat  from  West  Point, 
there  was  much  fighting,  and  in  all  of  it  the  Second  Iowa  bore  conspicuous 
part,  at  one  time  fighting  and  retreating  for  sixty  consecutive  hours,  and 
saving  the  whole  column  by  its  bravery  and  its  endurance.  At  the  battle 
near  West  Point,  Lieutenant  Dwire,  of  Company  F,  was  killed,  and  several 
men  were  wounded,  and  the  losses  of  the  regiment  in  the  subsequent 
engagements  were  heavy.  On  this  expedition  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hepburn 
was  in  command  of  the  brigade,  Major  Coon  having  command  of  the 
regiment.  It  reached  camp  at  Germantown  on  the  26th. 

Thence  it  moved  to  Memphis,  and  a  sufficient  number  having  reenlisted 
to  make  the  regiment  a  veteran  organization,  the  Second  Iowa  Cavalry, 
Veteran  Volunteers,  were  there  mustered  into  the  service  in  that  capacity 
on  the  28th  of  March.  At  this  time  the  regiment  numbered  one  thousand 
and  eighty-eight,  of  whom  three  hundred  and  sixty  were  veterans.  There 
were  many  recruits,  so  that  there  was  a  large  command  with  a  long  term 
of  service  ahead.  The  7th  of  April,  the  veterans  started  home  on  fur 
lough.  As  they  reached  Muscatine,  the  morning  of  the  14th,  they  were 
greeted,  at  the  home  of  their  old  Colonel,  now  General  Hatch,  with  salvos 
of  artillery,  and  were  treated,  upon  landing,  to  a  repast  such  as  the  fair 


390  IOWA    AND     THE     KEBELLION. 

ladies  of  that  hospitable  city  are  noted  for  preparing.     They  were  met 
elsewhere  with  the  heartiest  cordiality. 

The  15th  of  the  following  month  the  veterans  reassembled  at  Davenport. 
Major  Coon  had  been  promoted  to  the  colonelcy,  whilst  the  late  Captains, 
C.  C.  Horton,  Gustavus  Schmitzer,  and  Charles  P.  Moore,  now  appeared 
as  Majors.  They  reached  Memphis  on  the  29th,  having  halted  some  days 
at  St.  Louis,  where  they  were  remounted,  and  halting  some  time  at  the 
former  place  were  armed  with  Spencer's  seven-shooting  carbines. 

I  am  admonished  by  the  space  already  occupied  in  this  imperfect  narra 
tive  of  the  active  Second  Cavalry,  to  hasten  forward  more  rapidly. 

In  the  summer  of  1864,  it  took  part  in  General  A.  J.  Smith's  campaign 
into  central  Mississippi,  participating,  but  with  slight  loss,  in  the  battle  of 
Tupelo.  It  also  joined  the  column  which  moved  as  far  as  Oxford  in  the 
same  direction,  when  it  was  recalled  by  reason  of  Forrest's  raid  on  Mem 
phis.  On  this  latter  march,  General  Hatch  commanded  the  division  of 
cavalry,  Colonel  Coon  a  brigade,  Major  Horton  the  regiment,  as  in  the 
former  expedition  was  the  case  as  to  the  last  two,  and  in  both  the  Second 
Iowa  maintained  its  reputation  for  bravery  and  activity,  whilst  the  supe 
riority  of  its  arms  rendered  it  the  most  dangerous  foe  which  the  enemy 
could  meet.  Returning  from  the  Oxford  raid  our  regiment  reached  White's 
Station,  a  few  miles  south  of  Memphis,  the  5th  of  September,  and  there 
going  into  camp  formed  an  outpost  which  it  garrisoned  during  the  remainder 
of  the  month. 

The  regiment  then  moved  by  forced  marches  into  Middle  Tennessee, 
where  Forrest  was  doing  much  damage  to  country  and  the  smaller  garrisons 
along  our  lines  of  occupation.  Rousseau  defeated  him  before  Hatch,  by 
the  utmost  celerity  of  movement,  could  reach  him,  and  the  latter  remained 
in  the  vicinity  of  Clifton  till  the  close  of  October.  Then,  under  orders 
to  join  General  Sherman  in  Georgia,  he  moved  to  Pulaski,  arriving  Novem 
ber  1st,  where  the  orders  were  countermanded,  and  he  was  required  to  give 
his  assistance  to  General  Thomas  in  repelling  the  invasion  now  threatened 
by  Hood. 

Now  it  was,  from  this  time  forth  until  Hood's  grand  army  was  driven 
in  rout  and  ruin  pell-mell  from  Tennessee,  that  General  Hatch  and  his 
whole  command  of  troopers,  being  the  Fifth  Cavalry  Division,  gained  their 
brightest  and  their  greatest  renown.  There  were  other  regiments  of  horse 
from  Iowa  which  during  this  period  of  constant  vigilance,  of  almost  daily 
skirmishing,  of  great,  decisive  battles,  won  proud  celebrity,  as  there  were 
also  Iowa  regiments  of  foot.  So  there  were  regiments  from  other  States 
which  on  the  same  wide  field  of  operations  performed  their  whole  duty  as 
manfully,  as  soldierly  as  any  troops  that  ever  marched  or  fought,  but 
among  them  all  the  Second  Iowa  Cavalry  was  not  surpassed.  Wherefore, 


SECOND     CAVALRY.  391 

I  can  only  give  a  rapid  and  imperfect  sketch  of  its  operations,  of  which 
the  details  might  fill  a  volume. 

Early  in  November,  Hood  had  a  corps  at  Florence,  Alabama,  on  the 
northern  bank  of  the  Tennessee,  and  here  he  gathered  one  of  the  best 
confederate  armies  which  ever  fought  against  the  Union.  About  ten  miles 
east  of  Florence  a  stream  called  Shoal  Creek  flows  from  the  north  into  the 
Tennessee.  Along  this  stream,  Hatch,  with  his  division  of  cavalry, 
observed  the  enemy,  again  becoming  the  "eye  of  the  army,"  the  main 
part  of  which  was  far  in  the  rear.  He  remained  here  for  fifteen  days, 
during  which  he  made  many  reconnoissances,  and  had  several  heavy  skir 
mishes  with  the  enemy,  Colonel  Coon's  brigade  almost  always  taking  lead 
ing  part  therein,  and  the  Second  Iowa  doing  a  large  share  of  the  marching 
and  fighting.  Major  Moore  at  one  time,  Major  Schmitzer  at  another,  and 
Major  Horton  at  another,  with  their  battalions,  were  conspicuous.  During 
this  period  of  activity  it  was  almost  constantly  raining,  and  the  troops  were 
without  tents.  Moreover,  the  men  had  to  get  their  own  subsistence  and 
forage  for  their  horses  from  the  surrounding  country.  On  the  20th,  Hood 
advanced  northward,  Hatch  disputing  his  advance,  but  falling  slowly  back 
before  the  overwhelming  numbers.  There  was  a  fight  at  Lawrenceburg  on 
the  22d,  another  at  Campbellville  on  the  24th,  and  there  was  scarcely  an  hour 
in  which  there  was  not  a  skirmish.  At  midnight  of  the  24th,  the  command 
reached  Columbia  and  for  the  first  time  within  a  month  passed  within  lines  of 
infantry.  By  this  time  the  horses  of  the  Second  were  nearly  all  worn  out.  But 
the  men  were  remounted  on  steeds  pressed  into  the  service  from  the  surround 
ing  country.  On  the  29th,  the  Union  forces  retreated  to  Franklin,  Colonel 
Coon,  during  most  of  the  day  forming  with  his  brigade  the  rear-guard  of 
the  army,  his  troopers  moving  in  column  of  squadrons.  In  the  battle  of 
Franklin  which  followed,  Colonel  Coon  did  effective  service  on  our  left  wing. 

The  2d  of  December  our  regiment  reached  Nashville,  and  moving  across 
the  river  to  Edgefield,  there  found  tents  and  knapsacks  which  the  men  had 
not  seen  since  leaving  White's  Station  the  last  of  September.  Here  ten 
days,  much  of  which  time  was  intensely  cold,  were  spent  in  camp.  On 
account  of  the  want  of  wood,  there  was  much  suffering.  The  12th,  the 
command  recrossed  the  Cumberland,  and  in  the  battle  of  Nashville,  fought 
the  15th  and  16th,  General  Hatch's  Division  took  a  most  brilliant  part, 
here  practically  serving  as  infantry.  The  Second  was  in  the  severest  of  the 
fight.  It  joined,  mounted,  in  the  pursuit,  and,  fighting  a  considerable 
battle  at  Little  Harpeth  Creek  on  the  17th,  at  Ruthersford  Creek  on  the 
18th,  and  again  near  Pulaski  on  Christmas  day,  followed  the  defeated 
rebels  to  near  Huntsville,  Alabama,  when,  wheeling  to  the  right,  the  com 
mand  marched  to  Eastport,  Mississippi,  arriving  January  llth,  1865,  and 
went  into  winter  quarters. 


392  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

In  the  battle  of  Nashville  and  in  the  pursuit  of  Hood,  Colonel  Coon's 
Brigade  had  done  as  gallant,  meritorious  service  as  any  command  in  the 
grand  army  which  gained  this  great  victory.  It  had  captured  one  thousand 
one  hundred  and  eighty-six  prisoners,  among  whom  were  one  general,  two 
field,  and  eight  line  officers;  fifteen  pieces  of  artillery;  more  than  one 
thousand  three  hundred  small  arms ;  about  thirty  wagons  and  ambulances ; 
one  stand  of  division  colors,  and  three  stands  of  brigade  colors.  In  the 
campaign  the  Second  Iowa  Cavalry  had  suffered  a  loss  of  sixty-one,  of 
whom  fourteen  were  slain  outright  on  the  field  of  battle. 

The  regiment  moved  from  Eastport  to  Gravelly  Springs,  where  it  spent  a 
fortnight,  and  then  returned  to  winter  quarters,  whence,  the  19th  of 
February,  Major  Schmitzer  moved  to  Tuscumbia  with  a  detachment,  and 
thence  to  Russellville,  returning  not  long  afterwards  having  made  a  suc 
cessful  reconnoissance.  With  this  expedition,  the  history  of  the  Second 
Iowa  Cavalry,  so  far  as  operations  against  the  enemies  of  the  country  were 
concerned,  was  brought  to  a  close.  It  was  disarmed  in  March,  as  explained 
by  the  following  order : 

"General  Orders  No.  24. 

"  HEAD-QUARTERS,  CAVALRY  CORPS.  M.  D.  M.,  •» 
"  CHICKASAW,  ALABAMA,  March  18th,  1865.   / 

"  The  Brevet  Major-General  commanding  takes  great  pleasure  in  announcing  to  the  Cavalry  Corps 
that  the  officers  and  men  of  the  Second  Iowa  and  Sixth  and  Ninth  Illinois,  through  Brigadier- 
General  E.  Hatch,  commanding  Fifth  Division,  and  Colonel  D.  E.  Coon,  Second  Brigade,  have  with 
a  spirit  of  generosity,  excelled  only  by  their  gallantry,  voluntarily  turned  over  to  the  First  Division 
a  large  number  of  Spencer  carbines,  taking  in  exchange  an  equal  number  of  inferior  arms  of  various 
patterns,  this,  too,  after  they  had  been  compelled  to  turn  over  their  horses  to  the  Seventh  Division 
and  other  detachments. 

"  Such  an  exhibition  of  zeal  for  the  interests  of  the  public  service,  of  self-denial  and  of  friendly 
regard  for  their  brothers  in  arms,  is  unparalleled,  and  entitles  the  brave  men,  who  have  so  cheer 
fully  made  it,  to  the  thanks  and  admiration  of  every  soldier  in  the  corps. 

"Troops  who  have  distinguished  themselves  by  so  many  acts  of  gallantry  as  adorn  the  history  of 
the  Fifth  Division  could  have  made  no  greater  sacrifice. 

"  They  are  entitled  to  the  best  re-mount,  equipments,  and  arms,  the  country  can  furnish,  and 
every  effort  will  be  made  to  secure  them  in  time  to  enable  them  to  participate  in  the  events  of  the 
ensuing  campaign. 

"  This  order  will  be  read  to  every  regiment  of  the  Fifth  Division. 

"  By  command  of  BREVET  MAJOR-GENERAL  WILSON, 
"E.  B.  BEAUMONT,  Major  and  A.  A.  General." 

Afterwards,  during  the  spring  and  summer  it  remained  in  detachments 
at  different  points  in  Northern  Alabama  and  Northern  Mississippi,  being 
again  armed  with  new  Spencer  carbines,  mounted  on  mules  and  horses, 
and  engaged  in  performing  the  dry  duty  of  preserving  order  over  a  con 
siderable  extent  of  country.  And  in  the  performance  of  duties  of  this  kind, 
valuable  to  the  country,  but  without  incidents  of  noteworthy  interest,  the 
command  finished  its  career.  It  was  mustered  out  of  service  in  the  autumn, 


SECOND     CAVALRY.  393 

and  proceeding  to  Davenport,  Iowa,  was  there  disbanded  in  the  month  of 
October. 

The  returning  command  was  everywhere  in  Iowa  received  with  the  kind 
est  welcome,  but  nowhere  more  kindly  than  at  Muscatine.  There,  on 
October  24th,  there  was  a  grand  jubilee  and  festival.  The  Journal  of  the 
day  before  thus  discoursed,  in  words  of  high  praise  and  sober  truth : 

"The  Second  Cavalry! — How  its  mention  calls  up  reminiscences  and 
recollections!  What  daring  deeds  of  valor  and  heroism  are  suggested! 
What  a  pleasant  feeling  of  pride  that  Iowa  had  so  noble  a  body  of  men! 
How  we  reverence  their  patriotism — among  the  first  to  leave  homes  threat 
ened  by  insolent  traitors,  and  the  last  to  return  to  them,  protected  by  their 
valor.  The  'Second  Cavalry,'  not  the  Second  Iowa  Cavalry;  that  seems 
almost  superfluous.  So  wide-spread  is  their  reputation  that  their  name  has 
become  national.  What  thrilling  histories  of  individual  daring  might  be 
written  from  its  glorious  record ;  a  record  of  marches,  perils,  privations  and 
battles,  such  as  no  other  regiment  of  any  arm  of  any  service  in  any  war  can 
boast  a  prouder !  How  its  mighty  fame  has  been  carved  by  its  almost  reck 
less  bravery  in  its  many  battles,  in  not  one  of  which  was  it  ever  whipped, 
although  in  many  of  them  greatly  overmatched  in  numbers.  Working, 
wading,  riding,  fighting,  swimming,  bridges  requiring  too  much  time  to 
build,  foraging  or  hunting  guerrillas.  It  always  was  remarkable  for  vigor, 
fire  and  dash.  Horses  and  riders,  officers  and  men,  all  seemed  endowed 
with  superhuman  energy  and  untiring  bodies.  No  march  was  too  long,  no 
peril  too  great,  for  these  heroes.  The  '  eye  of  the  army'  under  Rosecrans, 
many  of  the  unsuccessful  attempts  of  the  enemy  to  defeat  that  gallant 
general  are  directly  traceable  to  its  watchful  protection.  Its  battle-fields 
are  made  historical  ground,  and  its  glorious  reputation  so  fairly  and  gal 
lantly  won  is  imperishable.  Iowa,  so  honored  by  it  in  the  field,  honors 
herself  by  honoring  its  return.  It  needs  no  empty  honors  at  our  hands, 
but  it  deserves  a  glorious  welcome.  Muscatine  claims  the  great  privilege 
of  extending  her  hospitality  and  welcome  to  the  noble  heroes.  To-morrow 
evening  they  are  to  be  received  at  Tremont  Hall  by  our  citizens.  Let  it  be 
such  a  reception  as  they  deserve,  a  heartfelt,  true  welcome  to  the  homes 
they  have  so  ably  protected.  Let  our  citizens  enter  into  it  with  spirit  and 
claim  as  a  privilege  the  right  to  feast  and  fete  such  true  noblemen ;  to  take 
them  by  the  hand  and  to  converse  with  them.  It  will  be  a  privilege,  and 
in  the  hereafter,  when  the  historian  shall  copy  from  the  tablets  of  fame 
their  always  bright  record,  it  will  be  an  occasion  of  pride  to  relate  that  we 
were  permitted  to  assist  in  welcoming  them  home," 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  the  reception  was  worthy  of  Muscatine 
and  of  the  Second  Cavalry.  Before  this,  many  members  of  the  regiment 
had  sought  their  homes  in  different  parts  of  the  State,  from  the  place  of 


394  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

disbanding,  so  that  with  this  occasion  of  enjoyment  the  Second  Iowa  Cav 
alry  closed  the  record  of  as  gallant  a  body  of  troopers  as  ever  mounted 
steed  or  drew  sabre  in  any  age  or  in  any  country.2 

2  The  career  of  this  distinguished  regiment  was  one  of  so  much  activity,  that  I  have  found  it 
impossible  to  condense  its  history  into  that  limited  space  beyond  which  I  may  not  properly  go  in  a 
narrative  of  any  single  command.  The  foregoing  must  suffice  as  an  outline.  If  therefrom  my 
readers  have  been  able  to  get  a  correct  general  view  of  the  regiment's  history,  I  shall  be  content. 
During  its  long  and  brilliant  career  there  were  a  thousand  instances  of  personal  courage  and  gal 
lantry,  exhibited  by  both  officers  and  men,  to  speak  of  which  as  they  deserve  would  require  more 
space  than  I  can  afford.  Let  it  suffice,  that  almost  every  man  and  almost  every  officer  from  first  to 
last  performed  his  whole  duty,  thereby  making  the  command  a  bright  honor  to  the  service. 
Elliott  became  a  brigadier-general,  Hatch  rose  one  degree  above,  Coon  became  a  general  officer. 
Hatch  rose,  in  point  of  reputation  to  the  front  rank  of  the  profession  of  arms,  and  Coon  followed 
not  far  behind.  The  field  and  line  officers  were  all  of  superior  talents,  and  there  was  scarcely  one 
who  did  not  perform  gallant  and  meritorious  service. 

I  have  been  unable  to  procure  full  lists  of  the  casualties  suffered  by  the  command  during  its  long 
period  of  service  in  the  field,  but  from  the  reports  of  the  Adjutant-General  and  other  sources,  I  am 
enabled  to  make  out  the  following  imperfect 

"ROLL  OF  HONOR." 

AT  THE  SIEGE  OF  CORINTH,  INCLUDING  THE  SKIRMISH  OF  MONTEREY  AND  THE  BATTLE  OF  FARMINGTON.— 

Killed,  Sergeants  Frederick  L.  Ayer,  John  C.  Wilson ;  William  Paxton.  Wounded,  Captains  Henry 
Egbert,  William  Lundy ;  Lieutenant  Benjamin  Owen;  Sergeants  John  B.  Qaddis,  Otis  Legg;  Cor 
poral  Peter  J.  Webb;  John  S.  Brush,  (mortally),  C.  H.  Brock,  Daniel  Craft,  William  M.  Freeman, 
W.  R.  Schreckondcost,  James  B.  Armstrong,  (mortally),  William  Gordon,  James  Taylor,  Henry  II. 
Doutrit,  (mortally),  James  Slawter;  Sergeant  John  W.  Jennings;  William  Dunderdale,  (mortally), 
Lewis  Gebhart,  Louis  Hasler ;  Quartermaster-Sergeant  Daniel  Okeson ;  Sergeant  James  Faught ;  L. 
J.  Parks,  William  Bulla;  Sergeant  L.  H.  Waterman,  (mortally);  Corporal  Jacob  Haight;  Anderson 
Heinly ;  Sergeant  Isaac  N.  Williams ;  Corporal  R.  Haskiu,  (mortally) ;  A.  N.  Detwiler,  A.  V.  Reeves, 
James  W.  Cook ;  Sergeants  R.  M.  Downer,  James  Fickle ;  Corporal  E.  H.  Shepperd ;  Bugler  D.  W. 
Downer;  G.  R.  Bradley,  (also  afterwards  wouaded  at  battle  of  Corinth),  F.  Leaheart,  A.  Leffler; 
Corporal  M.  V.  Hubbard^  Jacob  Kirby,  S.  L.  Hazen,  Nathan  Smith;  Corporal  James  B.  Smith, 
William  Bremner,  James  Bontrager;  Sergeants  Augustus  Crone,  Charles  H.  Hilton.  Captured, 
Corporal  William  E.  Walker;  Bugler  John  D.  Burgh;  Corporals  William  W.  Miller,  M.  A.  Clark; 
Sergeant  G.  W.  Kelsall;  Joseph  Raymount,  James  S.  Breden,  John  Parker,  Skelton  Breeden; 
Sergeant  James  Kennedy;  Corporals  William  Fosbeuder,  Peter  Weiser;  Jacob  Diffeudarfer,  James 
Finley,  Caleb  Leet. 

SKIRMISH  OF  BLACKLAND. — Killed,  Corporals  Aaron  B.  Springer,  John  C.  Carson.  Wounded,  Lieu 
tenant  David  Hall ;  Sergeant  H.  H.  Helton. 

BATTLE  OF  BOONVILLE,  JULY  1, 1862.—  Wounded,  Sergeant  Charles  W.  Gibson;  Corporal  Thomas 
Booth;  Isaac  Brock,  George  V.  Boyes,  William  M.  Freeman,  L.  McKinnon;  Corporal  Samuel  Gil- 
pin;  William  W.  Gates,  John  Brock,  S.  K.  Baker,  0.  E.  Baker.  Captured,  Sergeant  John  L.  Her 
bert  ;  Corporal  William  Wallace ;  William  F.  Eshbaugh,  A.  M.  See,  (who  died  in  prison) ;  Corporal 
Albert  Listenberger ;  Jerome  B.  Gray,  Thomas  Fisher,  H.  Margaretz. 

RIENZI,  AUGUSTA  1862.—  Wounded,  Corporal  M.  B.  Viers ;  David  Lutz,  William  W.  Mullett,  Jacob 
Brockman,  John  Branch,  Cbarlus  Hass,  Henry  Buck. 

BATTLE  OF  COFFEEVILLE. — Kill-id,  John  T.  Stathers.  Wounded,  Isaac  N.  Lawrence,  (mortally); 
Sergeant  A.  W.  Carmichael.  Co.ptured,  Sergeant  Eugene  Rigby ;  Corporal  Philip  Smith;  Ebenezer 
\  iing,  E.  W.  Bennett,  George  Ady,  August  Schmidt,  Joseph  Bednar. 

JACKSON,  TENNESSEE. —  Wounded,  Lieutenants  John  K.  Humphreys,  Frank  L.  Stoddard. 

HURRICANE  CREEK,  AUGUST  ISrn,  1864. —  Wounded,  Sergeant  John  M.  Guild;  Corporal  J.  Hawkins; 
William  Myers,  C,  W.  Connor,  Isaac  Potter,  William  Ferrenback,  George  Roff— the  last  two  also 
captured.  At  different  times  afterwards  during  this  month,  the  following  casualties  occurred  on 
picket,  and  on  foraging  expeditions.  Wounded,  C.  C.  Crocker,  C.  A.  Baker,  Daniel  Ularn,  Jesse 
Hays,  (mortally).  Killed,  Hampton  H.  Berner.  Captured,  Sergeant  John  Terry ;  James  Gordon. 

OPERATIONS  IN  NOVEMBER,  1864,  IN  FRONT  OF  HOOD'S  ARMY. — Killed,  Horatio  Parks,  Joseph  H.  Moon. 


SECOND     CAVALRY.  395 

Wounded,  Lieutenant  William  H.  Bulla,  Daniel  Anderson,  Solomon  Knows,  (Nouse  in  A.  G.  R.), 
Isaac  Myers,  James  II.  Fisk,  Charles  W.  Clark,  Jesse  James,  Charles  H.  Norse,  John  Bartscher, 
Jonathan  Wilson,  M.  E.  Cavanaugh,  Edward  Thilby,  (Filby  or  Filley),  Charles  P.  Reed,  B.  C. 
Schooler,  L.  Loper. 

BATTLE  OF  NASHVILLE,  AND  PURSUIT  OF  HOOD. — Kilted,  Sergeant  Isaac  Wilson;  Commissary-Sergeant 
Urban  Chapman;  Corporal  A.  R.  Heck;  A.  Fagan,  William  H.  McCormick,  David  M.  Lowe,  Daniel 
A.  Rudy ;  Corporal  II.  H.  Margaretz ;  Frank  Palmer,  William  Bacher,  Joshua  Bradfield,  Dominick 
Black,  Lafayette  Millsley.  Wounded,  Sanford  Leech ;  Sergeant  D.  0.  Whitman ;  Andrew  W.  Evans, 
L.  G.  Winey,  Levi  Wood,  John  C.  Church,  James  Mann;  Sergeant  William  D.  Rooker;  James  N. 
Rooker,  Sylvester  Kremer,  Noble  W.  Mountain,  James  A.  Hannegan,  Asa  H.  Haskin,  George 
Philips,  (mortally),  William  Beaver,  Theodore  Becker,  Mai-shall  Fleming;  Corporal  John  Van 
Patter;  Sergeant  John  Coulter;  Corporal  Levi  L.  Backus;  William  H.  H.  Anderson,  George  B. 
Darlington,  William  McGee,  L.  H.  Hathaway,  (mortally) ;  Color-Sergeant  John  F.  Hartman,  (mor 
tally).  Captured,  Robert  Gardner,  Albert  Adams,  Horace  J.  Bennett,  B.  F.  Hammitt,  Joseph  Dale, 
Milton  B.  Wynn,  James  H.  Givens,  Theobald  Kline,  Jacob  Walker. 

It  will  be  proper  to  conclude  with  the  roster  of  the  regiment,  when  it  was  honorably  mustered 
out  of  the  service.  Colonel  and  Brevet  Brigadier-General,  Datus  E.  Coon;  Lieutenant-Colonel, 
Charles  C.  Horton ;  Majors,  Gustavus  Schmitzer*  and  Charles  P.  Moore ;  Adjutant,  Theodore  Syden- 
ham;  Quartermaster,  Henry  B.  Sudlow;  Commissary,  W.  W.  C.  Miller;  Surgeon,  George  H.  Noyes; 
Assistant-Surgeon,  Jesse  R.  Burgess. 

Company  A — Captain  William  B.  Brunton ;  Lieutenants  David  J.  Ferree,  Amasa  Kinnan.  Com 
pany  B — Captain  John  L.  Herbert;  Lieutenants  Byron  A.  Beeson,  H.  H.  Boyce.  Company  C- — 
Captain  H.  C.  Babcock ;  Lieutenant  Isaac  Gilmore.  Company  D — Captain  F.  M.  Griffith ;  Lieutenant 
Samuel  J.  Dangler.  Company  J3— Captain  James  P.  Metcalf ;  Lieutenant  Anton  Scherer.  Com 
pany  F—  Vacant.  Company  G— Captain  George  W.  Budd;  Lieutenant  Ansell  R.  Clark.  Company 
.H"— Captain  John  N.  W.  Rumple;  Lieutenant  E.  J.  Boget.  Company  I— Captain  Benjamin  K. 
Watson;  Lieutenants  John  W.  Wright,  Jackson  C.  Smith.  Company  .K— Captain  Jacob  F.  Bandy  ; 
Lieutenants  James  Fickle,  John  Coulter.  Company  L — Captain  James  Crawford ;  Lieutenant  M.  E. 
Cavanaugh.  Company  M—  Captain  Samuel  Foster;  Lieutenants  Thomas  M.  Hamilton,  John  K. 
Humphrey. 

The  following  officers  had  commissions,  but  could  not  be  mustered,  as  the  regiment  was  below 
the  minimum.  Samuel  Foster  as  Major;  T.M.Hamilton  as  Captain  of  M;  J.  K.  Humphrey,  as 
First  Lieutenant  of  M ;  H.  L.  Scott  as  Second  Lieutenant  of  M ;  Michael  Trucks  afc  Second  Lieu 
tenant  of  C ;  J.  W.  Jennings  as  Second  Lieutenant  of  E ;  Perry  French  as  Second  Lieutenant  of  H. 

•  This  officer's  name  is  spelled  in  many  ways.    I  know  not  which  is  right. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

THIRD    CAVALRY. 

ORGANIZATION— MOVE  TO  MISSOURI— TWO  PARTS  OF  THE  REGIMENT  SEPARATED 
FROM  EACH  OTHER— BRIEF  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  DETACHMENT  UNDER  LIEUTENANT- 
COLONEL  CALDWELL— HISTORY  OF  THE  REGIMENT  RESUMED— THE  CAMPAIGN 
OF  PEA  RIDGE— HUNGRY  MARCH  THROUGH  ARKANSAS— ACTIVE  OPERATIONS 
ABOUT  HELENA— COLONEL  BUSSEY  TAKES  COMMAND  OF  THE  CAVALRY  OF  THE 
UNION  ARMY  INVESTING  VICKSBURG— OPERATIONS  ON  THAT  FIELD— AGAIN  IN 
ARKANSAS— THE  REGIMENT  REUNITED— REENLISTMENT— ACTIVE  CAMPAIGNING 
IN  1864— THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  MISSOURI— THE  GREAT  WILSON  RAID— MUSTERED 
OUT. 

THE  Honorable  Cyrus  Bussey,  a  member  of  the  upper  house  of  the  legis 
lature  from  Davis  County,  became  an  Aid-de-camp  on  the  staff  of  Governor 
Kirkwood  soon  after  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion,  and  was  specially  en 
trusted  with  the  protection  of  our  southern  border.  He  procured  arms  and 
ammunition,  and  organized  several  companies  of  militia  in  his  own  county, 
Van  Buren,  and  Lee.  Upon  the  intelligence  of  the  battle  of  Athens,  Mis 
souri,  just  beyond  the  border  of  our  State,  the  people  thereof  for  an  hun 
dred  miles  in  the  interior  were  not  a  little  excited,  and  in  large  numbers 
rushed  towards  the  scene  of  conflict  with  such  weapons  as  could  be  hastily 
gathered.  Colonel  Bussey  reached  Athens  on  the  morning  after  the  battle, 
and  found  a  large  number  of  our  people,  not  ill  armed,  ready  to  pursue  the 
rebels  who  had  been  defeated  by  Colonel  David  Moore.  Others  demurred 
to  invading  the  State  of  Missouri.  Wherefore  Colonel  Bussey  proceeded 
to  St.  Louis  and  obtained  the  requisite  authority  to  use  the  militia  of  Iowa 
in  Missouri  in  case  of  necessity.  Major-General  Frdmont  also  requested 
Colonel  Bussey  to  raise  a  regiment  of  horse  for  the  United  States  service  at 
Keokuk.  Bussey  consented,  and  the  Third  Iowa  Cavalry  was  the  result. 

The  13th  of  August  he  issued  a  call  for  volunteers,  requesting  each  vol 
unteer  to  bring  with  him  a  good  cavalry  horse  to  sell  to  the  government. 
On  the  28th,  there  were  a  thousand  men  well  mounted  in  rendezvous  at 
Keokuk,  and  had  the  mustering  officer  been  ready  the  command  might 
have  entered  the  sendee,  nearly  eleven  hundred  strong,  on  the  first  day  of 
896 


THIRD     CAVALRY.  397 

September.  But  a  fortnight  after  this  had  not  passed  till  the  regiment, 
numbering  one  thousand  and  ninety-six,  officers  and  men  accepted,  formed 
a  part  of  the  volunteer  Army  of  the  Union.  Colonel  Bussey  had  for  his 
second  in  command  Lieutenant- Colonel  Henry  H.  Trimble,  and  for  majors, 
Carlton  H.  Perry,  Henry  C.  Caldwell,  and  William  C.  Drake.  John  W. 
Noble  was  adjutant;  Rufus  L.  Miller,  H.  D.  B.  Cutler,  and  Glenn  Lowe, 
battalion  adjutants;  T.  D.  Johnson,  quartermaster;  Thomas  H.  Brown, 
commissary;  D.  L.  McGugin,  surgeon,  with  Christopher  C.  Biser,  assis 
tant  ;  Rev.  Pearl  P.  Ingalls,  since  so  distinguished  in  Iowa  for  his  exertions 
in  behalf  of  the  Orphans'  Home,  chaplain.1 

It  seems  that  the  officials  of  the  Federal  government  could  not  keep  pace 
with  the  energetic  operations  of  our  State  officials  and  Colonel  Bussey  in 
other  matters  besides  mustering,  so  that  the  colonel,  in  order  to  have  his 
command  ready  for  the  field  without  needless  delay,  went  to  Chicago  and 
contracted  for  clothing,  blankets,  tents,  and  horse  equipments,  which 
turned  out  to  be  the  best  the  regiment  ever  received.  Meanwhile,  he  had 
been  placed  in  command  of  the  Home  Guards  and  Union  forces  in  north- 

1  Below  will  be  found  the  various  officers  of  the  regiment  as  shown  by  the  reports  of  the  Adjutant- 
General: — Colonels — Cyrus  Bussey,  commissioned  August  10th.  1861;  John  W.  Noble,  May  23d,  1864. 
The  former  was  promoted  brigadier-general,  the  latter  brevetted  to  the  same  rank.  Lieutenantr 
Colonels — Henry  H,  Trimble,  Henry  C.  Caldwell,  Benjamin  S.  Jones.  Majors — Carlton  H.  Perry, 
Henry  C.  Caldwell,  William  C.  Drake,  John  W.  Noble,  0.  H.  P.  Scott,  George  Duffield,  John  C.  Mc- 
Crary,  Peter  H.  Walker,  Cornelius  A.  Stanton.  Adjutants— John  W.  Noble,  Glenn  Lowe,  Thomas 
S.  Wright.  Surgeons — D.  L.  McGugin,  George  W.  Carter ;  Assistants — C.  C.  Biser,  William  L.  Orr, 
F.  M.  Warford,  Thomas  J.  Maxwell,  Samuel  Whitten.  Quartermasters— Enos  T.  Cole,  T.  D.  Johnson, 
No  one  but  the  commissary  named  in  the  text  is  mentioned  in  the  Adjutant-General's  reports. 
Chaplains — Revs.  P.  P.  Ingalls,  M.  B.  Wayman,  James  W.  Latham. 

LINE  OFFICERS — Company  A — Captains  William  Van  Benthusen,  M.  L.  Baker,  James  Hanlin,  William 
B.  Wilson ;  Lieutenants  M.  L.  Baker,  E.  T.  Cole,  James  M.  Brown,  David  Letner,  James  Hanlin,  Daniel 
Bradbury,  E.  W.  Tadlock.  Company  B— Captains  0.  H.  P.  Scott,  John  Q.  A.  De  Huff,  Samuel  J.  McKee ; 
Lieutenants  John  Q.  A.  De  Huff,  Samuel  J.  McKee,  Aaron  H.  Gage,  William  E.  Forker.  Company  C— 
Captains  Israel  Anderson,  William  Wilson,  Glenn  Lowe ;  Lieutenants  John  W.  Noble,  E.  J.  Leech,  Wil 
liam  Wilson,  James  Linch,  Alfred  Roberts.  Company  D — Captains  Norman  W.  Cook,  George  Curken- 
dall ;  Lieutenants  George  Curkendall,  Fleming  Mize,  Francis  Ross,  William  C.  Niblack,  Bryant  0. 
Oliver,  Thomas  J.  Miller,  John  A.  Pickler.  Company  E — Captains  George  Duffield,  Horace  A.  Spencer, 
Thomas  C.  Gilpine ;  Lieutenants  John  H.  Easly,  Horace  A.  Spencer,  Thomas  C.  Gilpine,  Edmund  Duf 
field,  Newton  Batton.  Company  F—  Captains  Andrew  M.  Robison,  Benjamin  F.  Crail ;  Lieutenants  Ben 
jamin  F.  Crail,  C.  L.  Hartman,  Marshall  S.  Crawford.  Company  G — Captains  Emauuel  Mayne,  John  C. 
McCrary,  John  S.  Stidger;  Lieutenants,  John  C.  McCrary,  John  S.  Stidger,  James  H.  Watts,  Charles  B. 
Leech,  John  F.  Watkins.  Company  ZT—Captains  Jesse  Hughes,  Peter  H.  Walker;  Lieutenants  Hiram 
Bernes,  George  W.  Newell,  M.  I.  Birch,  James  R.  Grousbeck,  Samuel  A.  Young.  Company  J^-Cap- 
tains  Thomas  J.  Taylor,  Edward  F.  Horton,  Cornelius  A.  Stanton  ;  Lieutenants  Thomas  H.  McDan- 
nal,  Horace  D.  B.  Cutler,  Edward  F.  Horton,  Cornelius  A.  Stanton,  Francis  W.  Arnim.  Company 
K — Captains  Jacob  F.  Miller,  Martin  Cherrie,  Newton  C.  Honnold;  Lieutenants  Martin  Cherrio, 
Samuel  L.  Ward,  A.  H.  Griswold,  Newton  C.  Honnold,  George  W.  Stamm,  Joseph  Miller.  Company 
L — Captains  Gilman  C.  Mudgett,  John  D.  Brown;  Lieutenants  Ezra  Fitch,  Dudley  E.  Jones, 
Micajah  Baker,  John  D.  Brown,  James  C.  Williams,  Edward  Mudgett.  Company  M — Captains  John 
W.  Warner,  Benjamin  S.Jones,  George  W.Johnson;  Lieutenants  Benjamin  S.  Jones,  George  W. 
Johnson,  Harvey  II.  Walker,  John  C.  Gammill,  William  A.  Wright. 

The  men  of  this  regiment  came  from  the  counties  of  Lee,  Van  Buren,  Davis,  Jefferson,  Marion, 
Appanoose,  Wapello,  and  Wayne,  but  the  four  first  named  sent  to  the  field  the  greater  number  of 
the  command. 


398  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

eastern  Missouri,  and  performed  valuable  service  in  that  section  before  his 
regiment  was  fully  prepared  to  take  the  field.  And  indeed  it  left  the  State 
for  Benton  Barracks  the  4th  of  November,  without  arms,  having  only  such 
equipments  as  had  been  procured  by  the  personal  exertions  of  the  com 
manding  officer. 

Upon  his  arrival  at  the  barracks,  Colonel  Bussey  gave  his  entire  atten 
tion  to  the  drill  and  discipline  of  his  regiment,  and  it  soon  won  the  enco 
miums  of  Brigadier-General  William  T.  Sherman,  who  was  at  this  time  in 
charge  of  the  camps  of  instruction  near  St.  Louis,  having  sufficient 
capacity,  in  the  opinion  of  Halleck,  to  perform  duties  of  that  sort.  In 
which  opinion,  I  suppose,  General  Simon  Cameron,  of  the  militia,  fully 
concurred.  By  the  1st  of  December  the  regiment  was  armed  with  revolvers 
and  sabres,  it  being  at  this  time  impossible  to  procure  carbines.  The 
12th,  Colonel  Bussey  was  ordered  to  send  one  battalion  of  his  regiment 
to  Jefferson  City,  and  on  the  same  day,  Major  Caldwell,  commanding 
Second  Battalion,  was  on  his  way  thither.  Inasmuch  as  this  battalion  was 
not  again  united  with  the  regiment  for  nearly  two  years,  I  may  here  briefly 
relate  its  operations  during  the  period  of  the  separation : 

The  battalion,  composed  of  Company  E,  Captain  Duffield,  Company  F, 
Captain  Robinson,  (who  resigned  in  March,  1862,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Captain  Crail),  Company  G,  Captain  Mayne,  and  Company  H,  Captain 
Hughes,  proceeded  from  Jefferson  City  to  Boonville,  and  there,  at  Glas 
gow,  and  in  the  country  roundabout  was  successfully  engaged  for  some  time 
in  hunting  up  ammunition  secreted  at  various  places  for  the  purpose  of 
being  used  by  those  who  should  rise  against  the  government.  Large  quan 
tities  of  powder  were  captured.  Christmas  day  found  the  battalion  sta 
tioned  at  Fulton,  where  it  went  into  winter  quarters.  But  it  was  not  a 
winter  of  rest.  The  battalion  performed  much  and  valuable  service,  scout 
ing,  capturing  rebel  munitions  of  war,  dispersing  bands  of  guerrillas, 
preventing  discontented  citizens  from  gathering  head  against  the  consti 
tuted  authorities.  In  the  spring  of  1862,  a  considerable  portion  of  Mis 
souri  north  and  east  of  Jefferson  City  was  formed  into  a  military  sub- 
district,  Major  Caldwell  commanding,  and  his  battalion  was  constantly 
engaged  in  those  arduous  services  required  from  troops  posted  amongst  a 
turbulent  and  traitorous  populace.  It  continued  on  duty  here  several 
months,  and  was  engaged  oftentimes  in  skirmishes  with  predatory  bands 
of  considerable  strength,  but  it  was  not  a  theatre  on  which  great  battles 
were  ever  fought.  Fierce  combats  took  place,  which  to  those  engaged  had 
indeed  all  the  effects  of  sanguinary  battle,  and  called  forth  as  much  gal 
lantry  from  the  combatants  as  an  equal  number  of  men  could  have  exhibited 
on  a  field  where  casualties  were  to  be  counted  by  thousands. 

Thus,  the  battalion  attacked  and  destroyed  a  rebel  camp  on  Salt  River, 


THIRD     CAVALRY.  399 

the  last  of  May,  routing  the  enemy  and  capturing  much  property ;  July 
22d,  a  detachment  of  only  sixty  men  fought  the  rebel  Porter,  with  three 
hundred  followers,  for  more  than  an  hour,  and  was  barely  beaten  in  the 
encounter,  losing  twenty-two  men  wounded,  and  two  captured ;  two  days 
afterwards,  one  hundred  men  of  the  battalion  attacked  Porter,  now  having 
four  hundred,  and  defeated  him ;  three  days  after  this,  fifty  men  of  our 
command  and  one  hundred  Missouri  militia  again  drove  the  same  rebel 
force  in  a  sharp  skirmish;  on  the  day  following,  a  spirited  engagement 
took  place,  in  which  the  enemy  was  handsomely  whipped,  losing  thirty 
killed  and  about  one  hundred  wounded,  and  leaving  many  valuable  spoils 
of  victory  in  the  hands  of  the  Unionists.  The  defeated  rebels  fled  north 
ward,  but  being  augmented  by  numbers  of  sympathizing  friends  till  there 
were  about  two  thousand  in  their  ranks,  gave  battle  at  Kirksville  on  the 
6th  of  August,  and  were  thoroughly  beaten,  losing  one  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  killed,  about  two  hundred  wounded,  and  many  prisoners, 
besides  numbers  of  arms  and  horses.  This  engagement,  which  was  con 
siderable  of  an  affair,  closed  the  fighting  history  of  Major  Caldwell's  com 
mand  north  of  the  Missouri.  In  this  combat,  Captain  Mayne  was  killed, 
Captain  Hughes,  Lieutenant  Birch,  and  ten  men  of  the  battalion  were 
wounded.2 

The  rebels  in  this  part  of  Missouri  being  utterly  dispersed,  soon  after  the 
affair  of  Kirksville,  Major  Caldwell  reported  with  his  command  at  Leba 
non,  a  considerable  town  about  fifty  miles  southwest  of  Rolla.  He  was 
soon  afterwards  appointed  Lieutenant-Colonel,  in  place  of  Trimble,  who, 
having  been  severely  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge,  resigned  early  in 
September,  1862.  The  duties  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Caldwell's  command  in 
southern  Missouri  were  similar  to  those  which  had  been  done  north  of  the 
river.  By  the  campaign  of  Pea  Ridge,  Missouri  had  been  cleared  of  rebels 
in  force.  Subsequently,  General  Curtis  having  marched  with  the  Army  of 
the  Southwest  through  Arkansas  to  Helena  by  Batesville,  southwestern 
Missouri  became  again  uncovered  and  liable  to  incursions  from  the  insur 
gents  moving  through  the  passes  of  the  Boston  Mountains.  Wherefore 
General  Schofield,  with  head-quarters  at  Springfield,  eventually  organized 
the  Army  of  the  Frontier,  which  covered  the  State  against  the  threatened 
attack,  and  in  December,  by  the  battle  of  Prairie  Grove,  warded  off  the 
principal  danger. 

Nevertheless,  Missouri  was  perturbed,  and  restless  as  the  waters  of  a 
boiling  cauldron.  Her  Union  citizens  were  harassed,  galled,  murdered  by 

2  Major  Caldwell  reports  his  casualties  during  these  operations,  as  six  killed,  sixty-six  wounded, 
and  two  captured,  making  a  total  of  seventy-four.  Besides  those  stated  in  the  text,  I  find  only 
these  in  the  Adjutant-General's  reports :  Killed,  James  M.  Cross,  Robert  II.  Parker,  John  A.  Mc- 
Guire.  Wounded,  John  J.  Morgan,  (mortally) ;  B.  F.  Holland,  (mortally) ;  Charles  W.  Gleason. 


400  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

bands  of  roving  guerrillas,  and  frequently  considerable  bodies  of  troops 
made  forays  into  the  State.  It  may  readily  be  believed,  therefore,  that  it 
was  a  difficult  as  well  as  dangerous  task  to  protect  our  long  lines  of  commu 
nications  to  the  frontier  army.  This  service  involved  also  the  keeping 
down  of  outbreaks  and  the  covering  of  a  frontier  from  the  Iron  Mountains 
of  Missouri  to  the  Boston  Mountains  of  Arkansas.  In  this  important  line 
of  duty,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Caldwell  was  engaged  for  several  months,  his 
command,  augmented  by  Companies  L  and  M  which  did  not  join  in  Curtis' 
march  through  Arkansas,  being  constantly  engaged  in  fatiguing  service, 
and  oftentimes  meeting  the  enemy  in  skirmish  or  in  battle.  A  detachment 
of  his  command  was  engaged  at  the  sharp  battle  of  Hartsville  in  January, 
1863,  and  in  a  number  of  affairs  of  lesser  note  his  troops  acquitted  them 
selves  with  great  credit.  The  detachment  was  engaged  in  these  services 
of  importance,  but  of  no  such  general  interest  as  to  meet  with  much  pub 
lic  notice  till  the  summer  of  1863,  when  it  joined  the  cavalry  division  under 
General  Davidson  in  the  campaign  of  Little  Rock.  Moving  by  Pilot  Knob, 
the  detachment  marched  into  Arkansas  near  the  southeastern  corner  of 
Missouri,  and  thence  moving  southward,  joined  the  column  under  Steele 
near  the  White  River,  and  took  prominent  part  thenceforth  in  the  opera 
tions  which  resulted  in  the  capture  of  Little  Rock.  Afterwards,  the  com 
mand  was  actively  engaged  in  movements  in  the  direction  of  Camden,  and 
performed  services  both  valuable  and  brilliant. 

Colonel  Bussey  remained  at  Benton  Barracks  with  the  first  and  third 
battalions  till  the  4th  of  February,  1862,  when  he  moved  to  Rolla.  The 
long  stay  near  St.  Louis  was  occupied  by  "the  everlasting  drill."  When 
Colonel  Bussey  arrived  at  Rolla,  he  found  there  few  troops,  and  the  com 
manding  officer  desirous  of  retaining  his  command.  But  getting  General 
Curtis'  order  to  "  come  on,"  he  sent  Major  Drake,  with  two  companies,  to 
Salem,  and  pushed  forward  himself,  with  the  remaining  six  companies,  to 
overtake  Curtis,  who  was  at  this  time  energetically  pursuing  Price. 

Colonel  Bussey  left  Rolla,  in  light  marching  order,  on  the  morning  of  the 
14th.  The  weather  was  bitter  cold,  and  the  roads  were  horrible.  But  the 
troopers  pushed  on,  kept  pushing  on,  leaving  their  train  behind  them. 
They  stopped  at  dark  to  prepare  a  frugal  meal,  and  after  they  had  partaken 
of  it  obeyed  with  alacrity  the  bugle  call  "to  horse,"  and  marched  on  till 
three  o'clock  of  the  following  morning,  when  they  took  a  short  repose. 
The  march  was  kept  up  with  astonishing  rapidity.  At  Springfield,  Colonel 
Bussey  left  a  company,  and  moved  on  toward  the  front.  The  heavy  rum 
bling  of  artillery  quickened  the  ardor  of  the  troopers,  and  revived  the  spi 
rits  of  their  steeds,  smelling  the  battle  afar  off.  On  the  evening  of  the 
fourth  day  from  Rolla  the  command  reached  General  Curtis'  army  on 


THIRD     CAVALRY.  401 

Sugar  Creek,  more  than  two  hundred  miles  from  the  place  of  starting,  and, 
incredible  as  it  may  seem,  without  the  loss  of  a  single  horse. 

Having  halted  at  Sugar  Creek  a  few  days  the  army  moved  to  Osage 
Springs  and  Cross  Hollows,  Colonel  Bussey  going  into  camp  not  far  distant 
from  head-quarters  of  the  commanding  general.  But  his  command  had 
little  rest  from  this  time  forth  until  after  the  victory  of  Pea  Ridge.  It  was 
engaged  in  reconnoissances,  moving  to  Fayetteville  no  less  than  three  times 
within  a  week  after  the  establishment  of  head-quarters  at  Cross  Hollows, 
and  all  the  time  actively  engaged  in  scouring  the  country  until  the  battle 
of  Pea  Ridge.  It  will  be  remembered  that,  upon  learning  of  the  approach 
of  the  rebels  in  heavy  force,  General  Curtis  fell  back  some  distance,  to 
Sugar  Creek,  for  the  purpose  of  concentrating  his  army  where  he  could 
give  battle  in  an  advantageous  position.  It  was  one  William  Miller, 
a  private  soldier  of  the  Third  Iowa  Cavalry,  who,  as  a  spy,  discovered  the 
rebel  approach  in  overwhelming  numbers  and  at  the  risk  of  his  life  informed 
the  commanding  general  thereof  in  time  for  him  to  make  his  dispositions 
so  as  to  successfully  repel  the  attack. 

I  have  heretofore  described  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge.  The  Third  Cavalry 
bore  conspicuous  part  in  the  engagement,  fighting  on  the  centre  under 
Osterhaus.  This  officer  sent  the  cavalry  too  far  forward,  the  consequence 
of  which  was  a  desperate  combat  on  this  part  of  the  field,  in  which  the 
Iowa  Third  fought  splendidly.  It  was  here  that  Lieutenant-Colonel  Trim 
ble  was  wounded,  and  about  forty  of  the  regiment  put  hors-du-combat  in 
less  time  than  it  takes  to  write  these  lines.  The  command  of  the  regiment 
now  devolved  on  Major  Perry,  who  led  the  regiment  during  the  remainder 
of  the  battle  with  noteworthy  success.  The  losses  of  the  Third  Cavalry  in 
the  battle  were  forty- nine,  of  whom  twenty- two  were  slain  outright, 
eighteen  wounded  and  nine  captured.  "Hearing  it  reported,"  says 
Colonel  Bussey,  "  that  several  of  the  killed  had  been  scalped,  I  had  the 
dead  exhurned,  and  on  personal  examination  of  the  bodies,  I  found  it  was 
a  fact  beyond  dispute  that  eight  of  the  killed  of  my  command  had 
been  scalped,  and  the  bodies  of  many  of  them  showed  unmistakable  evi 
dence  that  the  men  had  been  murdered  after  they  had  been  wounded — that 
first  having  fallen  in  the  charge  from  bullet  wounds,  they  were  afterwards 
pierced  through  the  heart  and  neck  with  knives  by  a  savage,  relentless  foe."* 

3  The  list  of  casualties  of  the  Third  Cavalry  at  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge  is  as  follows : 
Field  and  Staff— Wounded,  Lieutenant-Colonel  H.  H.  Trimble,  Battalion  Sergeant-Major  George 
W.  Johnson ;  Chief  Bugler  James  W.  Cobb. 

Company  A— Killed,  Sergeant  Washington  0.  Crawford;  Corporal  William  J.  Elrod;  Privates 
James  Dodd,  Carroll  Foster,  Elisha  Ham,  James  S.  Letner,  Madison  Townsend.  Wounded,  Sergeant 
Amos  Chambers ;  Corporal  Cyrus  Cunningham ;  Privates  Elijah  Ward,  Matthias  Werts,  Milton  Towns- 
end.  Missing,  Orderly  Sergeant  Daniel  Bradbury ;  Private  Andrew  C.  Marvin.  Company  B— Killed, 
Sergeant  George  N.  Anderson ;  Private  David  Carrol,  William  Cowles,  Casper  Freich.  Company  C— 
Killed,  Sergeant  R.  H.  Millard ;  Private  Peter  J.  Stevens.  Wounded,  Le  Roy  Seaton.  Company  D— 
51 


402  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Colonel  Bussey  pursued  the  enemy  with  vigor,  first  in  the  direction  of 
Keitsville,  and  then  to  Bentonville,  and  beyond.  It  is  well  known  that 
General  Sigel  also  pursued  the  enemy  in  the  direction  of  Springfield. 
Finding  the  way  open  to  that  post — for  the  rebels  had  turned  by  secret 
passes  and  were  seeking  their  way  toward  the  Arkansas  river — Sigel  sought 
to  exhibit  a  specimen  of  his  fine  penchant  for  the  retreat,  and  sent  word  to 
Curtis  to  "come  on,  the  way  being  open."  He  was  peremptorily  ordered 
back  to  duty  against  the  rebels  fleeing  the  other  way.  But  Bussey,  sending 
the  General's  dispatches  from  Keitsville,  at  once  turned  in  pursuit,  and 
continued  it,  taking  many  prisoners  and  much  property,  till  his  command 
was  fairly  exhausted.  Then  he  returned  to  the  field  of  battle,  and  dis 
covered  the  horrible  facts,  touching  the  savage  barbarity  of  the  enemy, 
which  have  been  set  forth  in  his  own  words. 

Two  companies  of  the  regiment  proceeded  to  Holla  in  charge  of  prisoners, 
and  on  their  return  were  halted  at  Springfield,  of  which  post  Major  Perry 
took  command,  and  afterwards  marched  to  Lebanon,  continuing  in  com 
mand  there  for  several  months,  his  troopers  all  the  while  actively  engaged 
in  guarding  trains  or  fighting  guerrillas  with  great  success,  and  himself 
performing  the  duties  of  his  position  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  his  supe 
rior  officers.  I  may  here  state  that  Major  Perry  resigned  his  commission 
in  the  autumn  of  1862,  on  account  of  ill  health,  the  regiment  and  the 
service  thereby  losing  an  oflicer  of  marked  intelligence  and  efficiency. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  before  leaving  Holla  to  join  General  Curtis  at 
the  front,  Colonel  Bussey  sent  Major  Drake  with  two  companies  to  Salem. 
It  will  now  be  proper  to  take  up  the  thread  of  this  detachment's  history. 
Major  Drake  reached  Salem  on  the  evening  of  February  12th,  when  his  com 
mand  was  placed  on  duty  as  the  permanent  garrison  of  the  place.  But  on 
the  day  before,  Adjutant  Cutler,  with  a  detachment  of  twenty-five  men, 
marched  by  a  detour  to  the  head-waters  of  the  Macomec,  and  surprised  a 
rebel  camp,  taking  nearly  as  many  prisoners  as  he  had  troopers  under  his 
command.  Not  long  after  reaching  Salem,  Major  Drake  marched  against 
a  rebel  force  encamped  at  West  Plains,  and  effecting  a  complete  surprise, 
killed  fifteen,  wounded  nearly  twice  as  many,  and  captured  sixty  of  the 
enemy.  Countermarching  to  Salem,  Major  Drake  delivered  over  his  pris 
oners  and  property  captured,  and  at  once  set  out  on  an  expedition  below 
the  Arkansas  line,  where  Coleman,  McBride  and  Fairchild  were  recruiting 
and  concentrating  rebel  troops.  They  retreated  upon  Drake's  approach, 
and  attempted  to  secrete  themselves  in  a  swamp  near  Salem,  Arkansas. 

Killed,  Sergeant  John  W.  Montgomery ;  Corporal  John  Campbell ;  Privates  John  W.  Clark,  Thomas 
P.  Gray,  James  F.  Mercer,  Spence  Miner,  John  Sellers,  Ephraim  Vorhies,  Henry  Brown.  Wounded, 
F.  M.  Bush,  S.  A.  Dysart,  W.  E.  Cox.  Missing,  Charles  J.  Butin,  John  H.  Lawson,  James  I.  Mfison, 
John  L.  Wolf.  Company  M— Killed,  Private  A.  T.  Mansfield.  Wounded,  John  W.  Howard,  William 
Cairn,  J.  Miller,  R.  M.  Nixon,  B.  Brown,  G.  S.  Bowman.  Missing,  II.  H.  Rosa,  II.  A.  Cowles,  B.  Scott. 


THIRD      CAVALRY.  403 

But  Drake,  dismounting  his  men,  pursued  the  enemy  to  their  dismal  fast 
nesses,  and  giving  battle,  gained  a  complete  victory  after  several  hours'  hard 
fighting.  A  battalion  of  the  Sixth  Missouri  Cavalry  and  two  mounted 
howitzers  took  honorable  part  in  this  affair.  The  loss  from  the  Third  Cav 
alry  was  six  men.  It  was  while  on  this  expedition  that  Adjutant  Cutler 
performed  the  brilliant  exploit  of  running  down,  and  slaying  or  wounding 
seven  rebels,  who  were  scouting.  Major  Drake  remained  with  his  command 
at  Salem,  scouting  the  country  roundabout  for  many  miles,  and  defeating 
the  enemy  in  several  skirmishes. 

After  Colonel  Bussey's  command  had  taken  some  rest  from  the  labors  of 
Pea  Ridge  and  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy,  the  Third  Cavalry  was  actively 
engaged  on  reconnoitering  and  foraging  expeditions,  and  marched  to  Fay- 
etteville ;  to  the  Indian  country  west  of  Arkansas ;  to  Huntsville.  It  joined 
in  the  march  which  turned  out  to  be  the  gloomy  expedition  through  Ar 
kansas  to  Helena.  Whilst  the  column  was  moving  eastward  through 
southern  Missouri,  Major  Drake  with  his  detachment  rejoined  the  regiment. 
Colonel  Bussey  being  most  of  the  time  in  a  superior  command,  the  Major 
had  charge  of  the  regiment,  and  on  various  occasions  during  the  march 
through  Arkansas,  and  while  the  army  was  halted  near  Batesville,  was  en 
gaged  with  the  enemy  in  severe  skirmishes.  In  the  latter  part  of  May  he 
commanded  an  expedition  to  Sylamore,  fifty  miles  up  the  river,  where  a 
rebel  force  was  being  organized.  Attacking  the  enemy,  the  Third  Iowa 
killed  and  wounded  a  number,  captured  twenty-five  prisoners,  twice  as  many 
horses,  and  other  property.  Captain  Anderson  of  Company  C,  and  private 
Joseph  French,  were  severely  wounded,  and  Sergeant  S.  B.  Miller,  of  the 
non-commissioned  staff,  was  slain.  Captain  Cook  about  this  time  went  to 
Holla  and  guarded  a  train  thence  safely  to  Batesville  with  his  company. 
About  a  month  afterwards.  Lieutenant  A.  H.  G-riswold,  in  charge  of  a 
foraging  party,  was  attacked.  He  gallantly  drove  off  the  rebels,  and 
saved  the  train,  but  lost  his  own  life  in  the  action,  seven  balls  having  en 
tered  his  body.  Corporal  Wasson  and  private  Leike  were  also  killed,  and 
five  others  wounded  in  this  affair.  On  the  hungry,  dusty  march  to  Helena 
by  Clarendon,  the  Third  Cavalry  performed  much  hard  work  removing 
obstructions  from  the  roads,  and  had  several  skirmishes,  all  successful,  with 
the  enemy,  but  met  with  no  mentionable  loss,  except  that  of  Matthew  D. 
Williams,  killed  July  7th. 

The  regimental  encampment  remained  at  Helena  for  many  months,  but 
the  regiment  was  frequently  engaged  in  expeditions  of  less  or  more  impor 
tance  into  the  interior.  Early  in  November,  Major  Drake  returned  to  his 
home  in  Wayne  county,  and  there  died  on  the  24th.  By  his  death  the 
service  lost  an  accomplished  officer,  and  the  State  a  prominent  and  useful 
citizen.  Lieutenant  John  W.  Noble,  adjutant,  was  promoted  to  the 


404  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

vacancy.  Captain  George  DufBeld  had  before  been  promoted  to  the 
majority  made  vacant  by  the  promotion  of  Major  Caldwell,  and  Captain  0. 
H.  P.  Scott  to  that  caused  by  the  resignation  of  Major  Perry. 

During  the  long  stay  of  head-quarters  at  Helena,  the  two  most  important 
expeditions  in  which  the  regiment  took  part,  in  1862,  were  the  unsuccessful 
attempt  on  Arkansas  Post  by  General  A.  P.  Hovey,  and  the  march  to 
Grenada  under  General  Washburne.  In  the  former  of  these  Colonel 
Bussey  had  command  of  the  cavalry,  two  thousand  picked  troopers.  The 
troops  embarked  on  transports  and  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  White  River, 
November  22d.  On  account  of  the  low  stage  of  the  water,  Colonel  Bussey 
disembarked  his  command  at  Montgomery  Point  and  proceeded  to  march 
by  land,  or  rather  by  swamp,  to  Prairie  Landing,  with  instructions  there  to 
await  further  orders.  The  river  was  too  low  for  even  the  smaller  vessels  to 
move  up  toward  Arkansas  Post.  But  Colonel  Bussey  proceeded  to  carry 
out  his  part  of  the  plan.  He  found  the  roads  almost  impassable.  They 
were  simply  horrible.  But  he  waded  through,  and  having  spent  a  most 
miserable  night  in  a  deluge  of  rain  which  made  the  swamp  a  boundless 
waste  of  water  with  no  square  inch  of  dry  land  in  sight,  he  countermarched 
to  Montgomery  Point,  and  found  the  fleet  still  there,  with  nothing  accom 
plished.  The  expedition  returned  to  Helena.  In  the  expedition  to 
Grenada,  Mississippi,  the  cavalry  destroyed  the  railroad  near  that  place, 
and  caused  the  rebels  in  front  of  Grant  on  the  Tallahatchee  to  fall  back 
before  his  legions.  An  engagement  took  place  near  Grenada,  in  which  the 
rebels  were  worsted.  The  Third  Iowa  took  part  in  the  affair  and  lost  four 
men  captured.  The  expedition,  like  that  under  Hovey,  returned  to  Helena, 
but  it  had  accomplished  something,  and  brought  back  much  property 
captured  from  the  enemy,  and  many  negroes. 

The  army  was  now  again  reorganized,  General  Washburne  being  assigned 
to  the  command  of  the  Second  Cavalry  Division,  Army  of  the  Tennessee, 
Colonel  Bussey  to  the  command  of  the  Second  Brigade  of  that  division,  in 
which  brigade  was  his  own  regiment.  His  command  was  kept  on  active 
duty,  scouting,  but  did  not  meet  the  enemy  in  force.  Small  parties  were 
dispersed  and  the  country  about  Helena  kept  quiet.  For  a  considerable 
part  of  the  month  of  January,  1863,  Colonel  Bussey  was  in  command  of 
the  District  of  Helena.  Under  the  administration  of  General  Gorman, 
the  post  had  become  a  centre  of  illicit  trade  and  a  general  head-quarters  of 
speculators,  successfully  engaged  in  fleecing  the  government,  Colonel 
Bussey 's  administration  was  short,  but  it  was  wise,  pure,  and  energetic. 
It  was  a  public  calamity  that  General  Gorman  so  soon  returned,  and  out 
ranking  Bussey,  again  assumed  command,  on  which  account  the  stealings 
began  to  go  on  as  usual. 

Colonel  Bussey  now  resumed  command  of  the  brigade  to  which  he  had 


THIRD     CAVALRY.  405 

been  assigned  in  December,  Major  Scott  being  in  command  of  the  Third 
Cavalry,  Major.  Noble  commanding  a  battalion.  These  officers  made  fre 
quent  expeditions  into  the  enemy's  country — to  Clarendon,  St.  Charles, 
and  along  the  St.  Francis  river — on  several  occasions  met  the  rebels  in  some 
force  and  always  defeated  them.  In  April,  a  detachment  of  the  regiment 
moved  by  steamer  up  the  St.  Francis  River  nearly  to  the  Missouri  line, 
with  the  object  of  capturing  a  rebel  steamer  said  to  be  in  the  vicinity  of 
Witsburg,  or  Willsburg.  On  the  return  of  the  expedition  there  was  a 
considerable  skirmish  at  Madison,  in  which  the  rebels  were  defeated  with 
loss  in  wounded  and  prisoners.  In  this  affair,  Lieutenant  Niblack  was 
distinguished  for  gallantry,  and  severely  wounded.  On  the  21st,  Major 
Noble,  commanding  regiment,  attacked  a  part  of  Dobyn's  command  near 
the  St.  Francis,  and  gained  a  quick,  decisive  victory.  Within  a  week  he 
met  the  enemy  again,  near  Big  Creek,  and  defeated  him. 

There  were  other  affairs  in  which  small  detachments  of  the  regiment 
were  engaged.  Thus  on  the  1st  of  May,  Captain  J.  Q.  A.  De  Huff,  with 
one  hundred  and  sixty  men  marched  to  La  Grange,  where  he  attacked 
three  hundred  rebels,  and  had  them  about  whipped,  with  heavy  loss,  when 
he  was  himself  attacked  in  rear  by  full  as  large  a  force  as  that  in  his  front. 
The  Captain  and  his  command  fought  stoutly  against  the  now  overwhelm 
ing  numbers,  but  were  defeated  with  a  loss  of  more  than  a  fourth  of  the 
command,  killed,  wounded,  and  captured.  Adjutant  Glenn  Lowe  and 
Lieutenant  Cornelius  A.  Stanton  were  wounded.  They  and  Lieutenant 
Niblack  were  specially  mentioned  for  brave  and  efficient  conduct  on  the 
field.  Another  affair  in  which  a  detachment  of  the  regiment  took  part 
occurred  near  Helena,  the  25th  of  May.  Lieutenant  Samuel  J.  McKee, 
commanding  a  detachment  of  fifty  men  from  Companies  A  and  B,  joined 
Major  Walker,  commanding  Fifth  Kansas,  and,  marching  out  the  Little 
Rock  road,  met  the  enemy  in  superior  force  about  six  miles  from  Helena. 
A  combat  ensued  in  which  the  detachment  fought  conspicuously.  "  Lieu 
tenant  McKee  of  the  Third  Iowa  Cavalry,"  says  Major  Walker,  "  and  the 
men  under  his  command,  acted  with  distinguished  gallantry  during  the 
whole  engagement."  The  detachment  lost  five  men  wounded  and  two 
missing.* 

Nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that,  during  the  period  now  under  review,  the 

*  The  killed  and  wounded  at  La  Grange  were  :—Kilkd,  Sergeants  Arthur  K.  Ewing,  James  H.  W. 
Rigg;  Private  John  Macy.  Wounded,  Adjutant  Glenn  Lowe,  Lieutenant  C.  A.  Stanton;  Corporal 
Jasper  Bromley;  Privates  Ambrose  H.  Hill,  Nathan  Cash,  John  W.  Shook,  John  H.  Lawson,  John 
Davis,  William  De  Lay.  The  missing  soon  after  the  battle  were  in  part  recaptured  from  the  enemy, 
by  a  fine  exploit  on  the  part  of  Sergeant  Breeding,  of  Company  A,  and  Corporal  Birdsall  of 
Company  B. 

The  wounded  in  the  skirmish  near  Helena  were :— Corporal  Asa  E.  Coleman;  Privates  Louis 
Hesse,  James  M.  Legg,  Alfred  W.  Mederas,  James  Matthews.  Missing,  Samuel  Parsons,  Thomas 
Walker. 


406  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Third  Iowa  Cavalry  performed  valuable  labors  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
Helena,  in  the  way  of  fortifying  the  post,  and  making  it 'difficult  for  the 
enemy  to  approach  from  the  interior.  There  is  no  doubt  that  these  labors, 
under  the  direction  of  Major  Scott,  were  of  incalculable  service  to  our 
arms  when  the  post  was  attacked  by  overwhelming  numbers  on  the  4th  of 
July. 

But,  after  all,  campaigning  in  Arkansas,  though  ever  so  well  performed, 
at  this  time  attracted  little  of  the  public  attention  which  was  centred  on  the 
campaign  of  Vicksburg,  and  which  was,  in  sober  truth,  one  of  the  finest 
campaigns  of  which  there  is  any  record  in  military  annals.  Colonel  Bussey, 
after  repeated  endeavors,  was  at  length  ordered  to  join  the  army  under 
Grant.  His  regiment  arrived  at  Haine's  Bluffs  early  in  June,  and  was  at 
once  assigned  to  duty  under  General  Sherman,  in  command  of  the  Army 
of  Observation  along  the  line  of  the  Big  Black  River.  Colonel  Bussey  was 
made  Chief  of  Cavalry.  From  this  time  until  the  capitulation  of  Pem- 
berton  the  cavalry  under  Bussey  were  exceedingly  active.  They  traversed 
all  the  roads  and  by-ways  in  rear  of  Vicksburg  for  a  distance  of  thirty  miles 
at  all  points  between  the  railway  and  the  Yazoo,  exploring  every  forest, 
field,  and  swamp,  till  the  whole  region  became  known  to  the  command  like 
one's  own  door-yard. 

In  the  campaign  of  Jackson  it  performed  even  more  active  services — 
forming  the  advance  of  the  army  as  it  moved  against  Johnston,  skirmishing 
daily  with  the  enemy  till  he  put  himself  behind  the  works  of  the  capital. 
This  event  but  added  to  the  labors  and  services  of  Colonel  Bussey 's  com 
mand,  in  which  were  his  own  regiment  and  the  Fourth  Cavalry  from  Iowa, 
besides  other  troopers.  Whilst  Sherman  invested  Jackson  these  troopers 
were  engaged  to  the  northward,  heavily  skirmishing  with  the  enemy  at 
times,  destroying  railways,  and  depots,  and  confederate  property  of  all 
kinds  in  immense  quantities  and  in  every  way  aiding  the  principal  operation 
and  adding  to  the  great  value  and  renown  of  the  final  triumph,  which  was 
the  recovery  of  a  vast  State  from  the  hands  of  the  insurgents.  For  the 
manifold  splendid  services  of  Colonel  Bussey  and  his  command  during  this 
campaign,  General  Sherman  gave  his  unqualified  praise. 

At  the  close  of  the  campaign  the  command  went  into  encampment  on 
the  Big  Black,  not  far  from  where  General  Sherman  established  his  head 
quarters.  Here  Major  0.  H.  P.  Scott,  who  had  commanded  the  Third 
Iowa  most  of  the  time  for  the  past  three  months,  gave  up  his  commission 
by  resignation,  and  the  command  devolved  upon  Major  Noble. 

The  12th  of  August,  Colonel  Winslow,  Fourth  Iowa,  started  on  an  expe 
dition  northward,  the  Third  joining  the  column.  Moving  by  Yazoo  City 
and  Grenada  the  command  traversed  the  State  of  Mississippi,  and  reached 
Memphis  on  the  22d,  having  met  the  enemy  several  times  and  defeated 


THIRD     CAVALRY.  407 

Uiin,  destroyed  vast  quantities  of  stores,  and,  generally,  made  a  most  useful 
and  brilliant  raid,  in  all  respects  superior  to  some  which  had  brought 
deserved  promotion  to  the  commanders  who  made  them.  On  this  expe 
dition  the  Third  Iowa  lost  a  few  men  wounded. 

The  regiment  at  once  embarked,  to  return  to  Vicksburg,  but  on  reaching 
Helena  was  ordered  by  General  Grant  to  report  to  General  Steele,  now 
engaged  in  his  campaign  against  Little  Rock.  In  the  column  under  Steele 
was,  as  we  have  seen,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Caldwell,  with  the  detachment 
of  six  companies  whose  history  has  been  already  set  forth.  Major  Noble 
marched  to  Little  Rock  where  the  Third  Cavalry  was  re-united  after  sepa 
ration  of  nearly  two  years.  The  Major  was  appointed  Chief  of  Cavalry  on 
General  Davidson's  staff,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Caldwell  took  command 
of  the  regiment.  Colonel  Bussey  arrived  at  Little  Rock  about  the  1st  of 
November,  and  assumed  command  of  the  Cavalry  Division  in  the  tempo 
rary  absence  of  General  Davidson,  but  before  the  month  closed  the  latter 
returned,  and  Bussey  took  command  of  the  First  Brigade,  at  Benton,  an 
outpost,  twenty-five  miles  southwest  of  Little  Rock.  His  troops  were 
engaged,  scouting,  skirmishing,  foraging,  till  the  20th  of  December,  when 
the  post  was  evacuated.  The  command  went  into  camp  at^  Little  Rock. 

The  1st  of  January,  1864,  more  than  six  hundred  men  of  the  Third 
Cavalry,  being  nearly  all  present  able  to  perform  duty,  reenlisted  as  Veteran 
Volunteers — the  first  in  the  division  to  do  this  patriotic  deed.  On  the  6th, 
the  regiment  was  relieved  from  duty  for  furlough  of  thirty  days  in  Iowa, 
In  relieving  the  regiment  General  Davidson  issued  a  very  complimentary 
order  upon  the  subject,  which  may  be  regarded  as  all  the  more  valuable 
seeing  that  he  was  a  man  of  a  most  ungenerous  nature.  He  expressed  his 
high  appreciation  of  their  fidelity  and  zeal  and  assured  them  that  they  could 
not  be  more  heartily  welcomed  home  than  they  would  be  on  their  return  to 
the  army  as  veterans. 

About  this  time  Colonel  Bussey  was  promoted  a  brigadier-general,  but 
whilst  the  veterans  were  at  home  enjoying  the  plaudits  of  a  grateful  people, 
he  occupied  himself  in  procuring  new  arms  and  equipments  for  the  men. 
and  in  superintending  the  recruiting  of  his  regiment,  in  all  which  labors 
he  was  successful,  so  that  when  he  turned  over  the  regiment  to  its  new 
commander  it  was  finely  mounted,  armed,  and  equipped,  and  over  fourteen 
hundred  strong.  H.  C.  Caldwell  was  now  Colonel,  John  W.  Noble,  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel.  Captains  Gilman  C.  Mudgett  and  A.  H.  McCrary  had 
been  commissioned  Majors.  Colonel  Caldwell  resigned  his  commission  in 
June,  to  accept  the  position  of  Judge  of  the  United  States  District  Court 
for  the  District  of  Arkansas,  to  which  he  had  been  appointed  by  the  Presi 
dent.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Noble  was  promoted  to  Colonel,  and  Major 
George  Duffield  to  Lieutenant-Colonel. 


408  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

But  much  of  this  is  anticipation.  Having  taken  full  advantage  of  their 
furloughs,  the  Veterans  returned  to  St.  Louis,  and  the  1st  of  May, 
strengthened  by  recruits  as  we  have  seen,  embarked  for  Memphis,  under 
orders  to  report  to  General  Washburne. 

The  first  campaign  in  which  the  regiment  took  part  after  its  arrival  at 
Memphis  was  the  disastrous  expedition  under  G-eneral  Sturgis,  called  "  the 
Guntown  Expedition. "  It  is  saying  a  great  deal,  and  may  be  putting  it 
coarsely,  but  General  S.  D.  Sturgis  was  the  stupidest  general  officer  in  all 
the  armies  of  the  United  States.  He  does  not  appear,  either,  to  have  been 
animated  by  any  spirit  of  earnest  patriotism,  to  redeem  his  character  from 
universal  reproach,  or  to  cover  as  with  a  veil  of  charity  his  military  record 
of  unmixed  imbecility.  His  curls  were  admirable,  the  ringlets  falling  grace 
fully  adown  his  head,  so  that  even  the  golden-haired  Menelaus  or  ambrosial 
Jove  himself,  storming  through  the  clouds,  might  have  coveted  the  posses 
sion.  It  was,  perhaps,  the  general's  devotion  to  this  magnificent  head  of 
hair  which  prevented  him  from  paying  any  attention  to  military  duties. 
At  any  rate,  from  this  cause  or  some  other,  he  was  forever  committing  the 
grossest  blunders ;  and  he  capped  the  climax  of  them  all  by  his  conduct  of 
the  expedition  jiow  to  be  mentioned,  and  merely  mentioned,  for  I  do  not 
purpose  to  give  a  detailed  account  of  it. 

It  was  a  series  of  blunders,  and  blunders  which,  all  and  singular,  were 
directly  chargeable  to  the  folly  of  Sturgis,  who  nowhere  exhibited  skill 
which  could  not  have  been  surpassed  by  any  corporal  in  his  column.  The 
troops  of  their  own  motion  fought  well  enough,  even  gallantly  on  certain 
occasions,  when  not  so  posted  or  disposed  by  the  commanding  general  as  to 
be  as  little  capable  of  fighting  as  flocks  of  sheep.  They  had  before  fought 
as  well,  at  any  rate  many  of  them,  as  any  troops  ever  fought,  and  they  so 
fought  in  the  succeeding  month  under  another  commander.  But  here 
every  thing  went  wrong.  Trains  were  needlessly  lost,  guns  were  abandoned. 
The  whole  campaign  was  a  most  shameful  disaster,  and  as  needless  as  it  was 
shameful.  The  Third  Iowa  Cavalry  lost  during  this  expedition  sixty-seven 
officers  and  men.5 

6  Namely :  Company  B— Killed,  Private  George  W.  Rhodes.  Company  (^-Corporal  William  Gil- 
christ.  Company  F— Corporal  William  H.  Henderson.  Company  /—Private  William  B.  Adamson. 
Company  X— Private  Wilson  Angel. 

Wounded  and  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Company  D — Second  Lieutenant  Thomas  J.  Miller,  (mor 
tally).  Company  F—  Corporal  George  F.  Campbell.  Company  G — Sergeant  Franklin  Miller ;  Corporal 
David  Miller.  Company  1— Private  J.  Cronin. 

Captured  by  enemy,  supposed  to  be  unhurt.  Company  /—Second  Lieutenant  Reuben  Delay.  Com 
pany  C—  Privates  Francisco  Stump,  Ephraim  Copp,  Albert  Phillips.  Company  D— Privates  Henry 
S.  Benning,  Daniel  Smith.  Company  .E— Commissary-Sergeant  William  Dupee;  Privates  James 
Foster,  Berry  Noaker.  Company  /'—Private  John  Faulkner.  Company  /—Sergeant  Charles  K. 
Holbrook ;  Privates  John  Frush,  John  Holbrook,  Eugene  Sprague,  Benjamin  Tulk,  Daniel  Himes, 
Jacob  Graff,  Wesley  S.  Scott,  Joseph  Fletcher,  Isaac  Calvert,  John  Davis.  Company  K—  Sergeant 
Charles  W.  Sherman;  Corporals  Oliver  Bruse,  James  Swift,  Joseph  Ramsey;  Privates  Henry 


THIRD     CAVALRY.  409 

Retreating  by  La  Fayette,  Colliersville,  arid  Germantown,  our  regiment 
reached  Memphis  with  the  main  column,  and  went  into  camp.  On  the 
24th  of  June,  that  is  about  a  fortnight  after  the  close  of  the  Sturgis  dis 
aster,  it  again  left  camp  for  another  campaign  in  Mississippi,  under  com 
mand  of  General  A.  J.  Smith.  This  was  the  campaign  of  Tupelo,  and 
was  successful.  Our  regiment  halted  a  short  time  at  Moscow,  and  also  at 
Salisbury,  whence  it  began  the  march  southward.  The  column  approached 
Ripley  on  the  7th  of  July.  From  this  time  until  the  battle  of  Tupelo 
there  was  daily  skirmishing  with  the  enemy,  in  which  the  Third  Iowa  had 
its  full  share.  Throughout  the  campaign,  it  was  distinguished  for  the 
dashing  bravery  with  which  it  went  into  fight  and  the  skill  with  which  it 
was  handled.  During  the  battle  of  Tupelo  the  regiment,  with  others,  was 
in  guard  of  the  right  flank  of  the  line  of  battle,  and  removed  from  the 
scene  of  immediate  conflict,  but  on  the  next  day,  near  Old  Town  or  Tisho- 
mingo  Creek,  it  had  a  severe  combat,  charging  the  enemy  in  fine  style. 
"I  feel  at  liberty,"  says  Colonel  Noble,  "without  boasting,  to  say  that 
few  charges  during  the  war  have  excelled  this  in  firmness,  spirit,  and  bril 
liancy.  ' '  It  was  made  by  the  Third  and  Fourth  Cavalry,  supported  by  infantry 
under  Colonel  McMillan.  Major  Duflield,  Captain  Crail,  and  Captain 
Brown  commanding  battalions,  and  Captains  McCrary  and  Johnson,  were 
specially  mentioned  by  Colonel  Noble  for  meritorious  services  at  all  times 
during  the  expedition.  The  enemy  again  attempted  to  harass  the  column 
near  Ellistown,  but  was  quickly  and  finally  driven  off.  Our  regiment, 
moving  by  La  Grange,  reached  Memphis  on  the  evening  of  the  23d,  having 
lost  nineteen  men  during  the  campaign.6 

The  regiment  remained  at  Memphis  and  in  the  vicinity,  without  engaging 
in  any  operations  of  which  onicial  reports  have  been  published,  until  early 
in  September.  On  the  2d  of  this  month,  Major  Benjamin  S.  Jones  with 
the  available  mounted  force  of  the  regiment — about  five  hundred,  officers, 
and  men — marched  for  Brownsville,  Arkansas,  where  he  joined  the  army 
under  General  Joseph  Mower,  and  after  some  delay  moved  after  the  rebel 

McNulty,  Samuel  Eddy,  Michael  Gallager,  Moses  O'Connor,  Isaac  O'Connor,  Ezra  S.  Oden,  William 
Patrick,  Nehemiah  Solon.  Company  .£— Sergeant  Marcus  A.  Packard ;  Corporals  William  Pack, 
William  A.  Kelley ;  Privates  Thomas  Borman,  James  D.  Mason,  Jacob  H.  McVay,  Thomas  S.  Donncl, 
Elias  Hoover,  William  Austin,  James  W.  Walm.  Company  L — Edward  White. 

Wounded  and  brought  into  camp.  Company  C—  Sergeant  A.  A.  Brown ;  Private  William  Lowry. 
Company  E — Bugler  William  F.  Swift.  Company  F—  Privates  Silas  Picrson,  Erastus  Franklin. 
Company  G — Private  David  Bailey.  Company  H—  Corporal  Bazel  Gurwell ;  Private  Joseph  Meyers. 
Company  I— Privates  Harvey  Manning,  Stephen  Shuck.  Company  C—  First  Sergeant  George  W. 
Stamm.  Company  K— Sergeant  James  II.  Harvey.  Company  L— Ezekiel  I.  Sankey. 

6  Killed,  Private  Thomas  Brown.  Wounded,  Quartermaster  Sergeant  J.  W.  Delay,  Sergeant  L.  B. 
Reno ;  Corporal  William  Martin ;  Privates  William  Fields,  Morris  J.  James,  David  Meliza,  John 
Miller,  Cyrus  G.  Hawkins,  H.  Van  Sickle,  Solomon  Hart,  P.  L.  Biddle,  D.  H.  Stevens,  Lucas  M.  Bald 
win,  Dimick  E.  Casper,  II.  Shackleford,  B.  F.  Bard,  William  J.  Sullivan.  Missing,  William  II. 
Matkins. 

52 


410  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Price  whose  campaign  for  the  invasion  of  Missouri  was  fully  begun.  The 
regiment,  with  the  Fourth  Iowa,  and  Tenth  Missouri  Cavalry,  formed  the 
brigade  commanded  by  Colonel  Winslow.  Leaving  Brownsville  on  the 
18th,  the  command  marched  by  Austin,  Searcy,  and  Poplar  Bluffs,  passing 
many  streams  and  crossing  large  swamps  on  the  way,  to  Cape  Girardeau, 
Missouri,  arriving  October  5th.  Thence  moved  by  steamer  to  St.  Louis, 
where  the  regiment  was  refitted  for  the  field,  and  whence  in  a  few  days  it 
commenced  a  march  up  the  valley  of  the  Missouri. 

Having  marched  rapidly,  the  command  joined  the  forces  of  the  Depart 
ment  of  the  Missouri  commanded  by  Major-General  Pleasanton,  near 
Independence  on  the  22d.  The  gallant  troopers  had  swept  across  a  great 
State  in  about  ten  days.  When  Winslow' s  brigade  came  up  there  was  an 
engagement  going  on,  and  the  command  was  at  once  ordered  to  the  front 
and  into  the  battle.  Trotting  forward  to  the  scene  of  conflict  the  troopers 
dismounted,  deployed  into  line,  and  fought  from  five  o'clock  in  the  after 
noon  till  nearly  ten  at  night,  driving  Clark's  rebel  brigade  five  miles  toward 
Kansas.  In  this  engagement  Lieutenant  James  H.  Watte,  acting  adjutant, 
fell  mortally  wounded,  one  man  was  slain,  two  were  mortally  and  one  was 
seriously  wounded. 

Day  had  not  fully  dawned  on  the  morning  of  the  23d,  when  the  troops 
were  again  in  motion.  The  enemy  was  driven  to  and  across  the  Big  Blue 
River,  behind  which  he  took  up  a  strong  position.  The  Missouri  State 
Troops  unsuccessfully  assailed  the  enemy's  lines,  and  were  falling  back  in 
some  confusion,  when  Colonel  Winslow  formed  his  brigade  for  a  charge,  and 
moving  forward  drove  the  rebels  in  great  disorder  from  their  position,  caus 
ing  them  a  loss  of  large  numbers  killed  and  wounded,  several  stands  of 
colors  and  other  rich  spoils  of  war.  The  enemy  was  pursued  several  miles, 
fighting  all  the  while  going  on.  In  this  engagement  Colonel  Winslow,  the 
hero  of  the  battle,  was  severely  wounded,  but  continued  in  command  for 
some  time  afterwards,  when,  success  being  well  assured,  he  relinquished  his 
authority  to  Lieutenant-Colonel  F.  W.  Benteen,  the  gallant  commander  of 
the  Tenth  Missouri,  who  successfully  led  the  brigade  through  the  remainder 
of  the  campaign.  The  Third  Iowa  lost  thirteen  men  wounded,  one  mor 
tally,  in  this  engagement,  called  the  battle  of  the  Big  Blue. 

The  troops  encamped  for  the  night  on  the  State  line.  Early  on  the  mor 
row,  having  now  joined  the  "Army  of  the  Border"  under  Major-General 
Curtis,  the  troopers  of  Winslow' s  Brigade  were  in  the  saddle,  rapidly  riding 
down  the  line  separating  Missouri  from  Kansas.  They  rode  over  a  vast 
beautiful  prairie,  stopping  only  a  few  moments  to  feed,  then  pressing  on — 
riding  rapidly  all  day  long,  and  nearly  all  of  the  following  night.  It  was  a 
grand  sight,  the  Army  of  the  Border  thus  swiftly  moving  in  pursuit  of 
Price.  He  made  a  stand  on  the  Osage,  but  was  quickly  driven  from  his 


THIRD     CAVALRY.  411 

position,  on  the  morning  of  the  25th,  and  followed  up  by  Win  slew's  Brigade 
for  several  miles  across  the  open  prairie.  Pressed  hard,  he  at  length  turned 
at  bay,  presenting  a  strong  line  of  battle,  well  covered  by  artillery.  It  was 
a  fine  field  for  the  manoeuvres  of  cavalry,  and  the  dashing  charge  of  Win- 
slow' s  Brigade,  "  thundering  over  the  Prairie,"  put  the  rebels  in  complete 
rout.  Generals,  guns,  colors  were  captured  by  our  victorious  troopers, 
who  pursued  the  flying,  demoralized  remnants  of  Price's  army  to  Fort  Scott, 
Kansas,  where  they  took  one  day's  rest.  Our  regiment  then  joined  in  the 
pursuit,  and  having  marched  through  a  portion  of  Missouri,  Arkansas,  and 
the  Indian  Territory  to  a  point  on  the  Arkansas  River  nearly  fifty  miles 
above  Fort  Smith,  there  brought  an  end  to  the  chase,  Price's  army  having 
by  this  time  been  put  entirely  hors-de-combat. 

The  troopers  of  Winslow's  Brigade,  which  had  borne  a  conspicuous  part 
throughout  this  remarkable  campaign,  now  returned  to  St.  Louis,  suffering 
no  little  hardship  from  cold  and  want  of  sufficient  food,  during  the  first 
part  of  the  countermarch.  The  brigade  received  the  following  complimen 
tary  order  from  General  Pleasonton : 

"  General  Orders  No.  11. 

"  HEAD  QUARTERS  CAVALRY  DIVISION,        •> 
"  WARRENSBURG,  MISSOURI,  November  Bd,  1864. ) 

"  Winslow's  Brigade  of  cavalry,  now  commanded  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Benteen,  being  about  to 
leave  for  another  Department,  the  Major-General,  commanding,  takes  the  occasion,  not  only  to 
express  his  regrets  in  separating  from  such  glorious  troops,  but  also  to  recall  more  especially  than 
was  done  in  General  Orders  No.  6,  from  these  head-quarters,  the  splendid  manner  in  which  the 
brigade  fought  at  the  Osage,  capturing  five  pieces  of  artillery  from  the  enemy,  with  a  large  number 
of  prisoners,  and  carrying,  by  a  daring  charge,  the  most  important  and  conspicuous  position  on 
that  brilliant  field. 

"  No  troops  could  win  a  prouder  record  for  themselves  than  they  have  done,  and  the  best  wishes 
of  their  comrades  in  the  late  campaign  will  accompany  them  wherever  their  services  are  required. 

"  By  command  of  MAJOR-GENERAL  PLEASANTON. 

"  CLIFFORD  THOMPSON, 
"  First  Lieutenant  and  Assistant  Adjutant-General." 

The  Third  Iowa  Cavalry,  from  the  time  it  left  Memphis  till  it  reached 
St.  Louis  on  its  return  from  the  Indian  Territory,  had  marched  nearly 
seventeen  hundred  miles ;  had  conspicuously  participated  in  three  general 
engagements ;  had  captured  a  stand  of  colors  at  the  Big  Blue,  and  three 
pieces  of  artillery  at  the  Osage ;  Private  James  Dunlavy,  of  Company  D, 
had  captured  the  rebel  General  Marmaduke,  and  Sergeant  Calvary  M. 
Young,  General  Cabell  on  the  same  glorious  field.  "The  whole  of  my 
command,"  says  Major  Jones,  "did  nobly  on  the  field  of  Osage  as  on  the 
others,  and  the  highest  commendations  are  due  to  every  man  and  officer." 
The  losses  of  the  regiment  during  the  campaign  were  a  little  less  than 
fifty,  of  whom  six  were  slain,  five  received  fatal  wounds,  and  the  rest  more 
or  less  severely  wounded.7 

*  Reported  as  follows : 

NEAR  INDEPENDENCE,  MISSOURI,  October  22d,  1863.— Company  E— Kitted,  John  N.  Phelps.    Company 


412  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Meanwhile,  that  portion  of  the  regiment  left  at  Memphis  was  refitted  for 
the  field,  and  not  long  after  Major  Jones  returned  to  St.  Louis,  Colonel 
Noble  inarched  from  Memphis  in  a  column  under  the  gallant  General 
Grierson,  and  made  a  brilliant  and  most  useful  raid  through  Mississippi  to 
Vicksburg.  The  column  moved  to  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  railroad,  on  which 
at  Shannon,  Okolona,  and  Egypt,  large  quantities  of  rebel  property  were 
destroyed,  the  rebels  themselves  being  defeated  and  captured  in  large 
numbers  at  the  last  named  place.  Moving  westward,  the  Memphis  and 
New  Orleans  Railroad  was  destroyed  at  Winona,  and  well  broken  up  from 
Duckport  to  Grenada  by  Colonel  Noble.  It  would  require  a  page  to 
enumerate  the  property  his  command  destroyed.  It  included  locomotives, 
cars,  depots,  machine  shops,  vast  quantities  of  stores.  Moving  from 
Grenada  by  Carrollton,  Lexington,  and  Mechanicsville,  Colonel  Noble 
reached  Vicksburg  on  the  5th  of  January,  1865.  Throughout  this  raid, 
accompanied  by  skirmishing,  hard  labor,  night  marches,  Colonel  Noble's 

G — Wounded,  Lieutenant  James  II.  Watts,  since  died.  Company  F—  Sergeant  Lewis  G.  Balding, 
since  died;  Warren  Armstrong.  Company  K — Henry  C.  Vaugh,  since  died. 

BIG  BLUE,  October  23d. — Company  A —  Wounded,  John  Shook,  Joseph  Ogle,  Thomas  Walker.  Com 
pany  B — Sergeant  Samuel  Barr,  since  died ;  James  Pearson,  Hamilton  McCoy,  Robert  McDonald. 
Company  C—  Sergeant  Thomas  H.  Brenton.  Company  F—  George  R.  Fry.  Company  I—W.  II.  De 
Long.  Company  K — Hezekiah  C.  Bradley.  Company  L — Captain  J.  D.  Brown.  Company  M— 
Joseph  Lawson. 

BATTLE  OF  THE  OSAGE,  October  25th. — Company  B — Wounded,  Corporals  James  House,  Nathaniel 
Bailey ;  Thomas  Weeks,  Robert  McDonald,  Miles  King,  Hamilton  McCoy,  Joseph  Poole.  Company 
C—  Corporal  Lisbon  Cox;  Fennel  Garnet,  James  Jeffries,  Fleming  Dungan,  J.  M.  D.  McNoland. 
Company  D— Killed,  R.  A.  Buzzard,  John  Cristy.  Wounded,  Jacob  Koone,  William  D.  Reader, 
James  Dunlavy,  Edward  Ball.  Company  E — Killed,  Francis  A.  Allender.  Wounded,  Sergeant  Wil 
liam  H.  Neideigh.  Company  F—W.  H.  H.  Harman.  Company  H—  John  Balback.  Company  K— 
Corporal  Pat  Steely,  Elias  Hoover.  Company  L — Corporal  James  W.  Honnald.  Company  M— 
Killed,  John  Ashback,  John  G.  Walker.  Wounded,  M.  J.  Dale,  Isaac  W.  McCarty,  since  died. 

As  connected  with  another  statement  in  the  last  paragraph  of  the  text,  I  quote  the  following, 
from  the  daily  "Gate  City"  of  Keokuk: 

"  We  were  glad  to  receive  a  call,  yesterday  evening,  from  young  James  Dunlavy,  of  Company  D, 
Third  Iowa  Cavalry,  already  well  known  as  the  captor  of  Marmaduke.  A  son  of  Harvey  Dunlavy, 
of  Davis  County,  ho  goes  home  on  a  short  visit,  under  orders  to  report  to  his  regiment  on  the  first 
of  February.  Young,  intelligent,  active;  a  representative  Iowa  boy;  he  is  a  fine  sample  of  the 
material  out  of  which  brave  soldiers  and  good  officers  are  made. 

"  He  is  directly  from  Fort  Scott.  Brings  with  him  various  presents — public  testimonials  com 
mendatory  of  his  brave  achievement — the  capture  of  a  rebel  Major-General.  The  most  elegant  of 
these  is  a  brace  of  Colt's  revolvers,  ivory  handled  and  silver  plated,  and  retailing  for  one  hundred 
and  ninety-five  dollars,  given  him  by  the  citizens  of  Fort  Scott.  They  are  enclosed  in  an  elegant 
rosewood  case,  upon  the  silver  plate  of  which  is  inscribed :  '  Fort  Scott,  Kansas,  to  private  James 
Dunlavy,  Company  D,  Third  Iowa  Cavalry,  captor  of  Major-General  Marmaduke,  Osage,  October 
25th,  1864.' 

"  He  says  that  in  the  charge  at  Osage  he  got  separated  from  his  company,  but  kept  on.  Noticed 
at  some  distance  some  blue  coats.  Thought  they  were  our  own  boys.  Bore  down  toward  them, 
occasionally  drawing  a  bead  on  a  butternut  whenever  visible.  Marmaduke  saw  him,  noticed  he 
was  firing  at  secesh,  galloped  toward  him,  bridle-rein  and  revolver  in  hand,  cursing  him  for  shoot 
ing  his  own  men.  Dunlavy  « smelt  a  mice,'  saw  they  were  blue-coated  rebels,  waited  until  Marma 
duke  got  close  to  him,  then  drew  a  bead  on  him  with  his  carbine  and  told  him  to  surrender.  Mar 
maduke  thought  he  better  had,  and  he  did." 


THIRD     CAVALRY.  413 

command  did  as  gallant,   brilliant  service   as  any  troopers  in  General 
Grierson's  column. 

Colonel  Noble  immediately  embarked,  but  did  not  leave  Vicksburg  until 
the  evening  of  the  6th.  Arriving  at  Memphis  on  the  llth,  he  received 
orders  to  report  to  General  Upton,  at  Louisville,  Kentucky,  whither  Major 
Jones  had  already  gone  from  St.  Louis,  and  where  the  Third  Cavalry  was 
once  more  united,  to  take  part  in  the  last  campaign  of  the  war.  The  com 
mand  was  thoroughly  fitted  for  the  field — well  armed,  mounted,  and 
equipped,  and  having  moved  to  northern  Alabama,  joined  the  forces  which 
in  the  latter  part  of  March  began  that  campaign,  which  must  forever 
remain  prominent  among  the  annals  of  war,  and  which  has  been  popularly 
denominated 

"THE  GREAT  WILSON  RAID." 

The  young  and  distinguished  General  James  H.  Wilson,  as  wise  in  judg 
ment  as  dashing  and  brilliant  in  execution,  organized  his  forces  for  this  ex 
pedition  in  northern  Alabama,  behind  the  Tennessee.  That  part  of  the 
cavalry  corps  engaged  in  the  campaign  consisted  of  three  divisions  of  two 
brigades  each,  the  troopers  being  mostly  armed  with  Spencer  carbines. 
Brigadier-General  Edward  McCook  commanded  the  first  division,  his  brig 
ade  commanders  being  General  John  T.  Croxton,  and  Colonel  La  Grange  of 
the  First  Wisconsin  Cavalry.  Croxton' s  Brigade  was  composed  of  Kentucky 
and  Michigan  troops,  and  the  Eighth  Iowa  Cavalry,  Colonel  DOIT.  The 
troopers  in  La  Grange's  Brigade  were  from  Wisconsin,  Indiana,  and  Ken 
tucky.  The  Second  Division,  the  largest  of  the  three,  was  commanded  by 
Brigadier-General  Long.  The  First  Brigade,  Colonel  A.  0.  Miller,  was 
composed  of  four  regiments  of  mounted  infantry,  two  from  Indiana,  and 
two  from  Illinois.  The  Second,  Colonel  Minty,  had  two  regiments  from 
Ohio,  one  from  Michigan  and  one  from  Pennsylvania,  being  the  only  east 
ern  troops  engaged.  The  other  division,  styled  the  Fourth,  was  commanded 
by  Brevet  Major-General  Upton.  Brevet  Brigadier-General  Edward  F. 
Winslow  commanded  the  First  Brigade,  composed  of  the  Third  and  Fourth 
Iowa,  and  the  Tenth  Missouri  Cavalry.  The  Second  Brigade,  Brevet 
Brigadier-General  Alexander,  consisted  of  the  Fifth  Iowa,  and  First  and 
Seventh  Ohio  Cavalry.  There  was  also  a  battery  of  horse  artillery  attached 
to  each  division.  The  pontoon  train  was  also  supported  by  a  battery. 
The  entire  number  of  troops  was  about  twelve  thousand,  including  the 
escort  of  the  train  carrying  supplies  and  ammunition. 

Thus  organized,  the  command,  as  a  whole,  started  from  Chickasaw  on 
the  22d  of  March,  Upton's  Division  in  the  advance,  and  moved  in  a  south 
easterly  direction  for  about  a  week,  to  Elyton.  This  part  of  the  route  lay 
over  a  rough  and  barren  country ;  the  roads  were  bad,  the  streams  swollen 


414  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

and  difficult  of  approach,  making  the  march  necessarily  slow.  Though  no 
fighting  took  place,  it  was,  perhaps,  the  worst  part  of  the  route.  About 
the  time  the  army  reached  Elyton,  General  Croxton  left  the  column  with 
his  brigade  to  demonstrate  against  Tuscaloosa.  He  did  not  again  join  the 
column  during  the  raid,  but  made  one  of  great  daring  and  success  north 
ward  of  the  line  taken  by  Wilson. 

From  Elyton  to  Selma,  Wilson  fought  almost  all  the  way,  having  a  con 
siderable  battle  on  the  31st  of  March,  gaining  the  victory  of  Ebenezer 
Church  the  1st  of  April,  and,  not  allowing  the  enemy  time  to  recover  from 
the  dismay  and  demoralization,  assaulted  and  carried  the  works  of  Selma 
on  the  2d  in  as  bold  a  battle  as  was  ever  fought.  Large  numbers  of  pri 
soners,  and  vast  stores  fell  into  our  hands,  the  spoils  of  this  splendid  victory. 
Halting  a  week,  to  destroy  the  captured  property,  as  well  as  to  scour  the 
country  roundabout  for  many  miles,  General  Wilson  then  pushed  on  to 
Montgomery,  which  fell  an  easy  prey  into  the  hands  of  McCook  on  the 
morning  of  the  12th.  "Our  'cloud  of  cavalry,'  as  it  has  been  termed," 
says  Chaplain  J.  W.  Latham,  of  the  Third,  "made  a  very  imposing  ap 
pearance  as  we  marched,  colors  flying  and  bands  discoursing  patriotic  airs, 
through  the  broad  streets  of  the  city,  the  original  seat  of  government  of 
the  Southern  Confederacy. ' '  It  was  peculiarly  gratifying  to  the  troops  to 
see  t?  /flag  of  our  country  proudly  waving  from  the  dome  of  the  capitol 
where  the  traitor,  Davis,  had  been  inaugurated. 

Resting  one  day  General  Wilson  moved  on  eastward,  directing  McCook 
against  West  Point,  and  the  principal  column  against  Columbus,  Georgia. 
La  Grange's  Brigade,  forming  now  the  principal  part  of  McCook' s  com 
mand,  attacked  West  Point  on  the  14th,  and  after  a  short  but  desperate 
battle  captured  the  place.  The  rebel  General  Tyler  and  many  other  traitors 
were  here  slain.  The  same  day,  General  Upton  assaulted  Columbus,  about 
twenty  miles  below  West  Point  on  the  Chattahoochee,  and  carried  the  city 
by  a  night  attack,  in  which  Winslow's  Brigade  bore  the  brunt  of  the  fight 
and  won  undying  laurels.  Both  the  Third  and  Fourth  regiments  of  Iowa 
Cavalry  bore  prominent  part  in  this  fine  action. 

Halting  again  to  destroy  his  immense  captures,  General  Wilson  put  his 
column  in  motion  for  Macon  on  the  19th.  There  were  some  captures  made, 
and  there  was  some  skirmishing,  but  on  the  20th,  intelligence  of  the  collapse 
of  the  rebellion  was  received,  and  the  greatest  raid  of  which  we  have  any 
history  came  to  an  abrupt  termination. 

The  raid  was  most  remarkable  in  point  of  fighting.  Assaults  were  made 
by  night  upon  strong  defences  hastily  reconnoitered.  Strong  positions, 
well  mounted,  well  manned,  supported  by  superior  forces  of  infantry,  and 
protected  by  all  the  strength  which  engineering  skill  could  command,  were 
carried  by  an  inferior  force  of  cavalry,  charging  dismounted.  The  impet- 


THIED     CAVALRY.  415 

uosity  of  the  attacks  was  irresistible.  The  raid  was  also  remarkable  in 
point  of  marching.  The  column  had  moved  about  five  hundred  miles 
during  the  thirty  days'  campaign  of  which  twenty-one  were  marching  days. 
So  that  the  average  was  about  twenty-five  miles  a  day.  Croxton  marched 
more  than  six  hundred  miles.  But  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  charac 
teristic  of  the  campaign  was  its  destructiveness  to  the  rebel  cause.  It  laid 
waste  the  granary  of  the  South;  demolished  the  iron-works,  factories, 
arsenals,  armories,  shops,  mills,  upon  which  the  rebels  were  dependent  for 
arms,  munitions,  supplies;  destroyed  many  miles  of  railway,  including 
many  bridges.  Nearly  seven  thousand  prisoners  of  war  fell  into  our  hands, 
two  hundred  and  forty-one  pieces  of  artillery,  twenty-three  stands  of  colors, 
and  great  numbers  of  small  arms.  "The  effect  of  these  terrible  fires  in 
the  rear  of  the  confederacy,"  says  the  intelligent  correspondent  of  the 
Cincinnati  Commercial,  "cannot  be  over-estimated.  They  effectually 
destroyed  the  propagative  quality  of  the  last  dragon's  tooth,  and  sundered 
eveiy  nerve  of  the  last  ganglion  of  rebellion.  The  effect  of  Wilson's  raid 
upon  the  southern  hot-bed,  is  significantly  apparent  in  the  submissive  tone 
of  all  this  region.  There  is  not  a  hand  that  has  the  nerve  nor  a  voice  the 
spirit  left,  to  be  lifted  again  in  hostility  to  its  government." 

There  was  not  an  engagement  during  the  campaign  where  the  Third  Iowa 
did  not  behave  with  great  gallantry,  and  the  meritorious  services  of  )lonel 
Noble  and  his  command  were  universally  acknowledged  throughout.  The 
regiment  captured  nearly  seven  hundred  prisoners,  about  as  many  small 
arms,  a  number  of  guns  and  two  colors.  At  Columbus,  where  part  only 
of  the  regiment  took  part  in  the  assault — a  part  having  been  left  at  Mont 
gomery  and  not  yet  come  up — the  troopers  of  the  Third  captured  more 
prisoners  than  they  themselves  numbered.  The  loss  of  the  regiment 
during  the  campaign  was  about  forty,  killed  and  wounded. 

The  regiment  moved  from  Macon  to  Atlanta,  where  it  continued  in  the 
performance  of  such  duties  as  were  ordered  till  the  9th  of  August,  when  it 
was  mustered  out  of  service.  The  roster  at  this  time  was  composed  of  the 
following  officers : 

Colonel  John  W.  Noble,  Brevet  Brigadier  General.  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Benjamin  S.  Jones.  Majors  P.  H.  Walker,  C.  A.  Stanton,  George  Curk- 
endall.  Surgeon  George  W.  Carter.  Assistant  Surgeons  T.  J.  Maxwell, 
Samuel  Whitten.  Chaplain  James  W.  Latham.  Company  A,  Captain 
W.  G.  Wilson ;  Lieutenants  D.  Bradbury,  E.  W.  Tadlock.  Company  B, 
Captain  A.  H.  Gage ;  Lieutenant  W.  E.  Forker.  Company  C,  Captain 
Glenn  Lowe ;  Lieutenants  A.  Roberts,  C.  W.  Taylor.  Company  D,  Captain 
John  A.  Pickler;  Lieutenants  John  L.  Morgan,  D.  C.  Pearcy.  Company  E, 
Captain  Thos.  C.  Gilpine ;  Lieutenants  N.  Batten,  Charles  A.  McCord. 
Company  F,  Captain  Benjamin  F.  Crail;  Lieutenants  M.  S.  Crawford, 


416  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Richard  Gaines.  Company  G,  Captain  John  S.  Stidger ;  Lieutenants 
Charles  B.  Leech,  John  R  Watkins.  Company  H,  Captain  James  R. 
Grousback ;  Lieutenants  Samuel  A.  Young,  William  Wicoff.  Company  I, 
Captain  Franz  W.  Arnim;  Lieutenant  John  J.  Veatch.  Company  K, 
Captain  Newton  C.  Honnold ;  Lieutenants  George  W.  Stamm,  Josephus 
Miller.  Company  L,  Captain  John  D.  Brown;  Lieutenants  James  C. 
Williams,  Edward  Mudgett.  Company  M,  Captain  George  W.  Johnson ; 
Lieutenants  John  C.  Gammill,  W.  A.  Wright. 

The  regiment  reached  Davenport  on  the  21st,  and  was  there  finally  dis 
banded,  after  a  period  of  service  of  four  years,  during  which,  whether  con 
sidered  in  respect  of  its  commanding  officers,  the  officers  generally,  or  the 
rank  and  file,  it  had  well  won  the  highest  admiration  as  a  command  com 
posed  of  as  excellent  material  as  any  in  the  army  and  which  had  made  a 
history  of  effective  service  and  brilliant  deeds  second  to  that  of  no  regiment 
by  whose  aid  the  great  rebellion  was  triumphantly  overwhelmed. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

FOURTH    CAVALRY. 

ORGANIZATION  AT  "  CAMP  HARLAN,"  NEAR  MOUNT  PLEASANT— MOVE  BY  RAIL  TO  ST. 
LOUIS— TO  SPRINGFIELD,  BY  ROLLA— JOIN  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  SOUTHWEST— MARCH 
THROUGH  ARKANSAS,  TO  HELENA— ENCAMPED  NEAR  HELENA  ABOUT  NINE 
MONTHS— ACTIVE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE  REGIMENT  DURING  THIS  PERIOD— THE 
CAMPAIGN  OF  VICKSBURG,  THE  REGIMENT  SERVING  UNDER  SHERMAN— CAPTURE 
OF  JACKSON— RAIDS— REENLISTMENT  OF  THE  REGIMENT— THE  MERIDIAN  RAID 
—VETERAN  FURLOUGH— RETURN  TO  MEMPHIS— EXPEDITION  UNDER  GENERAL 
STURGIS— EXPEDITIONS  UNDER  GENERAL  A.  J.  SMITH,  FIRST  TO  TUPELO,  SECOND 
TO  THE  TALLAHATCHEE— THE  REMARKABLE  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  PRICE  IN  MIS 
SOURI—THE  GREAT  RAID  UNDER  GENERAL  WILSON— MUSTERED  OUT— HOME. 

FOR  the  following  truthful  and  finely  written  account  of  this  distinguished 
regiment,  I  am  indebted  to  Lieutenant  WILLIAM  F.  SCOTT,  of  Fairfield — the 
last  regimental  Adjutant : 

The  Fourth  Regiment  of  Iowa  Cavalry  was  organized  and  mustered  into 
service  at  Mount  Pleasant.  Its  camp  was  called  Camp  Harlan,  in  honor  of 
the  distinguished  stateman,  and  was  located  one  half  mile  west  of  the  town. 
The  first  company  in  rendezvous,  Captain  Benjamin  Rector's,  arrived  at 
Mount  Pleasant  October  17th,  1861,  from  Davenport  where  it  had  been  sent 
to  join  the  Second  Cavalry.  This  company  was  organized  at  Sidney,  Fre*- 
mont  county,  August  10th,  1861,  for  the  Second  Cavalry,  and  was  composed 
of  men  from  the  counties  of  Fremont,  Page  and  Mills.  It  arrived  at 
Davenport  about  the  middle  of  September,  but  the  Second  was  then  full, 
and  it  was  kept  in  Camp  McClellan  until  the  raising  of  the  Fourth  Cavalry 
was  ordered,  when  it  was  removed  to  Mount  Pleasant  as  a  nucleus  for  that 
regiment. 

Captain  John  H.  Peters'  Company  arrived  with,  or  immediately  after 
Captain  Rector's;  also  from  Davenport  and  also  originally  raised  for  the 
Second  Cavalry.  Captain  Peters'  Company  was  organized  in  Delaware 
County  about  September  1st.  These  two  companies  immediately  set,  to 
work  upon  the  barracks,  and  others  joining  during  the  month,  the  quar 
ters  for  the  entire  regiment  were  rapidly  built.  The  next  company  was 
53  417 


418  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Captain  Cornelius  F.  Spearman's,  organized  in  Henry  County  October  9th, 
and  the  next  Captain  James  T.  Druinmond's,  organized  at  the  same  place 
and  time.  Next  came  Captain  Orrin  Miller's  Company,  organized  about  the 
middle  of  October  in  Hemy  county,  though  many  of  his  men  came  from 
other  places.  Next,  Captain  Edward  F.  Winslow's  Company,  organized  in 
Camp  Harlan  and  composed  of  men  from  the  counties  of  Henry,  Wapello 
and  Mahaska.  Captain  Alonzo  B.  Parkell's  Company,  from  Grinnell, 
Poweshiek  County,  was  organized  about  the  middle  of  September  for  a 
regiment  of  "Mounted  Rifles,"  which  was  to  have  been  organized 
by  E.  Clarke,  Esq.,  of  Iowa  City.  That  failed  and  the  company 
volunteered  for  the  Fourth.  0.  Castle  brought  a  party  of  men  from 
Johnson  County  about  November  1st,  but  they  were  soon  after  scattered 
into  other  companies.  Captain  De  Witt  C.  Crawford's  Company, 
raised  in  Chickasaw  and  Mitehell  counties,  and  Captain  Thomas  Tullis', 
raised  in  Lee,  arrived  early  in  November.  A  company  from  Jefferson 
county  began  to  assemble  about  this  time,  and  when  large  enough  chose  A. 
R.  Pierce  for  captain.  Pleyel's  regiment  of  Lancers  was  now  breaking 
up,  jtnd  two  companies  volunteering  for  the  Fourth  Cavalry  were  sent  to 
Mount  Pleasant.  These  were  Captain  William  E.  Harris' ,  organized  at 
Burlington,  and  Captain  William  Pursell's,  at  Winterset,  Madison  county. 

Some  delays  occurred  in  filling  up  the  companies,  and  the  mustering 
officer,  Captain  Alexander  Chambers,  did  not  begin  mustering  until  Novem 
ber  23d.  On  that  day.  and  on  the  25th  all  the  companies  were  mustered 
into  the  United  States  service,  except  Captain  Pursell's,  which  was  delayed 
until  December  5th.1 

1  When  mustered  in  the  companies  were  assigned  to  their  positions  in  the  regiment,  and  lettered 
as  follows : 

Company  A — Captain  Benjamin  Bector;  Lieutenants  John  Guylee,  J.  M.  Rust.  Company  B — 
Captain  John  H.  Peters;  Lieutenants  George  B.  Parsons,  Alonzo  Clark.  Company  C—  Captain  Orrin 
Miller  ;  Lieutenants  Henry  E.  Winslow,  James  Patterson.  Company  D — Captain  Cornelius  F. 
Spearman ;  Lieutenants  Erasmus  Coiner,  John  Tucker.  Company  E — Captain  Alonzo  B.  Parkell ; 
Lieutenants  Orson  N.  Perkins,  Edward  W.  Dee.  Company  F— Captain  Edward  F.  Winslow ;  Lieu 
tenants  Thomas  J.  Zollars,  William  A.  Heacock.  Company  G — Captain  Thomas  C.  Tullis;  Lieuten 
ants  James  Brown,  Simon  Hooper.  Company  H—  Captain  De  Witt  C.  Crawford ;  Lieutenants  Samuel 
S.  Troy,  Edwin  A.  Haskell.  Company  I—  Captain  William  Pursell;  Lieutenants  Jesse  R.  Lambert, 
John  R.  Overmyer.  Company  K—  Captain  James  T.  Drummond ;  Lieutenants  Jacob  Hart,  Joshua 
Gardner.  Company  L— Captain  William  E.  Harris ;  Lieutenants  William  II.  Sells,  William  W. 
Woods.  Company  M—  Captain  Abial  R.  Pierce ;  Lieutenants  Frederick  S.  Whiting,  Aaron  J.  Newby. 
The  battalion  organization  was  as  follows :  First  Battalion,  Companies  A,  G,  D,  and  K ;  Second  Bat 
talion,  Companies  C,  I,  F,  and  L ;  Third  Battalion,  Companies  E,  II,  M,  and  B.  , 

The  Field  and  Staff,  mustered  in,  December  26th,  1861,  was  then  composed  of  the  following 
officers:  Colonel  Asbury  B.  Porter,  of  Mount  Pleasant;  Majors  Simeon  D.  Swan,  of  Mount  Pleas 
ant,  Joseph  E.  Jewett,  of  Iowa  City,  George  A.  Stone,  of  Mount  Pleasant ;  Regimental  Adjutant 
George  W.  Waldron,  Mount  Pleasant ;  Regimental  Quartermaster  Simon  P.  Lauffer,  Mount  Pleas 
ant;  Surgeon  Andrew  W.  McClure,  of  Mount  Pleasant;  Assistant  Surgeon  Wellington  Bird,  of 
Mount  Pleasant;  Chaplain  Andrew  J.  Kirkpatrick,  of  Mount  Pleasant;  First  Battalion,  Adjutant 
Warren  Beckwith,  of  Mount  Pleasant;  Quartermaster  J.  Marshall  Rust,  of  Sidney;  Second  Bat 
talion,  Adjutant  Watfcon  B.  Porter,  of  Mount  Pleasant;  Quartermaster  William  P.  Brazelton  of 


FOURTH     CAVALRY.  419 

The  regiment  now  numbering  one  thousand  and  eighty-six  officers  and 
men,  remained  in  Camp  Harlan  drilling  and  parading  when  the  weather 
permitted,  and  mounting  guard  all  through  the  winter.  There  was  much 
sickness,  resulting  from  the  great  change  in  manner  of  life  at  that  incle 
ment  season,  and  from  the  exposure  incident  to  "standing  guard,"  but 
under  the  efficient  management  of  Surgeons  McClure  and  Bird,  the  losses 
were  remarkably  few.  The  men  were  here  tolerably  well-clothed,  and  in 
January,  1862,  received  sabres  of  the  heavy  cavalry  pattern,  and  saddles. 
The  horses  were  purchased  at  Mount  Pleasant,  and  were  very  good. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Thomas  Drummond  joined  in  January,  having  been 
appointed  from  the  line  of  the  Fifth  United  States  Cavalry.2 

In  February,  Colonel  Porter  was  ordered  to  march  the  regiment  to  Fort 
Leavenworth,  and  some  preparations  for  the  trip  were  made,  but  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  same  month  this  was  countermanded  by  an  order  to 
report  at  St.  Louis.  Accordingly  the  three  battalions  were  shipped  from 
Mount  Pleasant  with  as  little  delay  as  possible,  the  First  moving  on  Feb 
ruary  26th,  the  Second  on  the  28th,  and  the  Third  on  March  3d.  Moved 
by  rail  through  Illinois,  arrived  safely  in  St.  Louis,  and  were  quartered  in 
Benton  Barracks.  The  balance  of  clothing  and  equipments  necessary  was 
here  received,  and  about  March  10th  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  Holla, 
bound  for  the  field.  The  first  companies  reached  Holla  March  14th,  and 
the  others  closed  up  as  fast  as  transportation  could  be  furnished.  From 
Holla  several  scouting  parties  were  sent  out  from  the  regiment  into  troubled 
portions  of  the  country,  and  a  detachment  of  forty  men  was  sent  to  Pea 
Ridge,  Arkansas,  as  escort  to  a  party  of  paymasters  for  Curtis'  army. 
The  regiment  floundered  slowly  through  the  mud  to  Springfield,  Missouri, 
where  it  arrived  late  in  March.  It  was  now  supposed  to  be  in  the  field, 
and  was  armed  with  heavy  sabres,  Starr's  revolvers,  holster-pistols,  (old 
pattern,  smooth  bore),  and  Austrian  rifles.  Of  the  pistols  and  rifles,  there 
were  enough  for  half  the  men.  Such  a  villainous  equipment  of  arms  could 

Mount  Pleasant ;  Third  Battalion,  Adjutant  Samuel  F.  Cooper,  of  Grinnell ;  Quartermaster  Ira  F. 
Phillips,  Mount  Pleasant. 

2  LIEUTENANT-COLOXEL  THOMAS  DRUMMED.— This  officer  resigned  in'June,  1862,  while  the  regiment 
was  on  the  banks  of  Little  Red  River,  in  Arkansas.  He  was  a  strict  disciplinarian.  Colonel  Porter 
was  not.  Dnimmond,  of  a  fiery  temper,  quarreled  with  Porter,  or  at  least  so  warmly  disagreed 
with  him  as  to  bring  about  his  resignation.  Before  entering  the  service,  Drummond  had  been  the 
editor  of  the  "  Vinton  Eagle,"  then  and  still  an  influential  journal  of  Iowa.  He  had  been  a  member 
of  both  houses  of  our  Legislature,  and  was  distinguished  for  energy  of  character  and  an  independent 
spirit,  sometimes  altogether  unmanageable.  He  returned  to  his  command  in  the  regular  army,  and 
having  been  engaged  for  some  time  in  recruiting  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  went  into  active  service  with 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  He  was  distinguished  for  gallant  conduct  even  in  his  first  battle— the 
battle  of  Bull  Run,  in  July,  1861— and  always  maintained  his  reputation.  He  was  mortally  wounded 
in  one  of  those  series  of  terrible  engagements  whereby  Grant  wrenched  the  rebel  capital  from  the 
possession  of  traitors.  He  lived  but  a  short  time  after  his  wound,  though  long  enough  to  be  carried 
to  the  hospital.  In  full  consciousness,  he  uttered  "  Dulce  et  decorum  est pro patria  mori,"  and  the 
brave,  the  versatile  Drummond  was  no  more. 


420  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

have  been  imposed  upon  few  or  no  other  regiments.  It  would  have  been 
just  as  well  if  the  men  had  been  armed  with  butcher's  cleavers  as  with  the 
heavy  sabres;  Starr's  revolvers  are  dangerous  only  to  their  possessors; 
horse-pistols  shoot  very  well  if  the  target  will  come  up  quietly  and  be  shot; 
and  it  is  about  as  reasonable  to  arm  horsemen  with  mountain  howitzers  as 
with  Austrian  rifles. 

But  the  regiment  was  in  for  Dixie  even  with  this  armament,  and  about 
the  middle  of  April  moved  from  Springfield  to  join  General  Curtis,  who 
was  then  moving  eastward  from  Pea  Ridge.  Made  this  junction  at  For- 
syth,  and  became  a  part  of  the  Army  of  the  Southwest.  General  Curtis 
proposed  to  invade  Arkansas,  but  he  must  first  receive  new  supplies  and 
establish  good  communication  with  his  depot.  This  depot  must  be  at 
Holla,  and  to  open  the  line  the  army  must  march  by  West  Plains,  Missouri. 
During  this  march  many  scouting  parties  were  sent  out  from  the  regiment, 
but  only  one  suffered  or  inflicted  any  damage  upon  the  confederacy.  A 
detachment  of  forty  men  under  Captain  James  F.  Drummond  was  sent 
from  Springfield  to  guard  an  ammunition  train  to  the  army.  In  a  skirmish 
fought  across  White  River  (the  North  Fork)  at  Talbot's  Ferry,  April  19th, 
Second  Lieutenant  William  A.  Heacock,  Company  F,  was  killed.  He  was 
the  first  man  of  the  regiment  struck  in  action.  This  detachment  crossed 
the  river  at  another  point,  and  driving  back  the  rebel  defence,  destroyed 
nitre  works  of  considerable  value  to  the  enemy. 

Moving  south  from  West  Plains  on  the  last  day  of  April,  and  marching 
slowly,  the  army  occupied  the  beautiful  little  town  of  Batesville,  Arkansas, 
May  9th,  and  crossing  White  River  on  extemporized  ferries,  reached  Little 
Red  River  opposite  Searcy  about  the  18th.  Here  the  regiment  was 
assigned  to  Colonel  William  Yandever's  Brigade  of  Brigadier  General  E. 
A.  Carr's  Division,  and  was  employed  in  picketing  and  scouting,  and  was 
once  almost  engaged  with  the  enemy  at  Searcy,  four  miles  south  of  the 
river.  It  suffered  much  from  sickness  here,  and  indeed  had  suffered  much 
from  the  time  of  its  arrival  at  Springfield,  more  than  two  hundred  men 
having  been  disabled  by  disease  from  that  place  to  Red  River.  General 
Curtis  concluded  not  to  take  Little  Rock,  an  exploit  that  had  been  so 
extensively  and  expensively  threatened,  and  the  2d  of  June  found  the  army 
with  its  back  turned  contemptuously  on  that  capital,  and  marching — the 
Lord  knew  where.  It  stopped  at  Batesville — perhaps  to  reflect.  Reflected 
three  weeks,  and  the  rebels  cut  off  its  communication  with  Rolla.  On  June 
24th  the  question  of  ruin  or  a  march  for  life  having  arisen,  the  army  took 
up  its  line  down  the  White  River  with  the  vague  expectation  of  meeting 
reenforcements  and  supplies  by  boat  at  some  point  on  that  river.  These 
hopes  being  disappointed  at  the  points  expected,  and  finally  at  Clarendon, 


FOURTH     CAVALRY.  421 

the  army  turned  eastward  and  pushed  through  the  swamps  for  the  Mis 
sissippi,  arriving  at  Helena  July  15th. 

From  this  time  until  ordered  to  join  the  army  before  Vicksburg,  in  April, 
1863,  the  Fourth  remained  at  Helena,  none  of  the  many  changes  of  troops 
at  that  place  affecting  it.  It  was,  however,  constantly  employed  here  in 
picketing  and  scouting,  and  performed  much  hard  labor,  though  but  few 
of  its  operations  were  of  any  importance.  It  was  encamped  on  the  Little 
Rock  road,  a  few  miles  west  of  Helena,  and  constantly  performed  outpost 
duty  for  the  troops  at  that  point.  This  involved  the  continued  support  of 
a  heavy  picket  force  and  the  making  of  frequent  expeditions  into  the 
country.  On  September  1st  a  picket  post  held  by  a  detail  from  Company 
D  was  attacked,  and  Private  David  Mosher  killed,  and  three  privates  cap 
tured.  A  few  days  afterward  two  men  of  Company  M  were  captured  from 
a  picket  post.  On  October  llth  a  scouting  force  of  fifty  men,  of  Com 
panies  A,  G,  and  H,  under  Major  Ben.  Rector  were  attacked  within  three 
miles  of  camp,  when  returning  from  a  fruitless  hunt.  Confident  that  no 
enemy  was  in  the  country,  the  force  was  completely  routed.  Privates  John 
W.  Allen,  Company  A,  and  Cornelius  Jackson,  Watson  Frame,  and  John 
W.  Williams,  Company  Gr,  were  killed,  Private  Levi  B.  Williamson,  Com 
pany  A,  and  Sergeant  Thomas  Hanker,  Company  G,  severely  wounded, 
and  Major  Rector  and  fourteen  enlisted  men  captured.  Lieutenant  Gr.  B. 
Parsons,  Company  B,  with  forty  men  arrived  by  a  different  road  in  the 
midst  of  the  rebels'  success  and  changed  it  into  a  defeat,  driving  them  from 
the  field,  and  capturing  their  Lieutenant- Colonel  commanding,  and  twelve 
men.  Major  Rector  and  all  the  prisoners  of  the  regiment  were  exchanged 
and  returned  from  Little  Rock  in  November.  On  November  8th,  a  de 
tachment  of  the  regiment  under  Captain  J.  H.  Peters  was  attacked  near 
La  Grange,  Arkansas,  but  the  rebels  were  defeated  and  driven  from  the 
ground,  losing  a  major,  a  captain,  and  twelve  men.  Captain  Peters'  loss 
was  in  wounded  :  Second  Lieutenant  John  Tucker  and  Private  Benjamin 
F.  Morgan,  Company  D,  and  Privates  Charles  H.  Sisson  and  Francis  Coe, 
Company  H.  In  November  the  regiment  formed  a  part  of  the  expedition 
of  Brigadier-General  E.  A.  Hovey  against  Arkansas  Post,  which  failed  to 
make  the  passage  of  the  Cut-Off,  and  returned  to  Helena.  Immediately 
afterwards  a  detachment  of  the  regiment  joined  the  force  commanded  by 
Brigadier-General  C.  C.  Washburne,  which  marched  to  Grenada,  Missis 
sippi,  and  destroyed  the  railroads  in  that  vicinity. 

During  this  winter,  and  within  a  few  days  or  weeks  of  each  other,  there 
were  accidentally  killed,  Private  John  R.  D.  Birum,  Company  H,  thrown 
from  his  horse  against  a  tree,  and  Corporal  Edward  Spicer,  Company  H, 
and  Sergeant  Lyman  Fluke,  Company  C,  and  Private  Joseph  Henson, 
Company  A,  by  gunshot,  and  wounded,  Privates  Jonathan  Morris,  Com- 


422  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

pany  B,  Clinton  O.  Harrington,  Company  E,  and  Jeremiah  Wilson,  Com 
pany  I.  In  a  skirmish  at  Big  Creek,  two  miles  west  of  Helena,  in  January, 
1863,  Private  Benonah  Kellogg,  Company  L,  was  killed.  Major  Ben. 
Rector  and  Captain  Thomas  C.  Tullis,  died  in  camp  at  Helena,  on  January 
21st  and  February  8th,  respectively,  of  disease. 

Early  in  April  a  detachment  of  the  regiment  under  Major  E.  F.  Winslow 
engaged  a  superior  force  of  the  enemy  at  Wittsburg,  on  the  St.  Francis 
River,  Arkansas.  The  rebels  were  defeated.  The  loss  of  the  regiment 
was:  Private  Daniel  Lorregan,  Company  L,  killed,  and  Privates  Henry 
Fleming,  George  Sheppard  and  M.  B.  South  severely  wounded.* 

At  length,  after  nine  months'  harassing  and  petty  service  at  Helena,  the 
regiment  was  ordered  to  the  army  before  Vicksburg,  and  embarked  at 
Helena,  April  29th,  1863.  Arrived  at  Milliken's  Bend,  May  1st,  and  on 
the  next  day  marched  up  the  Bayou  Mason  on  a  reconnoissance.  Returned 
on  the  4th,  and  on  the  5th  began  the  march  to  Grand  Gulf,  by  Richmond 
arid  Hard  Times,  Louisiana.  Crossed  the  Mississippi  at  Grand  Gulf,  and 
overtaking  the  army  at  Rocky  Springs  on  the  10th,  was  assigned  to  Sher 
man's  Fifteenth  Corps  and  at  once  placed  in  the  advance.  On  the  12th, 
the  regiment  was  engaged  in  a  sharp  skirmish  at  Fourteen  Mile  Creek,  in 
which  Private  Jabez  Sibley  was  killed,  and  William  Ray  and  Corporal  Asa 
E.  Andrews,  and  Charles  W.  Lash,  were  wounded.  Major  Winslow's  horse 
was  killed  under  him.  In  the  approach  to  Jackson,  on  the  14th,  the  regi 
ment  was  kept  in  the  advance,  but  on  nearing  the  city  performed  flanking 
duties  and  was  engaged  with  the  enemy  several  hours.  Upon  the  occupa 
tion  of  the  capital,  the  regiment  pushed  on  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy,  crossing 
Pearl  River,  and  marching  to  Brandon.  It  returned  to  Jackson  the  same 
night..  On  the  16th  of  May,  the  corps  taking  up  its  march  for  Vicksburg, 
the  regiment  became  the  rear-guard.  It  made  a  detour  by  Brownsville,  and 
at  that  place  engaged  the  enemy  s  cavalry,  though  without  loss.  On  the 
1 8th  it  crossed  Big  Black  Kiver  a,t  Bridgeport  and  closed  up  in  the  rear  of 
its  corps,  in  front  of  the  works  of  Vicksburg.  On  this  day,  the  regiment 
having  been  ordered  on  a  reconnoissance  to  Haine's  Bluffs,  Captain  J.  H. 
Peters  being  in  the  advance  with  twenty  men  came  up  to  the  works,  entered 
and  took  possession,  the  enemy  having  evacuated,  though  there  were  still 
some  rebels  and  a  number  of  guns. 

During  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  the  service  of  the  regiment  was  exceed 
ingly  active.  There  being,  for  some  time,  no  other  cavalry  with  Grant's 
army,  except  a  portion  of  the  Sixth  Missouri,  it  had  that  to  do  which 
should  have  employed  six  or  eight  regiments  of  cavalry.  Scarcely  a  breath 
ing  moment  was  allowed  from  the  1st  of  May  until  the  last  of  June.  Out 
of  fifty-six  days  in  those  two  months,  the  "effective  force"  of  the  regi 
ment  was  in  the  saddle  fifty-two.  The  men  were  almost  worn  out  and  there 


FOURTH     CAVALRY.  423 

were  a  great  many  cases  of  sickness  and,  in  time,  a  number  of  deaths  from 
sheer  fatigue  endured  in  these  times.  The  duty  performed  was  picket 
ing  and  reconnoitering  in  the  right  rear,  a  rebel  force  under  General  J.  E. 
Johnston  constantly  promising  an  attack  for  the  relief  of  the  garrison. 
In  the  numerous  patrols  and  scouts  thus  sent  out  skirmishes  often  occurred. 
One  on  May  24th  at  Mechanicsburg  lasted  several  hours  but  the  only 
casualty  in  the  regiment  was  a  slight  wound  for  Private  Francis  R.  Walker, 
Company  F.  In  another  skirmish  fought  at  Mechanicsburg  May  29th,  the 
regiment  had  wounded,  Sergeant  John  W.  Corbin,  Corporal  William 
Henderson,  and  Privates  Alonzo  Cantwell  and  Isaac  M.  Vaughn,  the  last 
named  mortally.  About  the  middle  of  June  detachments  of  the  regiment 
were  sent  out  from  day  to  day  to  blockade  with  felled  trees,  the  roads  by 
which  it  was  expected  the  enemy  would  advance,  for  General  Johnston's 
rebels  were  now  becoming  strong  and  saucy.  One  of  these  blockading 
forces,  of  one  hundred  and  fifteen  men  under  Major  A.  B.  Parkell,  detach 
ments  from  Companies  A,  F,  I  and  K,  was  attacked  June  22d,  by  eight 
hundred  rebel  cavalry.  The  enemy  succeeded  in  cutting  off  one  company 
(I)  which  was  on  picket,  and  nearly  surrounding  the  others,  made  a  furious 
charge.  The  overwhelmed  and  surprised  blockaders  resisted  as  well  as 
men  could,  and  cut  their  way  through  towards  the  camp,  but  nearly  one- 
half  were  left  behind — ten  killed,  five  wounded  and  thirty-two  captured. 
Some  of  the  captured  were  also  wounded.  The  killed  and  mortally  wounded 
were :  Privates  George  W.  Vandorn,  Andrew  J.  Chapel,  John  Mann,  Wil 
son  S.  Hunt,  James  Buttercase  and  John  McClintock ;  Corporal  John  W. 
Frame  and  Private  John  W.  Yancey  ;  Second  Lieutenant  Joshua  Gardner 
and  Sergeant  William  T.  Biggs,  mortally  wounded.  Wounded :  Private 
Levi  B.  William ;  Sergeant  George  W.  Caskey ;  Privates  Thomas  Miner, 
William  Johnson,  and  Privates  James  Moon  and  William  Hole ;  Second 
Lieutenant  William  J.  McConnelee  was  among  the  missing.  This  affair 
had,  at  least,  the  value  of  teaching  our  generals  that  there  were  some 
rebels  in  their  rear ;  and  a  strong  defence  was  immediately  organized  in 
Johnston's  front,  under  Major-General  Sherman.  The  regiment  was  sta 
tioned  in  this  disposition,  at  Bear  Creek,  twenty  miles  from  Yicksburg. 

General  Grant  stepped  into  Yicksburg  on  the  4th  of  July,  and  without 
the  delay  of  an  hour  the  army  under  Sherman  moved  against  the  rebel 
General  Johnston.  On  the  evening  of  the  4th,  the  army  was  at  Black 
River  ready  to  cross.  Johnston's  main  army  was  on  the  opposite  bank, 
ready  to  cross  and  attack  us.  Had  the  surrender  of  Yicksburg  been  de 
layed  one  day,  there  would,  perhaps,  have  been  terrible  fighting  between 
the  Black  and  the  Mississippi  Rivers. 

The  regiment  now  had  a  new  colonel.  Colonel  A.  B.  Porter  tendered 
his  resignation  to  General  Grant  March  8th,  and  it  was  accepted  about  the 


424  IOWA     AND     THE     KEBELLION. 

time  now  treated  of.  Major  Edward  F.  Winslow  had  been  commissioned 
colonel,  and  at  once  assumed  command.  On  the  5th,  the  regiment  moved 
under  Colonel  Winslow  in  a  brigade  commanded  by  Colonel  Cyrus  Bussey, 
Third  Iowa  Cavalry,  and  crossing  the  Big  Black  at  Messenger's  Ferry, 
took  the  advance  of  the  army  on  the  main  Jackson  road.  Appeared  be 
fore  Jackson  on  the  llth,  and  while  the  infantry  besieged  the  capital,  the 
cavalry  made  two  hard  marches  to  Canton,  and  engaged  the  enemy  at  that 
place,  though  without  loss.  The  regiment  being  detached  for  that  purpose 
burnt  a  bridge  over  Pearl  River,  and  also  burnt  a  railroad  bridge  over 
Black  River  north  of  Canton,  with  one  mile  of  trestle  work.  The  enemy 
evacuated  Jackson  in  the  night  of  the  16th,  and  a  few  days  afterwards  the 
army  began  to  move  slowly  towards  Vicksburg.  The  cavalry  encamped  at 
Flowers'  on  the  west  bank  of  Big  Black. 

On  the  10th  of  August,  a  force  of  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  men 
from  the  regiment  under  Major  A.  B.  Parkell  formed  part  of  a  force  of 
eight  hundred  under  Colonel  E.  F.  Winslow,  which  made  a  raid  of  over 
three  hundred  miles,  by  Yazoo  City,  Grenada,  and  Coldwater  to  Memphis, 
Tennessee.  This  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  raids  of  the  war.  It  oc 
cupied  thirteen  days  and  was  made  with  four  days'  rations  and  in  perfect 
order,  and  the  rebels  were  on  both  hands  in  superior  force  for  a  greater 
part  of  the  distance.  This  command  returned  from  Memphis  by  transports 
reaching  camp  September  1st. 

About  the  middle  of  September,  a  force  of  three  hundred  men  from  the 
regiment,  under  Captain  William  Pursell,  formed  part  of  a  force  of  nine 
hundred  under  Colonel  Winslow,  which  marched  towards  Kosciusko  to 
make  a  diversion  in  favor  of  Sherman's  troops,  then  moving  from  Mem 
phis,  via  Corinth  to  Chattanooga.  This  command  marched  about  one  hun 
dred  and  forty  miles,  was  engaged  in  one  or  two  sharp  skirmishes,  and 
returned  via  Benton  and  Yazoo  City.  October  15th,  the  Fourth  Iowa, 
Fifth  and  Eleventh  Illinois  and  Tenth  Missouri  formed  the  cavalry  forces 
of  a  small  army  under  Major  General  McPherson,  which  made  an  expedi 
tion  through  Brownsville,  towards  Livingstone,  a  town  twenty  miles  north 
of  Jackson.  During  the  five  days'  march  the  cavalry  was  almost  constantly 
engaged,  and  inflicted  severe  injury  upon  the  rebels.  The  Fourth  lost: 
Private  John  Irland,  killed  October  16th ;  Sergeant  George  W.  Caskey, 
killed  October  18th;  and  Private  Samuel  R.  White,  captured.  This 
Samuel  R.  White  died  at  Andersonville  prison  in  1864. 

There  being  only  troops  enough  now  at  Vicksburg  for  its  garrison,  the  lines 
of  the  army  were  drawn  in,  and  the  cavalry  was  encamped  on  Clear  Creek, 
ten  miles  east  of  Vicksburg.  On  the  4th  of  December,  a  detachment  of 
one  hundred  men  of  the  regiment  under  Major  C.  F.  Spearman  formed 
part  of  a  force  commanded  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Wallace,  Fourth  Illinois 


FOURTH     CAVALRY.  425 

Cavalry,  which  moved  by  transports  to  Natchez.  Arriving  on  the  6th, 
this  force  was  joined  to  a  large  one  under  Brigadier-General  Gresham,  and 
pursued  the  rebel  cavalry  under  Wirt  Adams  one  hard  day's  march,  and 
on  the  next  day  returned  to  Natchez.  On  the  17th,  the  detachment 
reached  Vicksburg.  The  regiment  now  belonged  to  what  was  designated 
as  the  Cavalry  Forces,  Seventeenth  Army  Corps. 

On  December  llth,  began  the  "veteran"  reenlistments  in  the  regiment, 
although  promissory  reenlistments  had  been  made  in  November.  On 
the  19th,  having  reached  the  proportion  of  reenlistments  required,  the 
Fourth  became  a  "veteran"  regiment,  the  first  to  reenlist  from  the  State 
of  Iowa.  In  November  recruits  had  began  to  appear  from  the  recruiting 
rendezvous  in  Iowa,  and  new  detachments  joined  from  time  to  time  there 
after  until  seven  hundred  were  received,  and  the  regiment  was  full.  Dur 
ing  the  winter  the  men  had  good  quarters — huts  built  by  themselves — and 
their  service  was  the  old  story  of  picket,  scouting,  and  foraging. 

On  the  1st  of  February,  1864,  Sherman's  great  Meridian  expedition  be 
gan  to  move,  and  the  regiment  eagerly  joined  it,  although  it  was  spoiling 
the  prospect  of  ' '  veteran ' '  furlough  on  which  the  men  had  been  relying, 
and  to  which  they  had  been  some  weeks  entitled.  The  cavalry — four  regi 
ments  including  the  Fourth — under  Colonel  E.  F.  Winslow,  which  con 
stituted  the  advance  of  the  army,  crossed  the  Big  Black  on  the  3d,  and  was 
almost  every  day  engaged  with  the  enemy  during  the  march  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  to  Meridian.  Distinct  skirmishes  or  battles  were  fought  by 
the  cavalry,  at  Bolton  on  the  4th ;  Jackson,  5th ;  Hillsboro,  7th ;  Morton, 
8th;  Tunnel  Hill,  12th;  and  Meridian,  14th.  The  cavalry  moved  to  Marion 
and  Lauderdale  Springs  while  the  infantry  destroyed  the  railroads  and  sup 
plies  at  Meridian,  and  on  the  20th,  the  army  having  enjoyed  a  complete 
and  triumphant  success,  began  its  return  march  to  Vicksburg.  Colonel 
Winslow  was  ordered  to  make  a  detour  to  the  north  by  Philadelphia  and 
Kosciusko  to  learn,  if  possible,  the  position  of  General  W.  S.  Smith,  who 
had  moved  from  Memphis  with  a  large  force  with  orders  to  join  Sherman 
at  Meridian.  The  command  passed  through  Philadelphia  and  Kosciusko, 
and  after  a  very  fine  trip,  arrived  at  Canton  a  few  hours  before  Sherman's 
infantry  advance,  on  the  25th,  but  without  having  gained  any  knowledge 
of  the  movements  of  General  Smith.  On  the  next  day  the  regiment  was 
ordered  to  Vicksburg  to  go  to  Iowa  on  its  long-promised  veteran  furlough, 
and  early  on  the  following  morning  it  left  the  army  behind  and  took  up  a 
joyous  march  for  the  Mississippi,  distant  sixty  miles. 

Immediately  after  their  arrival  in  camp  the  veterans  began  their  prepa 
rations  for  furlough,  and  on  the  3d  of  March  got  away  from  Vicksburg. 
About  six  hundred  recruits  were  left  in  camp,  to  be  drilled  and  "phys 
icked  ' '  as  recruits  must  be.  Picketing,  foraging,  and  praying  for  the  rain 
54 


426  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

to  cease  "were  the  chief  services  of  the  recruits  while  the  veterans  were  at 
home,  until  late  in  April  when  the  camp  was  ordered  to  Memphis.  On  the 
passage  to  Memphis,  privates  Lemison  Clubine  and  John  Rodgers  were  ac 
cidentally  drowned.  After  a  fine  visit  home,  the  veterans  had  arrived  at 
Memphis  and  the  parts  of  the  regiment  were  joined,  and  encamped  near 
the  city  April  29th.  The  aggregate  of  the  regiment,  present  and  absent, 
was  now  over  thirteen  hundred,  and  it  was  increased  by  additional  recruits, 
in  a  few  weeks,  to  thirteen  hundred  and  fifty-four. 

On  the  30th  the  effective  force  of  the  regiment,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel 
J.  II.  Peters,  marched  in  a  force  of  twelve  thousand  under  General  S.  D. 
Sturgis  on  an  expedition  in  search  of  the  rebel  General  Forrest.  This  com 
mand  marched  to  Bolivar,  Tennessee,  and  returned  to  Memphis  May  12th, 
quite  as  wise  in  regard  to  Forrest's  movements  as  when  it  went  out. 

Early  in  June  another  expedition  moved  from  Memphis  under  command 
of  this  same  General  Sturgis,  with  orders  to  march  into  northern  Missis 
sippi  where  Forrest  was  then  established.  General  Sturgis'  force  numbered 
about  twelve  thousand,  of  which  nine  thousand  were  infantry,  including 
two  regiments  of  blacks,  and  three  thousand  of  cavalry.  The  cavalry  was 
under  command  of  Brigadier-General  B.  K.  Grierson,  and  was  divided  into 
two  brigades,  the  First  under  Colonel  Waring  and  the  Second,  consisting 
of  the  Third  and  Fourth  Iowa  and  Tenth  Missouri  Cavalry,  under  Colonel 
E.  F.  Winslow.  The  cavalry  was  kept  in  advance  of  the  army  and  on  the 
morning  of  the  10th  June  engaged  the  enemy's  cavalry  near  Guntown,  a 
small  railroad  station  on  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  Railroad.  The  rebels  fell 
back  until  they  gained  the  protection  of  their  main  body,  which  was  soon 
found  to  be  posted  in  force  and  ready  for  battle.  Our  infantry  was  now 
five  or  six  miles  behind  the  cavalry.  General  Sturgis  ordered  it  up  on  the 
"double-quick,"  on  learning  the  disposition  of  the  enemy,  and  directed  the 
cavalry  to  engage  him  until  it  should  arrive.  The  enemy,  under  Forrest, 
was  about  equal  in  number  to  our  forces,  and  was  strongly  posted  on  the 
crest  of  a  semicircular  hill  or  ridge,  in  front  of  which  ran  a  small  creek, 
which  had  but  one  bridge,  and  was  otherwise  impassable,  except  in  a  very 
few  places  by  footmen.  The  day  was  very  warm,  and  when  the  infantry 
regiments  came  up  they  were  exhausted  and  disordered,  having  double- 
quicked  the  whole  distance  from  where  they  were  when  ordered  forward. 
By  another  great  blunder,  close  up  with  them  came  rushing  the  train,  of 
more  than  two  hundred  wagons,  and  it  was  hurried  over  the  bridge  and 
parked  in  a  field  within  easy  range  and  sight  of  the  enemy's  batteries.  If 
there  has  been  one  time,  more  than  another,  when  the  attacking  force 
should  have  been  well  organized  and  disposed  with  particularly  careful  skill,  it 
should  have  been  here,  where  the  enemy  had  so  great  advantages  in  position ; 
but  as  fast  as  our  infantry  came  up,  tired  and  disordered  as  it  was,  it  was 


FOURTH     CAVALRY.  427 

hurried  into  the  fight,  already  opened  by  the  cavalry,  and  soon  and  com 
pletely  beaten.  The  division  and  brigade  and  subordinate  officers  made 
strenuous  efforts  to  check  the  tide  of  defeat,  but  without  avail,  and  the 
whole  army  was  soon  in  full  retreat,  the  greater  part  of  it  in  utter  confusion. 
The  rebels,  rejoicing  in  their  easy  victory,  pursued  with  unrelenting  vigor, 
capturing  the  entire  train  at  the  first  step,  and  cutting  off  our  weary  in 
fantry  men  in  great  numbers.  It  was  some  time  before  even  an  attempt  at 
order  in  the  retreat  was  made,  and  then  Colonel  Winslow's  brigade  was 
ordered  to  act  as  rear-guard  and  cover  the  retreat,  it  being  the  only  organ 
ized  force  in  the  whole  command.  The  First  Brigade  (of  the  cavalry  divi 
sion)  had  been  divided,  a  large  part  of  it  being  taken  for  an  escort  to  the 
general  commanding,  and  other  detachments  being  broken  off  for  different 
purposes.  It  was  not  attempted  to  keep  the  infantry  in  order,  and  it  hurried 
along  as  best  it  could,  a  fleeing  mob.  So,  back  towards  Memphis  rushed 
the  ruined  army,  its  rear  covered  by  Winslow's  brigade  of  cavalry  during 
the  terrible  night's  march  of  June  10th  and  through  the  next  day  until 
Ripley  was  reached.  Here  the  enemy  pressed  so  hard  that  the  running 
skirmish  swelled  into  a  sharp  engagement,  which,  as  it  gave  our  troops 
some  advantage,  checked  the  ardor  of  the  enemy's  pursuit,  and  it  was 
thereafter  not  so  harassing,  though  continued  until  within  a  few  miles  of 
Memphis. 

General  Sturgis  made  no  positive  attempt  to  reorganize  or  control  the 
troops  after  the  retreat  had  begun,  and  he  should  be  directly  and  alone  re 
sponsible  for  this  great  disaster.  Our  losses  were  about  four  thousand  men 
killed,  wounded,  and  captured ;  the  entire  wagon-train  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  wagons,  captured ;  the  entire  ambulance-train,  except  a  few  ambulances 
belonging  to  the  cavalry  division,  captured ;  and  every  gun,  except  two  that 
belonged  to  Winslow's  brigade  of  cavalry,  and  which  were  brought  off  with 
credit.  The  loss  of  the  Fourth  Iowa  Cavalry,  at  Guntown  on  the  10th,  at 
Ripley  on  the  llth,  and  on  the  march  between,  was  quite  heavy.3 


»  Company  A— Kitted,  Private  Jeremiah  Young.  Wounded,  Sergeant  William  E.  Jackson  (severely), 
Privates  William  Chapman,  Henry  Chapman,  Andrew  J.  Lovelady  (severely).  Prisoners,  Privates 
Adam  Warner,  Ephraim  Shaffer.  Company  E — Wounded,  Privates  Patrick  McIIugh,  Jonathan 
Morris  (slightly).  Prisoners,  Privates  Leverett  Littlejohn,  Alfred  A.  Tracy,  John  McNulty.  Com 
pany  C— Killed,  Privates  Milton  W.  Stall,  Garrett  Pilgrim.  Wounded,  Lieutenant  Lloyd  H. 
Dillon  (dangerously),  Corporal  George  W.  Saint;  Privates  Adolph  Sloder,  John  C.  Hartman,  Charles 
Hilgrin  (severely),  John  Straw,  Alfred  Peterson,  John  Sutherland,  John  Hockinson,  Arsene  Gerard 
(slightly).  Prisoner,  Private  Andon  Gates.  Company  D — Prisoners,  Privates  Daniel  Saxton,  Job  A. 
Haines.  Company  E— Killed,  Corporal  Harvey  H.  Merriam.  Company  F—  Wounded,  Corporal  Simon 
Smith  (severely),  Privates  Francis  M.  Noble,  James  B.  Pearson  (slightly).  Company  G— Kitted, 
Private  Edwin  Huntington.  Prisoner,  Private  Isaac  Smyth.  Company  H — Kitted,  Corporal  Francis 
C.  Coe;  Private  Andrew  Laird.  Company  I— Wounded,  Privates  Thomas  Wilkinson  (severely),  Albert 
Rice  (slightly).  Company  K— Wounded,  Privates  Elisha  Payne,  Zur  Rockhold,  George  Schofield 
(slightly).  Wounded  and  Prisoners,  Privates  George  W.  Holt,  Stewart  B.  Perry.  Company  M— 
Wounded,  Private  Robert  Hopkirk,  since  deceased. 


428  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

In  the  latter  part  of  June,  an  expedition  was  fitted  out  with  the  positive 
and  heroic  determination  of  annihilating  Forrest.  The  authorities  feeling 
a  dawning  suspicion  that  perhaps  Sturgis  was  not  possessed  of  the  greatest 
military  abilities,  placed  Major-General  A.  J.  Smith  in  command  of  the 
new  army.  He  rendezvoused  his  troops  at  Saulsbury,  fifty  miles  east  of 
Memphis,  whither  supplies  could  be  shipped  by  rail.  The  cavalry  in  this 
army  was  the  "Cavalry  Corps  of  the  District  of  West  Tennessee,"  com 
manded  by  Brigadier-General  Grierson,  and  the  Fourth  Iowa  was  in  the 
Second  Brigade,  Second  Division.  General  Smith,  with  twelve  thousand 
men  marched  from  Saulsbury  July  7th,  and  skirmishing  with  the  enemy's 
cavalry  every  day,  engaged  him  in  force  at  Tupelo,  Mississippi,  July  14th. 
General  Forrest  commanded  the  rebel  army  of  fourteen  thousand  in  person, 
and  relying  on  the  prestige  of  his  Guntown  success  was  over-confident  of 
victory  in  this  engagement,  and  began  it  with  a  furious  charge  over  disad 
vantageous  ground.  He  was  repulsed  with  great  loss.  The  assault  was 
twice  repeated,  but  with  the  same  result,  and  the  defeated  rebels  were 
routed  and  driven  from  the  field.  The  rebel  loss  in  this  battle  was  much 
greater  than  ours,  as  they  fought  quite  recklessly,  evidently  expecting  an 
easy  victory.  Their  dead  left  on  the  field  numbered  considerably  more 
than  our  entire  loss  in  killed,  wounded  and  missing.  Thus  was  the  stain 
of  the  Guntown  defeat  wiped  out,  and  the  blatant  Forrest  soundly  beaten. 

The  cavalry  was  not  engaged  in  the  main  battle,  but  was  in  position 
where  ordered  and  under  fire,  and  quite  ready  to  "go  in"  whenever  it 
should  be  called.  On  the  next  day,  however,  it  was  engaged  in  a  hot 
skirmish  at  Old  Town  Creek.  The  regiment  lost  in  these  engagements, 
Corporal  James  Rooney,  killed,  and  Sergeant  Polk  Tibbets,  Privates 
Thomas  McNulty,  Church  Rinard,  and  Andrew  Smithbury,  wounded,  all 
except  the  last,  severely.  The  regiment  returned  to  Memphis  with  the 
army  late  in  July,  the  men  tired  and  the  horses  sadly  jaded. 

Another  expedition  into  Mississippi  was  immediately  organized  under 
General  A.  J.  Smith,  and  the  Fourth  Iowa  was  ordered  out  under  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  J.  H.  Peters.  This  army,  of  about  ten  thousand,  marched 
from  Memphis,  August  4th,  and  taking  in  its  way  Holly  Springs,  reached 
the  Tallahatchee  the  17th.  Here,  on  that  day,  the  cavalry  was  engaged  in 
a  sharp  skirmish,  but  the  enemy  was  nowhere  found  in  any  considerable 
force.  The  command  remained  in  this  region  until  the  latter  part  of 
August,  when  it  again  returned  to  Memphis. 

General  Sterling  Price,  at  the  head  of  fifteen  thousand  rebels,  had  now 
begun  his  march  from  southwestern  Arkansas  on  his  proposed  raid  into 
Missouri.  General  Joe  Mower  was  ordered  from  Memphis  into  Arkansas, 
via  White  River,  to  veto  the  movement.  A  division  of  cavalry  was  also 
ordered  from  Memphis  to  cooperate  with  General  Mower.  This  was  the 


FOURTH      CAVALRY.  429 

Second  Division,  Cavalry  Corps,  District  West  Tennessee,  commanded  by 
Colonel  E.  F.  Winslow.  Its  effective  force  starting  on  this  campaign  was 
two  thousand  and  two  hundred,  and  it  consisted  of  two  brigades,  the  First 
under  Colonel  Karge  of  the  Second  New  Jersey  Cavalry,  arid  the  Second 
under  Lieutenant-Colonel  George  W.  Duffield,  of  the  Third  Iowa  Cavalry. 
The  Second  was  composed  of  the  Third  and  Fourth  Iowa  and  Tenth  Mis 
souri.  The  Fourth  was  commanded  by  Major  A.  R.  Pierce,  and  its  aggre 
gate  on  starting  was  five  hundred  and  twenty-five.  The  division  crossed 
the  Mississippi  at  Memphis  September  2d.  The  weather  was  very  hot,  and 
our  road  to  Clarendon,  eighty  miles,  lay  almost  entirely  through  swamps. 
Crossed  White  River  at  Clarendon,  and  arrived  at  Brownsville  the  9th. 
Lay  here  seven  days  waiting  for  the  infantry,  and  in  the  meantime  Price 
marched  past  on  his  way  north.  Moved  on  the  17th,  and  marching  by 
Searcy  crossed  Little  Red  River,  and  striking  Price's  general  route,  crossed 
White  River  above  the  mouth  of  Black  and  marched  up  the  Black,  cross 
ing  it  frequently.  There  is  no  more  dismal  country  than  that  on  Black 
River,  and  our  army  tramped  gloomily  through  its  sunless  swamps  nine 
days,  with  miserable  rations,  until  it  reached  the  borders  of  Missouri. 
Here  we  heard  of  Price's  success  over  the  garrison  at  Iron  Mountain  only 
two  days  in  advance  of  us.  At  Greenville,  General  Mower  turned  eastward 
and  marched  direct  for  the  Mississippi,  arriving  at  Cape  Girardeau,  October 
5th.  The  army  here  embarked  for  St.  Louis,  where  it  arrived  on  the  8th 
and  9th. 

Price  was  now  threatening  Jefferson  City.  The  infantry  under  General 
A.  J.  Smith  pushed  up  the  Missouri  on  transports,  and  the  cavalry  marched 
out  on  the  llth,  having  received  new  supplies  of  clothing  arid  horses.  A 
large  force  of  Missouri  militia  was  now  in  the  field,  but  they  being  hope 
lessly  bewildered  by  the  audacious  rebels,  Price  marched  past  Jefferson 
City,  and  had  it  not  been  for  Blunt  and  his  little  army,  he  would  have  gone 
unmolested  through  Lexington.  At  Lexington,  on  October  21st,  we  fcame 
close  upon  the  enemy's  rear,  and  marching  nearly  all  that  night  overtook 
him  in  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day,  near  Independence.  We  had  now, 
including  the  mounted  Missouri  militia,  six  thousand  cavalry,  all  under 
command  of  Major-General  Alfred  Pleasonton.  The  rapid  marching  of  the 
cavalry  had  left  the  infantry  far  behind,  and  it  was  not  again  "up"  during 
the  campaign.  The  enemy,  increased  by  recruits  and  conscripts  now  num 
bered  twenty  thousand  troopers  and  thirteen  guns.  Phillips'  Brigade  being 
in  advance,  engaged  the  enemy  at  Independence,  and  his  was  successively 
relieved  by  Brown's  and  Sanborn's  Brigades,  and  at  sundown,  Winslow' s 
Brigade  was  ordered  to  the  front,  and  all  other  troops  relieved. 

Winslow' s  Brigade,  as  it  was  now  called,  was  reduced  to  one  thousand 
two  hundred  men,  two  regiments  having  been  detached  and  other  losses 


430  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

common  to  all  campaigns  having  occurred.  The  enemy  was  posted  on  a 
ridge  three  miles  west  of  the  town,  and  as  soon  as  the  brigade  came  to  the 
front,  the  Third  Iowa  and  Seventh  Indiana  were  dismounted  and  advanced. 
A  sharp  engagement  ensued  with  severe  loss  on  both  sides,  and  continued 
until  eight  P.  M. ,  when  the  enemy  was  driven  from  his  position.  Private 
John  Koolbeck,  Company  F,  Fourth  Iowa,  orderly  to  Colonel  Winslow, 
was  severely  wounded.  One  battalion,  the  Third,  of  the  Fourth  Iowa, 
under  Captain  E.  W.  Dee,  was  now  ordered  forward,  and  supported  by  a 
detachment  of  the  Fourth  Missouri,  pursued  the  enemy  until  he  took  up 
another  position,  on  the  Big  Blue  River.  Here  both  forces  lay  on  their 
arms  until  daybreak  of  October  23d.  Brown's  Brigade  had  been  ordered 
to  relieve  Winslow' s  at  daybreak,  but  it  failed  to  do  so,  and  the  Fourth 
Iowa  opened  the  battle  of  Big  Blue.  It  was  begun  very  early  by  the 
advance  of  Captain  Dee's  line,  but  the  whole  regiment  and  brigade  were 
soon  dismounted  and  engaged.  The  passage  of  the  Big  Blue,  naturally 
very  difficult,  was  now  much  more  so  from  the  enemy's  blockade  of  trees. 
It  was  made,  however,  under  a  galling  fire  from  the  rei>el  artillery  and 
advance  line,  was  quite  successful,  and  the  whole  rebel  lines  were  soon 
engaged,  defeated  and  driven  from  this  very  strong  position  into  the  open 
prairie.  Colonel  Winslow  was  severely  wounded,  and  the  regiment  lost 
Privates  John  Slavin  and  Thomas  Cole,  killed,  and  Privates  John  W. 
Rafferty  and  Michael  Cunning,  wounded.  Lieutenant- Colonel  F.  W.  Ben- 
teen,  Tenth  Missouri  Cavalry,  assumed  command  of  the  brigade  after 
Colonel  Winslow  was  wounded,  and  led  it  gallantly  through  the  remainder 
of  the  battle.  As  soon  as  the  brigade  could  be  remounted,  it  pursued  the 
enemy,  and  at  two  P.  M.  discovered  him  drawn  up  in  the  prairie,  but  pro 
tected  by  a  swell  of  the  ground  until  the  advancing  force  should  be  within 
easy  range.  The  three  brigades  of  the  militia  failing  to  come  up,  except, 
indeed,  near  enough  for  one  of  their  batteries  to  open  fire  on  our  column, 
Window's  brigade  was  again  ordered  forward,  at  a  charge.  It  was  met  by 
a  hot  fire  of  shell  and  canister,  particularly  destructive  to  the  advanced 
regiment,  the  Tenth  Missouri;  but  the  column  moved  on  at  a  rushing 
gallop,  and  when  within  rifle  range  of  the  enemy,  swept  into  line  and 
dashed  against  him  with  a  wonderful  swiftness.  The  enemy  had  here  two 
divisions,  Fagan's  and  Marmaduke's,  the  third,  Shelby's,  having  been 
detached  to  check  the  advance  of  Blunt  from  Kansas  City.  The  charge 
broke  the  enemy's  right,  and  his  whole  line  soon  followed,  broken  and 
fleeing. 

The  brigade  pursued  four  miles,  taking  many  prisoners,  when  the  rebels 
gained  the  cover  of  a  range  of  hills  behind  a  rocky  creek.  In  the  night 
they  retreated  in  hot  haste,  and  on  the  next  morning  we  began  our  pursuit, 
on  a  strained  time-table.  Major- General  Curtis  this  morning  assumed 


FOURTH      CAVALRY.  431 

command  of  the  army,  having  joined  after  the  battle  on  the  evening  before, 
with  a  large  body  of  Kansas  militia  and  some  Colorado  regiments,  under 
Major-General  Blunt.  The  road  lay  over  prairies,  and  to  facilitate  his 
march  and  keep  his  command  concentrated,  Price,  skilful  in  retreats, 
inarched  in  four  double  columns,  side  by  side.  This  is,  probably,  the  only 
case  of  the  kind  known  in  the  war.  He  also  frequently  fired  the  prairies 
to  impede  our  pursuit,  though  that  affected  us  but  little,  as  the  wide  and 
well  beaten  track  of  his  four  columns  was  of  advantage  to  us  in  avoiding 
the  fire.  That  he  made  good  time  may  be  understood  from  the  fact  that 
we  marched  in  our  pursuit  on  October  24th,  sixty  miles  without  a  halt. 
Our  advance  came  up  with  him  at  midnight,  and  found  he  had  taken  a 
position  on  a  rough  ridge  at  Westport,  a  trading  post  on  the  Osage  River 
near  the  Kansas  border.  From  this  position  he  was  driven  by  \yinslow'  s 
(now  Benteen's)  and  Phillips'  Brigades,  in  a  cold  rain  at  daybreak  of 
October  25th,  and  forced  across  the  Osage  into  open  prairies.  Here  he 
was  compelled  to  abandon  a  large  part  of  his  train  of  plunder  and  two 
small  field  pieces.  The  brigade  was  to  have  been  relieved  from  the  front 
here,  by  the  militia,  but  after  a  short  halt  it  was  again  ordered  forward. 
Crossed  the  Osage,  and  after  a  gallop  of  six  miles  came  upon  the  enemy 
drawn  up  in  front  of  a  miry  little  creek  called  Mine  Creek. 

The  battle  that  followed  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  the  war. 
Drawn  up  on  open  prairie,  each  army  could  see  the  whole  force  and  all 
dispositions  of  the  other,  and  the  troops  engaged  were  on  both  sides 
exclusively  cavalry.  There  could  be  no  "drawn"  work  there.  One  side 
must  be  defeated,  routed.  Price  had  his  whole  command  drawn  up  here, 
Marmaduke's  Division  on  the  right,  Fagan's  in  the  centre,  and  Shelby's  on 
the  left.  The  militia,  as  usual,  succeeded  in  allowing  Benteen's  Brigade  to 
pass,  and  it  came  up  first.  It  was  ordered  to  charge  at  once  in  column  of 
regiments.  This  placed  the  Tenth  Missouri  in  front,  the  Fourth  Iowa 
next,  and  the  Third  Iowa  third.  The  rebel  artillery  was  very  active  upon 
our  approach,  but  its  fire  was  generally  too  high,  though  the  cross  fire  of 
one  battery  struck  Phillips'  Brigade,  which  was  moving  up  in  our  right 
rear,  and  killed  and  wounded  many  men.  Our  column  moved  on  at  a  rush 
ing  gallop  against  the  enemy's  right  wing,  but  it  did  not  break,  as  many 
seemed  to  have  expected,  from  the  moral  effect  of  the  charge,  and  when 
within  very  short  range — scarcely  two  hundred  yards — our  advance  regi 
ment  halted  and  wavered.  Its  officers  made  desperate  efforts  to  urge 
their  men  forward,  but  failed,  and  for  a  moment  the  contending  forces 
stood,  fairly  glaring  at  each  other.  The  enemy,  seeing  the  advantage 
offered,  raised  a  shout  and  began  to  move  forward.  It  seemed  like  our 
ruin.  If  he  should  charge  and  get  the  prestige  of  attack,  our  destruction 
seemed  inevitable.  It  was  an  awful  moment,  but  proved  to  be  the  glory 


432  IOWA     AND     THE      REBELLION. 

of  the  Fourth  Iowa.  Major  Pierce,  knowing  how  critical  was  the  condition, 
determined  at  once  upon  a  movement  of  his  own,  and  taking  the  responsi 
bility  on  himself,  dashed  to  the  left  of  the  regiment  and  ordered  it  forward 
at  a  charge,  in  columns  of  fours.  Galloping  through  the  wavering  line  of 
the  regiment  in  front,  our  column  rushed,  with  wild  cheers,  against  the 
rebel  right.  This  novel  movement  gave  us  the  victory.  The  enemy,  sur 
prised,  gave  way  where  he  was  struck,  our  whole  force  joined  in  the  charge, 
and  his  whole  line  was  broken  away  like  a  row  of  falling  bricks.  His  rout 
was  soon  complete,  and  his  losses,  for  so  short  an  action— very  heavy ;  over 
three  hundred  killed  and  wounded,  nine  hundred  prisoners,  three  battle- 
flags,  and  seven  pieces  of  artillery. 

Of  the  guns,  the  Fourth  Iowa  captured  five,  and  of  the  flags,  two.  The 
Third  Iowa  captured  the  rebel  Generals  Marmaduke  and  Cabell.  In  the 
Fourth,  Second  Lieutenant  Hira  W.  Curtis,  Company  F,  was  killed,  Major 
A.  R.  Pierce,  Corporal  Charles  Totten,  and  Private  Henry  J.  Crall  were 
severely  wounded,  and  several  enlisted  men  were  slightly  wounded.  The 
militia  now  moved  forward  in  pursuit,  and  Benteen's  Brigade,  sadly  fatigued, 
marched  on  again  ready  for  battle. 

About  fifteen  miles  from  the  scene  of  the  battle,  and  about  three  P.  M. , 
the  enemy  was  found  drawn  up  in  two  lines  on  Charlton  Prairie.  Again, 
as  if  it  were  the  constant  programme,  the  militia  dropped  back  and  Ben- 
teen's  Brigade  were  ordered  to  charge.  Now  it  was  to  be  in  column  of 
companies,  but  the  charge  began  at  too  great  a  distance  from  the  enemy, 
and  when  it  came  within  range  the  command  was  neither  in  good  shape 
nor  condition,  so  the  advance  was  checked,  and  meeting  a  desperate  fire  from 
the  enemy  seemed  ready  to  break.  The  enemy,  as  in  the  morning,  think 
ing  the  charge  repulsed,  again  advanced  as  if  to  charge,  but  our  support 
now  came  up,  and  a  couple  of  howitzers  being  opened  on  him,  he  halted, 
and  our  command  reformed  for  another  advance.  Before  this  was  com 
pleted,  the  enemy  began  to  withdraw,  and  night  coming  on,  the  contest 
was  ended  and  our  exhausted  soldiers  dropped  upon  the  prairie  and  slept, 
holding  their  horses'  bridles. 

In  this  engagement  the  regiment  had  none  killed,  but  Sergeant  Joseph 
Smith  and  Private  Smith  R.  Crane,  Company  A,  and  Sergeant  Hiram  H. 
Cardell,  Company  E,  were  severely  wounded, and  several  others  were  slightly 
wounded. 

General  Blunt  was  ordered  to  Fort  Scott,  six  miles  distant,  that  night, 
and  it  was  expected  that  he  would  intercept  Price  at  that  place.  Price's 
retreat  now  became  a  desperate  flight.  Blunt  did  not  cut  him  off  at  Fort 
Scott,  nor  overtake  him  until  he  reached  Newtonia,  Missouri,  two  days 
afterwards.  Here  a  heavy  skirmish  occurred,  but  it  was  the  last  fighting 
of  the  campaign.  The  pursuit  was  kept  up  by  General  Curtis,  through 


FOURTH     CAVALRY.  433 

Southwestern  Missouri,  by  Lamar,  Carthage,  Newtonia,  and  Cassville  ;  down 
through  Arkansas  by  Fayetteville  and  the  Boston  Mountains,  where  cold, 
rainy,  snowy,  miserable  weather  came  upon  us;  down  through  Indian 
Territory  where  civilization  was  not,  neither  was  there  food  for  man  or 
beast;  down  to  the  Arkansas  River  at  Weber's  Falls  we  pursued  the 
ragged,  hungry,  wretched  remnant  of  the  late  boastful  rebel  army — a 
demoralized  mob  of  seven  thousand  men — with  two  guns  left  of  twenty 
thousand  men  and  thirteen  guns. 

We  must  now  take  care  of  ourselves,  and  our  condition  was  not  at  all 
enviable.  We  must  return  by  St.  Louis,  distant  four  hundred  miles.  We 
were  without  food,  and  for  more  than  a  week  had  had  but  very  little  else 
than  fresh  beef  and  apples,  and  the  nearest  point  at  which  we  could  expect 
to  get  provisions  was  Springfield — distant  about  one  hundred  and  eighty 
miles.  Cold  weather  was  upon  us  and  we  were  not  provided  for  it.  Our 
horses  were  not  only  without  food,  but  had  had  none  for  three  days.  They 
were  all  sadly  jaded,  some  nearly  exhausted  and  many  men  were  dismounted. 
The  return  march  began  November  8th,  and  gleaning  a  very  little  corn  from 
that  starved  country  and  receiving  one  lot  of  bread  sent  from  Fort  Scott 
we  reached  Springfield  without  loss,  and  having  every  day  a  better  prospect 
of  an  end  of  their  privations  the  men  toiled  on,  and  after  many  hardships, 
of  cold,  short  rations,  and  thin  clothing,  reached  St.  Louis  on  the  28th. 
Here  ended  the  most  remarkable  campaign  of  the  war.  Winslow's  Brigade 
had  marched  steadily  from  September  1st  until  November  28th  with  but 
very  few  days  rest,  the  whole  distance,  including  twenty-five  per  cent,  for 
scouting,  flanking  and  foraging,  being  two  thousand  four  hundred  miles. 
and  traversed  two  states  and  a  part  of  Indian  Territory.  It  had  suffered 
in  the  campaign  the  two  extremes  of  intense  heat  and  severe  cold ;  it  had 
made  several  extraordinary  forced  marches;  had  worn  out  two  sets  of 
horses ;  had  fought  several  engagements,  and  was  always  successful.  There 
were  no  brighter  laurels  won  duiing  the  rebellion. 

When  the  brigade  arrived  at  St.  Louis  it  was  under  orders  for  Nashville. 
Delays  in  getting  fresh  horses  and  new  clothing,  however,  kept  it  at  St. 
Louis  until  December  9th.  On  that  day  it  began  to  embark,  and  the  Fourth 
Iowa  pushed  off  in  advance  for  Cairo  and  Louisville.  Arrived  at  Louisville 
December  22d,  but  the  battles  of  Franklin  and  Nashville  had  been  fought, 
and  our  brigade  was  now  not  needed  by  General  Thomas. 

That  part  of  the  regiment  which  was  left  at  Memphis  when  the  expedi 
tion  moved  out  into  Arkansas,  being  men  at  the  time  unfit  for  duty  or  dis 
mounted,  was  increased  by  men  sent  back  from  the  expedition  ' '  unfit  for 
duty"  to  about  six  hundred.  The  detachment  was  kept  busy  picketing  and 
patroling.  A  patrol  of  fifty  men,  from  Companies  A  and  B,  under  Captain 
Eldred  Huff,  Company  A,  was  surprised  at  White  House,  six  miles  east 
55 


434  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

of  Memphis,  December  14th,  1864,  and  completely  routed.  Sergeant  Joseph 
Gamble  and  Privates  John  0' Brian  and  William  Young  were  killed  and 
Captain  Huff  and  twenty  men  were  captured. 

On  December  22d  a  cavalry  expedition  marched  from  Memphis  under 
General  B.  H.  Grierson  with  the  object  of  destroying  railroad  stock  and 
rebel  supplies  in  Mississippi.  Four  hundred  and  fifty  men  of  the  Fourth 
Iowa,  its  effective  force  then  at  Memphis,  were  joined  to  the  raid,  under  Major 
W.  W.  Woods.  This  raid  was  a  splendid  success,  sweeping  through  Mis 
sissippi  via  Grenada,  Opelika,  and  Yazoo  City  to  Vicksburg,  and  destroy 
ing  a  vast  amount  of  railroad  property  and  confederate  army  supplies.  A 
skirmish  was  fought  at  Opelika,  December  27th,  without  loss.  The  raid 
reached  Vicksburg  January  5th,  and  the  troops  of  Winslow's  Brigade  em 
barked  for  Louisville,  moving  one  thousand  four  hundred  miles  by  river 
and  arriving  at  Louisville  January  17,  1865. 

The  brigade  was  now  organized  as  of  old — the  Third  and  Fourth  Iowa 
and  Tenth  Missouri,  under  Colonel  E.  F.  Winslow — and  formed  a  part  of 
Wilson's  grand  cavalry  corps.  Our  brigade  was  the  Second  and  Division  the 
Fourth  of  the  Cavalry  Corps  of  the  Military  Division  of  the  Mississippi. 

Now,  with  Wilson  for  corps,  Upton  for  division  and  Winslow  for  brigade, 
commanders,  the  position  of  the  regiment  was  the  best  it  had  ever  held. 
The  brigade  remained  at  Louisville  until  February,  refitting  for  the  field. 
All  the  regiments  were  now  armed  with  Spencer's  carbines  and  received  new 
accoutrements  and  equipments.  The  heavy  cavalry  sabres  were  exchanged 
for  the  light,  excellent  blade  of  the  new  pattern  and  all  the  revolvers  were 
turned  in  except  enough  to  arm  the  sergeants,  who  were  not  required  to 
carry  carbines.  On  an  interesting  occasion,  while  at  Louisville,  the  regi 
ment,  through  Lieutenant-Colonel  Peters,  presented  to  Colonel  Winslow  a 
sword  and  equipments  and  a  gold  American  watch,  as>a  token  of  regard  for 
his  rare  qualities  as  a  commanding  officer. 

Embarking  on  transports  February  7th,  and  moving  down  the  Ohio  and 
up  the  Tennessee,  the  brigade  reached  Waterloo,  Alabama,  the  13th,  and 
encamped  at  Gravelly  Springs  on  the  next  day.  Remained  here,  drilling 
and  preparing  for  the  grand  campaign,  which  was  to  open  as  soon  as  the 
weather  was  settled,  for  the  winter  rains  were  not  yet  over.  Whilst  here 
encamped,  the  beautiful  flag  offered  by  the  Women's  Loyal  League,  of 
Mount  Pleasant,  to  the  " First  Veteran  Regiment  from  Iowa,"  was  for 
mally  presented  to  the  regiment.  The  men  were  very  proud  of  the  honor, 
and  the  flag,  which  bore  in  gold  letters  the  names  of  the  principal  engage 
ments  in  which  the  regiment  had  served,  was  given  in  charge  to  Company 
H,  as  that  was  the  first  company  to  reenlist.  Colonel  Winslow  was  now 
brevetted  brigadier-general,  to  rank  from  December  13th,  1864. 

On  March  21st,   Winslow's  Brigade    bade    "good-bye  to  America," 


FOURTH      CAVALRY.  435 

and  plunged  into  the  wilderness  as  the  advance  of  the  great  raid.  Brevet- 
Major-General  James  H.  Wilson  commanded  the  whole  force,  but  though 
there  were  seven  divisions  in  his  "Cavalry  Corps,"  only  three  were  repre 
sented  here ;  the  First,  Second,  and  Fourth,  numbering  in  all  about  twelve 
thousand  men.  But  it  was  necessary  to  keep  one  division  in  rear  of  the 
wagon  train  loaded  with  ammunition  and  commissaries,  and  a  great  many 
men  were  required  to  manage  the  pack  train  which  carried  such  supplies 
as  were  of  immediate  necessity,  so  that  the  fighting  force  in  front  was  but  a 
small  part  of  the  twelve  thousand.  The  line  of  march  lay  direct  against 
Selma,  Alabama.  Nothing  of  special  moment  occurred,  if  we  except  the 
destruction  of  the  iron  works  at  Red  Mountain  and  at  the  Cahawba,  until 
we  reached  Montevallo,  fifty  miles  north  of  Selma.  Here  three  companies 
of  the  regiment  under  Major  W.  W.  Woods,  skirmished  with  the  enemy's 
advance,  and  Private  Francis  M.  Boswell  was  wounded.  At  Six-Mile 
Creek,  six  miles  south  of  Montevallo,  on  the  31st,  the  regiment  engaged 
two  regiments  of  the  enemy's  cavalry.  These  regiments  had  been  detached 
from  the  enemy's  main  force,  which  was  engaged  with  the  front  of  our 
division,  and  attacked  our  marching  column  on  its  right  flank,  a  few  hun 
dred  yards  in  advance  of  the  Fourth  Iowa.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Peters, 
commanding  regiment,  at  once  pushed  it  forward,  (only  seven  companies 
were  then  available,  the  others  being  rear-guard  of  the  train,)  and  dismount 
ing  charged  without  a  moment's  delay.  The  enemy  broke,  and  the  regi 
ment  pursued  nearly  two  miles,  killing  five,  wounding  several,  and  captur 
ing  two.  Its  own  loss  was  Corporal  Jacob  Gautz  and  Private  Oliver  F. 
Chester,  and  Trumpeter  John  Q.  Riley,  severely;  and  James  Lathers  and 
Villeroy  Abbe,  slightly  wounded.  On  April  1st,  was  fought  the  battle  of 
Ebenezer  Church,  in  which  the  Fourth  Iowa  suffered  no  loss. 

On  the  2d,  at  2  P.  M.,  the  command  appeared  before  Selma;  and  now 
after  a  rapid  march  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  without  the  delay  of  an 
hour  or  of  even  time  for  a  cup  of  coffee,  our  troops  were  dismounted  and 
advanced  to  the  assault,  the  assaulting  column  consisting  of  the  Second 
Division,  and  of  the  Second  Brigade,  Fourth  Division,  except  eight  com 
panies  of  the  Fourth  Iowa.  These  eight  companies  were  reserved  for  a 
sort  of  forlorn  assault  upon  the  enemy's  extreme  right  by  way  of  a  sup 
posed  impassable  swamp.  Selma  was  defended  by  two  lines  of  fortifications, 
the  outer  one  continuous  and  mounting  thirty  guns — twenty-nine  field 
pieces  and  one  thirty-two  pounder  Parrott.  The  garrison  numbered  seven 
thousand  men,  and  was  commanded  by  Forrest.  General  Wilson  soon  com 
pleted  his  dispositions  and  ordered  the  assault.  The  battle  was  short  but 
desperate.  Forty-four  of  our  men  were  killed  and  three  hundred  and  fifty 
wounded,  but  the  rebels  were  defeated  and  driven  from  the  works.  As 
soon  as  they  broke,  the  eight  companies  of  the  Fourth  Iowa — the  other 


436  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

companies  were  engaged  in  the  direct  assault  under  Major  Woods,  which 
had  been  dismounted  for  the  attack  on  the  right — were  ordered  forward  for 
a  mounted  charge.  Hastily  mounting  and  dashing  through  the  works, 
these  companies  at  full  gallop  charged  into  the  city  and  on  the  rebel  forces, 
and  the  defeated  enemy  was  utterly  routed. 

The  regiment  lost  in  this  action,  Captain  Eugene  R.  Jones,  Company  I, 
than  whom  the  service  held  few  better  officers,  and  Chief  Trumpeter  Daniel 
J.  Taber  killed,  and  Sergeant  James  H.  Stocks,  Company  H,  Color- 
Bearer,  and  Privates  Robert  Campbell  and  Abraham  Needles  Company  I, 
and  Hezekiah  Phelps,  Company  L,  wounded,  and  a  number  of  horses 
killed  and  wounded.  It  captured  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  ninety- 
five  prisoners,  including  seventy-eight  officers;  nine  field  pieces,  eight 
caissons,  three  battle-flags,  six  hundred  and  sixty  horses,  and  a  considerable 
number  of  wagons  and  ambulances  with  their  teams.  The  flags  were  cap 
tured,  one  each  by  Privates  Nicholas  Fanning,  Company  B,  James  P. 
Killer,  Company  D,  and  Charles  Swan,  Company  K.  The  capture  of 
Selma  was  almost  the  heaviest  blow  that  could  have  been  inflicted  upon 
the  rebels  at  this  time.  They  had  here  an  extensive,  and  to  them,  invalu 
able  foundry,  where  guns  of  all  kinds  and  weights,  even  to  the  heaviest 
siege  guns  were  being  cast ;  beside  the  thirty  pieces  mounted  on  the  works, 
seventy  were  lying  in  the  foundry.  There  were,  besides,  factories  and  ma 
chinery  for  the  manufacture  of  all  the  munitions  of  war,  and  arsenals  filled 
with  ordnance  stores  all  ready  for  issue,  and  great  depots  of  commissary's 
and  quartermaster's  supplies.  The  army  was  engaged  six  days  at  Selma, 
in  the  destruction  of  public  property,  and  in  building  a  pontoon  bridge  over 
the  Alabama,  While  the  work  was  going  on,  Winslow's  Brigade,  under 
Colonel  J.  W.  Noble,  Third  Iowa,  General  Winslow  being  placed  in  com 
mand  of  the  post  of  Selma,  was  ordered  on  a  reconnoissance  up  the  Ca- 
hawba.  Marched  one  hundred  miles,  and  returned  to  Selma  April  6th. 

Crossed  the  Alabama  on  the  Ninth,  and  moved  against  the  capital — 
Montgomery.  The  enemy  made  show  of  defence,  but  evacuated  on  the 
approach  of  the  raiders  and  McCook's  Division,  or  rather  his  brigade  as  he 
now  had  but  one,  occupied  the  city  on  the  12th.  On  the  next  day,  two 
companies,  H  and  M,  of  the  Fourth  Iowa,  under  Captain  F.  S.  Whiting, 
being  on  a  reconnoissance  up  the  Coosa  River  with  a  detachment  of  the 
Fourth  Kentucky,  captured  three  steamboats  laden  with  corn,  cotton,  and 
commissaries.  On  the  14th,  the  column  moved  on  against  Columbus, 
Georgia,  another  rebel  city  of  manufactures  and  depot  of  supplies.  The 
Second  Division  was  left  in  rear  of  the  train,  and  McCook's  Brigade  was 
dispatched  against  West  Point,  a  railroad  town  on  the  Chattahoochee, 
thirty  miles  above  Columbus,  and  the  Fourth  Division  appeared  alone 
before  Columbus  at  two  P.  M.  of  the  1 6th.  The  defences  of  the  city  were 


FOURTH      CAVALRY.  437 

on  the  west  bank  of  the  river,  about  the  village  of  Girard,  and  consisted 
of  a  chain  of  forts,  surmounting  a  range  of  hills,  connected  by  lines  of 
earthworks  and  mounting  forty-four  guns.  The  garrison  numbered  about 
four  thousand,  under  Major-General  Howell  Cobb,  but  more  directly  under 
Colonel  Von  Zinken,  a  Prussian  officer  of  great  repute  among  the  rebels. 
The  enemy  had  destroyed  all  the  bridges  leading  over  into  Columbus, 
except  one,  and  that  now  had  its  crevices  stuffed  with  cotton  saturated 
with  turpentine,  ready  to  be  set  ablaze  if  the  Yankees  should  gain  the 
works  that  protected  it  and  attempt  its  passage. 

It  would  have  been  folly  to  have  attacked  this  place  with  so  small  a  force, 
by  daylight,  and  General  Wilson  determined  upon  a  night  assault  and  a 
stratagem.  To  persuade  the  enemy  that  his  force  was  very  large,  the  First 
Brigade,  Brevet  Brigadier-General  Alexander,  made  a  feint  on  the  enemy's 
left,  and  the  Second  moved  by  a  circuitous  and  concealed  route  to  the  front 
of  his  right  and  the  front  of  the  all-important  remaining  bridge.  Here 
the  brigade  lay  and  quietly  awaited  the  approach  of  night.  Soon  after 
dark  the  column  moved  forward,  dismounted,  and  whilst  a  line  of  buglers, 
placed  in  front,  at  considerable  intervals,  sounded  the  charge,  so  that  it 
seemed  as  if  a  long  line  was  advancing  to  the  attack,  the  real  assault  was 
made  in  column  against  the  works  fronting  the  bridge.  The  fire  of  the 
whole  garrison  was  drawn.  A  battle  by  night  seems  more  horrible  than  by 
day,  and  the  scenes  and  sounds  that  were  created  in  the  blackness  of  that 
night  were  awful.  Our  victory  was  complete,  and  the  very  audacity  of  the 
assault  was  its  success.  Even  after  the  Yankees  had  occupied  the  bridge, 
the  bewildered  rebels  on  the  right  of  the  broken  works,  kept  battering 
away  into  their  front  at  an  enemy  who  was  then  in  their  rear.  The  pursuit 
was  so  close,  that  in  the  darkness  our  advance  mingled  with  the  fleeing 
rebels  crossing  the  bridge,  and  those  charged  with  firing  it  were  captured 
before  they  knew  the  Unionists  were  near.  The  Fourth  Iowa  was  the  first 
to  reach  and  cross  the  bridge.  Two  thousand  rebels  were  cut  off  from  the 
passage  of  the  bridge  and  captured,  together  with  all  the  guns  in  all  the 
works. 

The  Fourth  captured  in  the  action  nine  hundred  and  forty-one  prisoners, 
including  sixty-seven  officers,  twelve  field  pieces,  sixteen  caissons  and  seven 
battle  flags.  The  flags  were  captured,  one  each,  by  Sergeant  Norman  F. 
Bates,  Company  E ;  Corporal  Richard  Morgan,  Company  A ;  Privates 
Edward  Bebb,  Company  D,  John  Hayes,  Company  F,  Eli  Sherman,  Com 
pany  I,  John  Kelly  and  Richard  Cosgriff,  Company  L.  Its  loss  was :  Pri 
vate  Nathan  Beezley,  killed ;  Sergeant  Joseph  Jones,  mortally  wounded, 
and  Sergeant  Horton  M.  Detrick,  Corporal  E.  A.  Reeves,  Privates  John  S. 
Shirley,  Elias  F.  Ogg,  Jehoiada  Wurth,  and  David  Anderson,  wounded. 

The  loss  of  Columbus  was  almost,  or  perhaps  quite  as  great  an  injury  to 


438  IOWA     AND     THE      REBELLION. 

the  enemy  as  the  loss  of  Sclma.  There  were  here  manufactories  of  all 
military  accoutrements  and  equipments,  a  naval  foundry,  several  large 
arsenals,  some  extensive  railroad  works,  three  large  cotton  mills  filled  with 
cloth  and  running  full  power,  and  a  larger  amount  of  commissary  and 
quartermaster  stores  than  at  Selma.  The  iron-clad  Jackson,  mounting  six 
heavy  guns,  lay  in  the  river,  nearly  ready  to  move,  and  besides  the  forty- 
four  guns  mounted  on  the  works,  thirty-two  were  lying  in  the  city.  The 
day  and  night  of  the  17th  were  spent  in  the  destruction  of  this  vast 
amount  of  property.  The  iron-clad  and  the  arsenals  were  blown  up,  all 
machinery  broken  and  destroyed  and  all  public  property  set  on  fire.  One 
immense  storm  of  flame  wrapped  the  city  during  the  evening,  and  a  ter 
rifically  grand  conflagration  continued  all  night. 

On  the  morning  of  the  18th,  the  army  marched  eastward,  the  city  still  a 
mass  of  flame  and  coals,  and  the  monotony  of  the  march  was  relieved  once 
or  twice  before  we  passed  out  of  sight,  by  the  fearful  crash  of  a  bursting 
magazine.  The  Fourth  Division  was  in  the  rear  in  the  march  against 
Macon.  At  Thomaston,  the  regiment  was  detached  with  orders  to  destroy 
the  Macon  and  Atlanta  Railroad  between  Barnesville  and  Macon.  The 
regiment  cut  the  track  at  Barnesville  on  the  same  day,  but  at  Forsyth  on 
the  next  day,  the  20th,  it  received  news  of  Sherman's  "agreement"  with 
Johnston,  and  its  field  service  in  the  war  was  done.  Reached  Macon  on  the 
next  day,  and  found  the  whole  command  encamped  there.  Remained  at 
Macon,  men  and  animals  subsisting  on  a  short  and  wretched  supply  of 
captured  stores,  until  May  5th,  when  the  corps  having  been  divided  for  the 
occupation  of  the  country,  the  Fourth  Division  was  ordered  to  Atlanta. 
A  detachment  from  two  battalions  of  the  Fourth  Iowa,  under  Major 
Dee,  had  previously  been  ordered  to  Augusta,  and  had  gone  dis 
mounted,  by  rail,  to  occupy  that  city.  The  division  reached  the  ruins  of 
Atlanta  on  the  9th,  and  was  soon  after  broken  up,  General  Upton  being 
ordered  to  Nashville.  The  First  Brigade  was  moved  away,  and  Winslow's 
was  left  to  occupy  Atlanta  and  its  district.  Many  companies  were  detached 
to  occupy  different  points  in  the  district,  to  parole  rebel  soldiers  who  were 
now  moving  through  the  State  in  great  numbers,  receive  rebel  public 
property  and  preserve  order.  Companies  of  the  Fourth  Iowa  were  posted, 
one  each,  at  Griffin,  La  Grange,  Madison  and  Washington,  arid  the  detach 
ment  before  spoken  of  was  kept  some  weeks  at  Augusta.  All  available 
force  was  kept  at  work  rebuilding  the  Atlanta  end  of  the  Chattanooga 
Railroad,  a  work  that  was  watched  with  great  interest  by  both  citizens  and 
soldiers,  for  there  could  be  no  certain  communication  with  the  North  until 
it  was  done.  This  happy  event  occurred  July  4th,  and  after  five  months 
of  separation  we  were  again  united  with  "America."  In  June,  the  regi 
ment  was  assigned  to  post  duty,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  J.  H.  Peters 


FOURTH     CAVALRY.  439 

assumed  command  of  the  Post  of  Atlanta.  It  continued  in  this  service 
until  July  20th,  when  it  was  relieved  by  a  brigade  of  General  Steduian's 
command. 

Orders  having  been  received  for  the  muster-out  of  all  cavalry  in  the 
Department  of  Georgia,  except  one  regiment,  the  Fourth  Iowa  was  placed 
under  orders  for  muster  out  July  2Gth.  Then  the  detached  companies 
having  been  called  in  and  blanks  procured,  the  glad  work  of  preparing 
muster  out  rolls  began,  and  on  the  10th  of  August,  the  entire  regiment 
— forty-seven  officers  and  nine  hundred  and  thirty-six  men— was  mustered 
out,  just  four  years  from  the  date  of  its  first  enlistment.  On  the  next  day, 
the  men  retaining  their  arms  as  allowed  by  law,  began  their  journey  to 
Iowa  for  payment  and  final  discharge.  Eleven  hundred  miles  by  rail,  via 
Chicago,  brought  them  to  Davenport,  where  they  were  paid  in  full  and 
given  their  discharges  on  the  24th  of  August,  and  all  gladly  threw  off  the 
restraints  of  military  life  and  became  independent  citizens. 

The  services  of  the  Fourth  Iowa  Cavalry,  so  modestly  related  as  above 
by  Adjutant  Scott,  were  of  the  utmost  value  to  the  Union  arms,  and  it  may 
with  entire  truthfulness  be  said  that  throughout  its  long,  varied,  eventful 
career,  it  established  a  record  of  efficiency  and  of  gallantry  which  might 
have  gratified  the  just  pride  of  officers  and  men  of  any  command  of  the 
volunteer  forces  of  the  Union.  Its  marches,  its  combats,  its  battles,  on  a 
theatre  of  war  embracing  nearly  all  the  Southern  States ;  the  encomiums  it 
won  from  all  fighting  generals  who  ever  witnessed  its  discipline  or  its  deeds 
of  daring,  constitute  a  history  which  the  people  of  Iowa  can  never  allow  to 
be  obliterated  from  their  memory  or  their  gratitude.* 

*  The  veterans  of  the  regiment  marched  during  their  term  of  service,  about  twelve  thousand 
miles.  The  rolls  of  the  command,  during  the  same  period,  embraced  one  hundred  and  twelve  offi 
cers,  and  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty  enlisted  men.  The  succession  of  the  officers,  except  those  in 
the  battalion  organization,  which  did  not  long  continue,  was  as  follows : 

FIELD  OFFICERS. — Colonels  Asbury  B.  Porter,  Edward  F.  Winslow ;  Lieutenant-Colonels  Thomas 
Drummond,  Simeon  D.  Swan,  John  H.  Peters ;  Majors  Simeon  D.  Swan,  Joseph  E.  Jewett,  George 
A.  Stone,  Benjamin  Rector,  Alonzo  B.  Parkell,  Edward  F.  Winslow,  Cornelius  F.  Spearman,  Abial 
R.  Pierce,  William  W.  Woods,  Edward  W.  Dee ;  Adjutants  George  W.  Waldron,  Edward  Ketcham, 
Ambrose  Hodge,  William  F.  Scott;  Quartermasters  Simon  P.  Lauffer,  Edward  W.  Raymond,  Chris 
tian  Musser;  Commissaries  William  T.  Allen,  Seth  Martin;  Surgeons  Andrew  W.  McClure,  William 
Robinson ;  Assistant  Surgeons  Wellington  Bird,  Robert  Taylor,  William  Robinson,  William  McK. 
Findley,  Stephen  Cummings,  Samuel  W.  Taylor,  William  Robinson ;  Chaplain  Reverend  Andrew 
J.  Kirkpatrick. 

LINE  OFFICERS.— Company  A— Captains  Benjamin  Rector,  J.  Marshall  Rust,  Eldred  Huff,  Milton 
S.  Holtzinger ;  First  Lieutenants  John  Guylee,  Milton  S.  Holtzinger,  Asahel  Mann ;  Second  Lieu 
tenants  J.  Marshall  Rust,  S.  Kirkwood  Clarke,  Samuel  P.  Kelly.  Company  B — Captains  John  H. 
Peters,  George  B.  Parsons,  Alonzo  Clark;  First  Lieutenants  George  B.  Parsons,  Alonzo  Clark, 
Thomas  Bowman:  Second  Lieutenants  Alonzo  Clark,  Thomas  Bowman,  Lorenzo  D.  Wellman. 
Company  C—  Captains  Orrin  Miller,  Watson  B.  Porter,  Warren  Beckwith ;  First  Lieutenants  Henry 
E.  Winslow,  Charles  M.  Robinson,  Losson  P.  Baker ;  Second  Lieutenants  James  Patterson,  Losson 
P.  Baker,  Loyd  H.  Dillon,  Charles  H.  Smith.  Company  D— Captains  Cornelius  F.  Spearman,  Lot 
Abraham;  First  Lieutenants  Erasmus  Coiner,  Lot  Abraham,  John  T.  Tucker,  Hugh  M.  Pickel; 
Second  Lieutenants  John  T.  Tucker,  George  J.  Sharp,  Amon  L.  Ogg.  Company  E— Captains  Alonzo 


440  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

B.  Parkell,  Edward  W.  Dee,  Exum  Saint ;  First  Lieutenants  Orson  A.  Perkins,  Edward  W.  Dee 
Exum  Saint,  Simon  K.  Fuller;  Second  Lieutenants  Edward  W.  Dee,  Exum  Saint,  James  C.  Kelsey, 
Simon  K.  Fuller,  Hiram  II.  Cardell.  Company  F—  Captains  Edward  F.  Winslow,  Thomas  J.  Zollars, 
Newall  B.Dana;  First  Lieutenants  Thomas  J.  Zollars,  Boyd  P.  Brim,  Elias  B.  Woodruff;  Second 
Lieutenants  William  A.  Heacock,  Boyd  P.  Brim,  Elias  B.  Woodruff,  Hira  W.  Curtis,  John  T.  Rey 
nolds.  Company  G— Captains  Thomas  C.  Tullis,  Francis  M.  Davis,  Alexander  Rodgers ;  First  Lieu 
tenants  James  Brown,  Alexander  Rodgers,  John  S.  Keck;  Second  Lieutenants  Simon  Hooper, 
Francis  M.  Davis,  Robert  P.  Gilmer,  Peter  R.  Keck.  Company  .ff— Captains  Dewitt  C.  Crawford,  Samuel 
8.  Troy,  Asa  B.  Fitch ;  First  Lieutenants  Samuel  S.  Troy,  Asa  B.  Fitch,  Andrew  N.  Stamm,  William 
D.  Guernsey;  Second  Lieutenants  Edwin  A.  Haskell.  Stephen  W.  Groesbeck,  Andrew  N.  Stamm, 
William  D.  Guernsey,  Edward  Blasier.  Company  1 — Captains  William  Pursel,  Eugene  R.  Jones, 
Loyd  II.  Dillon ;  First  Lieutenants  Jesse  R.  Lambert,  William  P.  Hastings,  William  Early,  Eugene 
R.  Jones,  Isaac  II.  Botkin;  Second  Lieutenants  John  R.  Overmyer,  William  Early,  William  J. 
McConnelle,  John  S.  Winkley.  Company  .K— Captains  James  T.  Drummond,  Ambrose  Hodge  ; 
First  Lieutenants  Jacob  Hart,  James  0.  Vanorsdol ;  Second  Lieutenants  Joshua  Gardner,  William 
A.  Bereman,  John  R.  Hallowell.  Company  L— Captains  William  E.  Harris,  William  W.  Woods. 
Samuel  M.  Pray;  First  Lieutenants  William  II.  Sells,  William  W.  Woods,  Samuel  M.  Pray,  Samuel 
N.  Miller;  Second  Lieutenants  William  W.  Woods,  Ambrose  Hodge,  Orr  Sang,  Samuel  0.  Black, 
Company  M— Captains  Abial  R.  Pierce,  Frederick  S.  Whiting;  First  Lieutenants  Frederick  S.  Whit 
ing,  Daniel  J.  Yance;  Second  Lieutenants  Aaron  J.  Newby,  Martin  V.  B.  Sheafor. 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

FIFTH    CAVALRY. 

AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  COMMAND,  PREVIOUSLY  TO  ITS  ORGANIZATION  AS  AN  IOWA 
REGIMENT— FIRST  CALLED  "CURTIS  HORSE"— BECOMES  THE  FIFTH  IOWA  CAVALRY 
—OPERATIONS  IN  KENTUCKY,  FROM  THE  BASE  OF  FORT  HEIMAN— ENGAGEMENT 
AT  PARIS— AFFAIR  NEAR  LOCKRIDGE'S  MILLS— DEATH  OF  MAJOR  BGERNSTEIN— 
PURSUIT  OF  THE  ENEMY  BY  COLONEL  LOWE— ACTIVE  OPERATIONS— GARRISON 
FORT  DONELSON— MOVE  TO  MURFREESBORO-PURSUIT  OF  WHEELER— IMPORTANT 
EXPEDITION  UNDER  MAJOR  YOUNG— VARIOUS  MOVEMENTS— HOME  ON  VETERAN 
FURLOUGH— RETURN  TO  NASHVILLE— OPERATIONS  IN  THAT  VICINITY— THE 
ROUSSEAU  RAID— GENERAL  McCOOK'S  UNFORTUNATE  RAID— BATTLE  OF 
JONESBORO— RETURN  TO  NASHVILLE— OPERATIONS  ON  DUCK  RIVER— BRILLIANT 
EXPLOIT  BY  MAJOR  YOUNG— BATTLE  OF  NASHVILLE— PURSUIT  OF  THE  ENEMY— 
THE  WILSON  RAID— CONCLUSION. 

THAT  command  which,  under  the  cognomen  of  Fifth  Iowa  Cavalry,  per 
formed  distinguished  services  during  the  rebellion,  in  Kentucky,  Tennessee, 
Alabama,  and  Georgia,  was  but  in  part  an  Iowa  regiment,  nor  did  the  troops 
composing  it  acquire  that  name  until  some  months  after  regimental  organi 
zation.  The  States  of  Minnesota  and  Missouri,  and  the  territory  of  Ne 
braska  were  largely  represented  in  the  command  by  both  officers  and  en 
listed  men :  but  inasmuch  as  the  State  of  Iowa  was  more  largely  represented 
than  any  other  in  point  of  numbers,  the  regiment  came  to  be  designated  as 
belonging  to  our  State. 

Carl  Schaeffer,  of  Dubuque,  was  a  Sergeant  in  Company  H,  of  the  First 
Iowa  Volunteers.  W.  A.  Haw,  of  Burlington,  was  a  Sergeant  in  Company 
D,  of  the  same  regiment.  When  that  regiment  had  been  honorably  dis 
charged  the  service  not  long  after  the  battle  of  Wilson's  Creek,  these  men 
wore  authorized  by  General  Fremont  to  raise  a  troop  of  cavalry  in  Iowa  for 
part  of  his  body-guard.  Fre'mont  gave  Schaeffer  a  Captain's  commission, 
and  Haw  that  of  a  Lieutenant.  Schaeffer  was  a  German,  and  a  nobleman 
by  birth.  Succeeding  to  his  paternal  titles  and  the  estate  of  the  Barony 
of  Boernstein,  he  assumed  the  surname  of  Boarnstein,  to  which  his  estate 
56  441 


442  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

and  rank  entitled  him.  The  result  of  his  labors  and  those  of  his  coadjutor, 
Haw,  was  the  recruiting  of  troopers  amounting  to  more  than  two  companies. 
They  proceeded  to  St.  Louis,  where  two  companies  were  mustered  into  the 
service  in  the  latter  part  of  October,  and  were  assigned  to  the  ' '  Frdmont 
Hussars. "  Lieutenant  Lawrence  Miller,  of  Bellevue,  Iowa,  had  also  a  num 
ber  of  men,  but  they  were  not  at  this  time  regularly  assigned  to  any  com 
mand.  Captain  Bcernstein,  serving  as  Aid-de-camp  on  the  Staff  of  Gen 
eral  Curtis,  succeeded  in  having  the  troopers  from  Iowa  detached  from  the 
"  Fremont  Hussars"  and  formed  into  an  independent  command.  On  the 
20th  of  December,  a  regiment  of  troopers,  called  the  "  Curtis  Horse,"  was 
formed,  to  which  the  troops  of  whom  I  have  been  speaking  were  attached, 
forming  therein  companies  E,  F,  and  H,  the  latter  not  entirely  filled  up 
until  the  following  spring.  Four  companies  of  the  regiment  were  from 
Nebraska  (some  of  the  officers  and  many  of  the  men,  however,  being  from 
Southwestern  Iowa ; )  three  from  Minnesota ;  and  two  from  Missouri.  The 
organization  was  not  completed  till  the  first  of  February,  1862,  when  the 
"  Curtis  Horse"  was  fully  entered  the  service,  with  an  aggregate  of  nearly 
one  thousand  on  the  rolls. 

W.  W.  Lowe  was  Colonel ;  M.  T.  Patrick,  Lieutenant-Colonel ;  W.  B. 
McGeorge,  adjutant:  and  the  Majors  were,  of  the  first  battalion,  Carl 
Schaeffer  de  Boernstein ;  of  the  second,  William  Kelsay ;  of  the  third,  Alfred 
B.  Brackett.1 

The  8th  of  February  the  regiment  marched  from  Benton  Barracks  to  the 
levee,  and  embarking  on  steamers  moved  down  the  river  under  orders  to  re 
port  at  Fort  Henry,  Tennessee,  captured  two  days  before  by  Flag-Officer 
Foote.  Arrived  on  the  llth,  and  went  into  camp  near  the  fort.  Here 
and  at  Fort  Heiman,  hard  by  but  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  the  regi 
ment  remained  encamped  and  in  winter  quarters  for  more  than  a  year. 
But  though  head-quarters  were  thus  stationary  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort 
Henry  so  long,  the  regiment  was  all  the  while,  or  at  any  rate  most  of  the 
time,  actively  engaged  in  operations  of  less  or  more  note  as  well  in  Ken 
tucky  as  in  Tennessee.  A  brief  account  of  these  services  may  be  hastily 
stated  thus : 

February  15th,  General  Grant  being  now  engaged  at  Fort  Donelson,  a 

1  LINE  OFFICERS:  Company  A,  John  J.  Lower,  Captain,  Horace  Walters  First  Lieutenant;  Company 
B,  John  T.  Croft,  Captain,  Milton  S.  Summers,  (Iowa)  E.  G.  McNeely,  Lieutenants;  Company  C,  J. 
Morris  Young,  (Iowa)  Captain,  Alfred  Matthias,  Charles  A.  B.  Langdon,  (Iowa)  Lieutenants;  Com 
pany  D,  Harlan  Baird,  Captain,  William  Curl,  William  C.  McBeath,  Lieutenants ;  Company  E, 
Charles  C.  Nott,  Captain,  M.  M.  Wheeler,  (Iowa)  Levi  Moreing,  (Iowa)  Lieutenants;  Company  F, 
W.  A.  Haw,  Captain,  M.  Chournee,  John  A.  Schmidt,  Lieutenants  (all  of  Iowa);  CoTnpany  G,  II. 
Yon  Minden,  Captain,  Lieutenants  August  Mathaus,  G.  Lane ;  Company  II,  J.  C.  Wilcox,  Captain, 
William  T.  Hays,  (Iowa)  First  Lieutenant ;  Company  I,  D.  M.  West,  Captain,  William  Smith,  Robert 
II.  Rose,  Lieutenants;  Company  K,  E.  Y.  Shelley,  Captain,  Mortimer  Neely,  First  Lieutenant; 
Company  L,  Patrick  Naughton,  Captain,  0.  C.  Ruttan,  Thomas  F.  Hayden,  Lieutenants ;  Company 
Jtf,  J.  K.  Kidd,  Captain,  D.  A.  Waters,  Roland  J.  Beatty,  Lieutenants. 


FIFTH     CAVALRY.  443 

detachment  of  the  Curtis  Horse,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Patrick, 
marched  up  the  Tennessee  River,  and  destroyed  the  bridge  of  the  Mem 
phis  and  Ohio  Railroad.  Having  well  done  this  important  service,  the  de 
tachment  returned  to  camp  on  the  morning  of  the  16th,  having  marched 
seventy  miles  in  twenty-four  hours.  The  regiment  did  considerable  scout 
ing  in  the  latter  part  of  the  month.  March  14th,  Captain  Croft,  com 
manding  a  detachment  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  marched  in  the 
direction  of  Paris,  Tennessee,  and,  being  joined  by  Captain  Bullis'  battery 
of  light  artillery,  pushed  on  to  Paris,  and  in  the  evening  attacked  and  de 
feated  a  force  of  about  six  hundred  rebels,  well  posted  west  of  the  town. 
The  combat  lasted  about  thirty-five  minutes,  when  the  rebels  retired  in 
disorder.  Their  loss  was  considerable.  The  Unionists  lost  only  about 
ten  in  killed  and  wounded,  among  the  mortally  wounded  being  Captain 
Bullis,  of  the  battery.  The  command  at  once  returned  to  Fort  Heiman 
after  the  engagement.  From  this  time  until  April  9th,  there  was  compara 
tive  quiet,  but  part  of  the  command  was  nearly  all  the  while  in  the  saddle, 
engaged  in  scouting.  Moreover,  just  after  the  battle  of  Paris,  two  compa 
nies  were  detailed  as  guard  of  the  telegraph  from  Fort  Henry  to  Smith- 
land,  on  the  Ohio  River,  and  continued  on  this  service  about  three  months. 
So,  too,  in  the  latter  part  of  March,  Major  Brackett  marched  with  three 
companies  in  the  direction  of  Corinth,  and  joined  the  army  operating 
against  that  place.  The  detachment  was  engaged  in  important  escort, 
guard,  and  reconnoitering  duties,  and  having  performed  valuable  service — 
on  one  or  two  occasions  capturing  many  prisoners  and  much  property,  in 
cluding  one  gun  and  two  locomotives — rejoined  the  regiment  in  the  latter 
part  of  August,  Early  in  April,  Major  Boernstein  made  a  foray  to  Paris 
and  beyond,  which  resulted  in  the  destruction  of  a  large  amount  of  confe 
derate  property.  On  the  3d  of  May,  Major  Boernstein  again  marched  be 
yond  Paris,  with  a  detachment  consisting  of  troopers  from  Company  E, 
Captain  Nott,  Company  F,  Captain  Haw,  Company  Gr,  Captain  Yon  Min- 
den,  numbering  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  men.  On  the  evening  of 
the  6th,  the  command  being  encamped  near  Lockridge's  Mills,  Major 
Boernstein  was  suddenly  attacked  by  the  rebel  Colonel  Clayborne,  with  an 
overwhelming  force.  The  men  sprang  to  arms  and  made  defence  as  stoutly 
as  possible.  But  they  were  a  mere  handful  against  two  thousand,  and  were 
quickly  defeated  and  routed.  Major  Boernstein  was  mortally  wounded, 
and  in  a  very  short  time  more  than  half  the  command  were  killed,  wounded, 
and  captured.  Captain  Nott  was  thrown  from  his  horse  and  seriously  in 
jured,  but  contrived  to  escape  and  with  eleven  of  his  men  reached  Padu- 
cah,  Kentucky,  after  incredible  hardships.  Captain  Haw  was  severely 
wounded  and  captured,  his  Lieutenant  Von  Vredenburg,  being  also  cap 
tured.  Captain  Von  Minden  was  wounded,  and  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 


444  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

enemy.  Major  Boernstein  died  the  next  day.  He  was  a  gallant  soldier 
and  accomplished  gentleman,  at  the  time  of  his  death  betrothed  to  a  beau 
tiful  and  intelligent  lady  of  Iowa.  His  untimely  death  was  universally 
deplored  in  the  State,  and  when  his  body  reached  Dubuque  for  burial,  it 
was  followed  to  the  grave  by  thousands  of  mourning  citizens. 

This  unhappy  affair  closed  the  fighting  history  of  the  Curtis  Horse. 
Colonel  Lowe  pursued  the  rebels,  immediately  upon  learning  of  the  disaster 
which  had  overtaken  Major  Boernstein' s  command,  but  had  not  reached 
Paris  when  he  was  ordered  to  return.  The  command  continued  to  perform 
such  services  as  were  required  in  the  situation,  but  which  about  this  time 
were  not  specially  noteworthy. 

The  25th  of  June,  the  regiment  was  assigned  to  our  State,  becoming  the 
Fifth  Iowa  Cavalry.  Colonel  Lowe  continued  in  command,  and,  as  Major 
Kelsay  had  died  of  disease,  and  Major  Boernstein  suffered  death  at  the 
hands  of  the  enemy,  Major  Brackett  was  the  only  major  in  the  regiment 
at  this  time.  William  Aston  became  the  adjutant  in  place  of  McGeorge, 
who  had  not  long  before  resigned.  Doctor  Enos  Lowe  was  now  Surgeon, 
with  B.  T.  Wise,  assistant,  and  Lieutenant  Charles  B.  Smith  was  quarter 
master.  The  regiment  numbered  eight  hundred  and  fifty-seven,  officers 
and  enlisted  men.  Having  thus  noted  the  change  in  the  official  designation 
of  the  regiment,  I  proceed  to  note  briefly  its  doings  during  the  remainder 
of  the  period  in  which  Fort  Heiman  was  its  base  of  operations. 

For  about  two  months  after  the  regiment  became  known  as  the  Fifth 
Iowa  Cavalry,  it  was  engaged  in  various  movements  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort 
Henry,  of  a  scouting,  reconnoitering  nature.  The  25th  of  August,  the  rebel 
Colonel  Woodward,  with  a  force  of  about  eight  hundred  cavalry  and  infantry, 
and  one  small  gun,  attacked  Fort  Donelson,  garrisoned  by  a  few  troops  of 
the  Seventy-first  Ohio,  Major  J.  H.  Hart.  The  Major  made  a  gallant 
defence,  but  telegraphed  to  Colonel  Lowe  for  reinforcements.  The  trumpet 
sounding  to  horse,  Colonel  Lowe  galloped  to  Fort  Donelson  with  six  com 
panies  of  the  Fifth  Cavalry,  and,  arriving  late  in  the  day,  learned  of  the 
gallant  repulse  of  the  enemy  who  had  retreated  up  the  river.  Early  the 
next  morning  Colonel  Lowe  started  in  pursuit,  with  four  companies,  and 
overtaking  the  enemy  at  Cumberland  Iron  Works  had  a  sharp  combat,  the 
result  of  it  being  something  like  that  of  a  drawn  battle.  In  this  affair, 
Lieutenant  Summers  was  mortally  wounded,  Lieutenant  McNeely  was 
wounded  and  captured,  two  enlisted  men  were  slain,  as  many  mortally,  and 
eight  severely  wounded.  ' '  A  more  gallant  officer  than  Lieutenant  Sum 
mers,  ' '  says  Lieutenant  Hays,  ' '  never  drew  sword  for  his  country.  Riddled 
with  balls  he  fell  from  his  horse  near  the  enemy's  cannon,  and  was  sur 
rounded  by  a  crowd  who  attempted  to  bayonet  him  ;  but,  although  unable 
to  rise  to  his  feet,  he  cut  at  his  assailants  with  his  sabre,  and  split  one  of 


FIFTH      CAVALRY.  445 

them  from  the  shoulder  to  the  centre  of  his.  body,  and  cut  the  hand  of 
another  nearly  off.  He  fought  with  his  sabre  until  it  became  so  bent  as  to 
be  useless,  and  then  shot  five  times  with  his  revolver,  when  the  crowd  of 
rebels  pressing  on  him  from  all  sides,  wrenched  his  pistol  from  his  grasp 
and  made  him  a  prisoner.  When  taken  he  had  seven  minie  balls  in  his 
body,  and  a  bayonet  wound  in  his  thigh."  Colonel  Lowe  returned  to  Fort 
Donelson,  and  early  in  September  moved  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Cum 
berland,  with  a  considerable  force  of  foot,  horse,  and  artillery,  in  the  direc 
tion  of  Clarksville.  There  was  some  skirmishing  on  this  expedition,  but 
our  regiment  met  with  no  loss.  Many  stores  were  destroyed  at  Clarksville, 
and  many  carried  away  by  our  troops.  On  the  13th,  the  regiment  was  again 
in  its  camp  at  Fort  Heiman,  whence  the  troopers  by  detachments  made 
sundry  expeditions  in  different  directions  but  to  no  great  distance.  The 
1st  of  November,  the  command  made  a  considerable  march,  joining  a 
column  under  General  Ransom,  and  moving  by  La  Fayette,  Kentucky,  to 
Garretsburg.  Here  a  skirmish  took  place  on  the  8th,  in  which  Lieutenant 
Gallagher  and  one  private  of  the  Fifth  were  killed.  The  fighting  continued 
for  some  time,  and  resulted  in  the  rout  of  the  enemy  who  had  sustained  a 
loss  of  about  a  score  killed,  more  than  eighty  wounded,  and  sixty  prisoners. 
The  regiment  reached  Fort  Heiman  the  llth,  Lieutenant- Colon  el  Patrick 
and  his  command  having  earned  and  received  the  high  praise  of  the  gallant 
Ransom  for  their  efficient  services.  With  this  march,  unless  we  except  a 
march  to  and  from  Fort  Donelson  in  February,  1863,  ended  the  operations 
of  the  regiment  from  Fort  Heiman.  Captain  Von  Minden,  with  a  small 
detachment,  while  making  a  reconnoissance  to  Cumberland  Iron  Works,  was 
surprised  and  he  and  his  whole  command  were  captured.  The  regiment 
spent  a  rather  quiet  winter  in  quarters  of  the  troops'  construction  at  the 
fort. 

On  the  5th  of  March,  1863,  the  regiment  bade  good-bye  to  the  old  en 
campment  at  Fort  Heiman,  which  now  seemed  to  be  hallowed  by  associa 
tions  like  those  which  cluster  about  home,  and  marched  to  Fort  Donelson. 
Here  it  remained  just  three  months  garrisoning  the  fort,  patrolling  and 
guarding  roads  and  telegraphs,  detachments  also  scouting,  and  making  one 
important  raid  to  the  head  of  Yellow  Creek,  whereby  large  quantities  of 
property  were  captured  from  the  enemy. 

June  5th,  the  regiment  took  up  line  of  march  for  Murfreesboro,  and 
moving  by  Nashville,  arrived  on  the  llth  at  the  former  place,  and  was  as 
signed  to  the  First  Brigade  of  the  Second  Cavalry  Division  in  the  army 
commanded  by  Major-General  Rosecrans.  The  regiment  was  engaged  for 
about  three  months  in  very  heavy  reconnoitering  duty  in  the  face  of  the 
enemy,  about  Lebanon  and  Murfreesboro.  In  one  of  its  reconnoissances  in 
the  direction  of  Guy's  Gap.  made  in  the  latter  part  of  June,  it  had  a  con- 


446  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

siderable  skirmish  with  the  enemy,  inflicting  a  loss  of  thirty  killed  and 
wounded,  and  suffering  a  loss  itself  of  only  two  men  placed  hors-de- combat. 
During  this  period  the  command  captured  many  guerrillas. 

The  6th  of  September,  the  regiment,  less  two  companies,  marched  in  the 
direction  of  McMinnsville,  and  arriving  the  8th,  established  camp  near  that 
town,  and  again  commenced  services  of  an  exceedingly  active  nature,  in 
volving  reconnoissances  to  Sparta,  twenty-five  miles  northeast,  to  Wood- 
bury,  nearly  as  far  northwest,  and  to  Tracy  City,  still  farther  off  in  a  south 
ern  direction.  The  object  of  these  movements  was  the  dispersion  of 
guerrilla-men  who  infested  this  part  of  Tennessee,  and  it  was  successfully 
accomplished.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  month  the  regiment  received 
marching  orders  for  Bellefonte,  in  Alabama,  but  when  the  command 
reached  Dechard  the  orders  were  practically  countermanded,  and  tents  were 
pitched  at  Winchester,  hard  by. 

Earlj7  in  the  following  month  Colonel  Lowe  began  a  series  of  movements 
which  were  actively  continued  for  some  time.  Wheeler's  troopers  were 
now  raiding  between  Winchester  and  Nashville,  and  on  October  4th,  our 
regiment  joined  in  the  pursuit  of  them.  A  brisk  skirmish  took  place  at 
Wartrace,  a  little  more  than  half-way  between  Winchester  and  Murfrees- 
boro,  on  the  6th,  in  which  the  rebels  were  worsted,  and  retreated  in  the 
direction  of  Shelbyville.  The  Fifth  lost  Henry  Perkins,  Company  K,  mor 
tally  wounded  in  this  affair.  Lowe  pushed  on  after  the  rebels  the  next  day, 
by  Shelbyville  and  Farmington.  The  rebels  rapidly  retreated  toward  the 
Tennessee,  but  on  the  9th,  the  Fifth  Iowa  Cavalry,  the  advance  of  the 
Unionists,  came  up  with  their  rear  guard  near  Sugar  Creek,  and  delivering 
a  dashing,  impetuous  attack,  rushing  with  drawn  sabres  upon  the  opposing 
lines,  slew  thirty  of  the  enemy,  wounded  a  large  number,  and  took  nearly 
one  hundred  prisoners,  and,  into  such  disorder  did  the  charge  at  once  throw 
the  rebels  that  but  one  man  in  the  Fifth  was  wounded — E.  W.  Sloan  of 
Company  H.  The  pursuit  was  continued  to  the  Tennessee  River,  but 
Wheeler  made  good  the  passage  with  his  principal  command. 

Wherefore,  the  division  of  cavalry  turned  to  the  right-about,  and  went 
in  pursuit  of  Roddy  now  creating  trouble  north  of  the  Tennessee.  The 
troopers  moved  to  Salem,  in  Tennessee,  where  they  learned  that  Roddy 
was  making  his  way  southward,  with  the  probability  of  crossing  at  Athens. 
The  division  turned  about  again,  therefore,  and  marched  to  Maysville,  Ala 
bama,  whence,  on  the  19th,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Patrick,  with  the  Fifth 
Iowa,  and  the  Fourth  Michigan  Cavalry,  pushed  on  toward  Athens,  but 
found  that  Roddy  had  put  his  command  beyond  the  river.  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Patrick  returned  to  Maysville,  having  made  a  march  of  seventy 
miles  in  a  single  day,  the  second  of  the  same  distance  thus  quickly  per 
formed  by  the  Fifth  Cavalry. 


FIFTH      C  A  VA  L  R  Y.  447 

The  regiment  went  into  camp  at  Maysville,  and  for  some  time  the  troopers 
rested  from  their  labors. 

The  Tennessee  River  was  now  commanded  by  the  enemy  above  Decatur 
far  up  toward  Chattanooga,  By  means  of  ferry-boats  and  other  craft  they 
threw  across  raiders  and  guerrilla-men  to  harass  our  lines  and  Union  citi 
zens,  and  to  forcibly  put  in  operation  the  rebel  conscription  act.  It  was 
with  the  view  of  destroying  the  enemy's  control  of  the  river  that  Major 
Young,  of  the  Fifth  Iowa,  was  sent  out  by  Colonel  Lowe,  at  the  time  in 
command  of  the  division,  on  an  expedition  which  resulted  in  great  benefit 
to  the  Union  arms.  With  detachments  from  his  own  regiment,  the  Fourth 
regular  cavalry,  the  Seventeenth  and  Seventy-second  Indiana  mounted 
Infantry,  making  a  picked  force  of  about  four  hundred  men,  Major  Young 
left  camp  at  Maysville  on  the  14th  of  November,  and  moving  by  the  rear 
of  Huntsville  through  Blevin's  Gap,  struck  the  Tennessee  at  Whitesburg. 
Destroying  the  ferry-boat,  the  command  pushed  down  the  river  to  Triana. 
Here  boats  were  visible,  but  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  stream,  and  under 
guard.  Sergeant  Philips,  of  Company  G,  Fifth  Iowa,  and  a  number  of 
men  from  the  same  regiment  volunteered  to  cross  the  stream  and  secure 
the  boats.  Under  cover  of  the  vigorous  fire  of  our  troopers  from  the 
northern  bank,  they  gained  the  prizes  which  were  two  large  ferry-boats 
and  some  smaller  craft.  With  the  help  of  these  the  river  was  cleared  of 
vessels  of  any  size  from  Whitesburg  to  Decatur.  The  command  inflicted 
other  damage  of  great  extent  to  the  enemy,  and  returned  to  camp  on  the 
17th,  bringing  in  a  number  of  prisoners,  two  hundred  horses  and  mules 
captured,  and  a  large  number  of  negroes  for  enlistment  in  a  regiment  of 
colored  troops  then  forming  at  Maysville.  This  important  expedition 
elicited  the  following  complimentary  note : 

"HEAD-QUARTERS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  CUMBERLAND,} 
"  CHATTANOOGA,  TENNESSEE,  Nov.  30th,  1863.    } 

"BRIGADIER-GENERAL  GEORGE  CROOK,  Commanding  Second  Cavalry 
Division: — "GENERAL,  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
the  report  of  Major  J.  M.  Young,  Fifth  Iowa  Cavalry,  of  his  expedition 
through  the  country  between  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  railroad  and 
the  Tennessee  River,  between  the  14th  and  17th  instant.  The  Major- 
General  commanding  directs  that  you  tender  his  thanks  to  Major  Young 
for  the  brave,  energetic,  and  prudent  manner  in  which  the  expedition  was 
conducted.  ' '  Very  respectfully,  &c. , 

"  WILLIAM  D.  WHIPPLE, 

"Brigadier-General  and  A.  A.  G." 

The  last  campaign  in  which  the  Fifth  Cavalry  took  part  during  the  year 
was  to  observe  the  line  of  the  Tennessee  from  a  point  south  of  Huntsville 
up  to  the  vicinity  of  Bellefonte.  The  campaign  involved  constant  recon- 


448  IOWA    AND     THE      REBELLION. 

noitering  and  picket  duties,  with  some  skirmishing.  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Patrick  was  in  command  of  the  forces  which  consisted  of  the  Fifth  Iowa 
and  several  companies  of  the  Fourth  regular  cavalry.  Leaving  Huntsville 
— whither  the  division  had  marched  from  Maysville  a  few  days  before — 
the  27th  of  November,  he  reached  the  Tennessee  the  next  day.  Moving 
up  this  stream  to  Paint  Kiver,  he  found  the  stream  so  swollen  by  the  rains 
as  to  be  impassable  by  trains.  Major  Beard,  however,  with  seven  com 
panies  of  the  Fifth,  and  a  detachment  of  the  Fourth  United  States,  crossed 
the  torrent  and  pushed  on  to  Claysville,  where  he  had  a  successful  skirmish 
with  the  enemy.  This  command  was  actively  employed  along  the  river  for 
many  miles,  Lieutenant- Colonel  Patrick  following  as  soon  as  possible  and 
establishing  his  head-quarters  at  Dodsonville.  On  December  7th  he  started 
for  Huntsville,  but  left  four  companies  of  the  Fifth  under  Major  Brackett, 
who  patrolled  the  river  till  the  21st,  when  he  marched  northward,  and 
reached  camp  at  Huntsville  on  the  next  day.  Whilst  at  Dodsonville,  Major 
Brackett  sent  Sergeants  P.  M.  McGuire  and  William  Ireland,  and  Private 
George  Ireland,  of  Company  H,  with  dispatches  to  Paint  Rock,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river  of  that  name.  They  were  captured  by  a  band  of 
twenty  guerrillas,  but  private  Ireland  concealed  the  dispatches,  and,  placed 
under  custody  of  two  guerrillas  they  at  length  slew  their  guard  and  made 
good  their  escape.  Major  Brackett  by  special  order  commended  them  to 
honorable  distinction. 

The  day  before  Christmas  the  Cavalry  Division  took  up  line  of  march  for 
Pulaski,  Tennessee,  and  arrived  on  the  27th.  On  the  1st  of  January,  1864, 
more  than  three-fourths  of  the  Fifth  Iowa  Cavalry  having  reenlisted  as 
Veteran  Volunteers,  preparations  were  made  for  newly  mustering  the  vete 
rans  and  for  the  usual  furlough  home.  On  the  7th,  the  regiment  left 
Pulaski,  and  reached  Nashville  three  days  afterwards.  The  29th,  the 
veterans  embarked  for  Cairo.  Thence  Companies  L  and  M  moved  by 
steamer  to  St.  Louis,  and  Companies  Gr,  I,  and  K  proceeded  by  rail  to  St. 
Paul,  Minnesota.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Patrick  with  the  remaining  com 
panies  moved  to  Davenport,  Iowa,  by  special  train,  arriving  on  the  3d  of 
February,  where  furloughs  till  the  5th  of  March  were  given  to  the  men. 
During  the  month  of  February,  the  three  companies  of  the  regiment  just 
noted  as  having  gone  to  Minnesota,  were  detached  from  the  Fifth  Iowa, 
and  formed  into  an  independent  battalion,  with  which  Major  Brackett  con 
tinued  to  serve.  I  have  no  knowledge  of  the  subsequent  history  of  these 
old  comrades  of  the  Fifth,  but  have  no  doubt  they  continued  to  do  their 
duty  bravely  and  well. 

The  22d  of  March  the  veterans  left  Davenport  for  Nashville,  where  they 
arrived  in  due  time,  and  remained  there  more  than  a  month  on  duty  of  no 
noteworthy  importance.  Early  in  May  those  of  the  regiment  who  had 


FIFTH     CAVALRY.  449 

been  armed  and  equipped  moved  to  Pulaski,  where,  under  command  of 
Major  Baird,  they  were  engaged  in  guarding  the  Nashville  and  Decatur 
Railroad  for  two  months.  On  the  5th  of  July  they  proceeded  to  Decatur, 
where  Lieutenant-Colonel  Patrick  and  that  part  of  the  command  which  had 
been  left  at  Nashville,  were  reunited  on  the  9th,  and  by  great  energy  the 
whole  made  ready  to  take  part  in  one  of  the  most  brilliant  achievements  by 
troopers  of  the  war ;  namely 

THE  ROUSSEAU  RAID. 

General  Sherman  on  the  10th  of  July  was  conqueror  of  all  Georgia,  north 
and  west  of  the  Chattahoochee  River  above  the  vicinity  of  Atlanta.  On 
this  day,  the  rebel  General  Hardee  abandoned  the  strong  works  north  of 
that  river,  behind  the  Nickajack,  and  gave  full  mastery  to  Sherman  from 
the  Chattahoochee  to  the  Tennessee.  To  gain  this  vast  territory  General 
Sherman's  grand  army  had  fought  and  labored  with  sublime  heroism  and 
endurance,  and  now  needed  rest.  Wherefore  Sherman  prepared  another 
thunderbolt  to  fulmine  over  this  devoted  part  of  the  confederacy,  which, 
bearing  terror  and  destruction  in  its  path,  might  serve  to  keep  the  rebels 
from  quiet  whilst  his  own  troops  were  gaining  strength  and  getting  repose 
along  the  banks  of  the  Chattahoochee. 

Major-General  Lovell  H.  Rousseau,  the  ablest  general  of  all  from 
Kentucky,  now  in  command  of  the  District  of  Tennessee,  was  thoroughly 
informed  of  Sherman's  plans.  Knowing  that  Sherman,  SQ  soon  as  he 
should  become  master  of  the  line  of  the  Chattahoochee,  would  desire  the 
communications  of  Atlanta  with  the  southwest  destroyed,  Rousseau  had 
a  force  at  Decatur,  Alabama,  ready  to  perform  this  service.  And  so  well 
were  General  Sherman's  grand  operations  timed,  that  Rousseau  moved 
from  Decatur  on  the  very  day  that  Hardee  evacuated  the  works  north  of 
the  Chattahoochee.  It  was  as  though  the  commanding  general  had  sig 
nalled  half  way  across  two  great  States  to  his  subordinate. 

The  command  of  General  Rousseau  numbered  less  than  three  thousand 
men.  It  consisted  of  two  brigades,  the  First  under  command  of  Colonel 
Thomas  J.  Harrison,  Eighth  Indiana  Cavalry,  or  Thirty-ninth  Mounted 
Infantry,  composed  of  that  regiment,  the  Second  Kentucky  and  Ninth 
Ohio  Cavalry;  the  Second,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Patrick,  Fifth  Iowa,  com 
manding,  composed  of  his  regiment,  Major  Baird  in  command,  the  Fourth 
Tennessee  Cavalry,  and  a  section  of  artillery.  The  command  moved  from 
Decatur  in  the  lightest  marching  order,  without  wagons,  with  but  a  single 
ambulance  to  each  regiment,  a  few  pack  mules  accompanying  the  column 
to  carry  ammunition  and  a  very  small  quantity  of  supplies.  Marching  by 
Somerville,  Summit,  Blountsville  and  Ashville,  Rousseau  approached  the 
Coosa  River  near  the  Ten  Islands,  made  famous  as  the  place  of  passage  by 
57 


450  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

the  troops  under  General  Andrew  Jackson  in  the  war  with  the  Creek 
Indians.  The  rebel  General  Clanton  disputed  the  passage  of  the  river,  but 
was  quickly  and  easily  whipped  with  a  loss  of  ten  killed,  many  wounded, 
and  fifteen  prisoners.  Tarrying  no  longer  question,  the  troopers  pushed  on 
to  Talladega ;  destroyed  the  depot,  railroad,  and  telegraph,  and  broke  up  a 
conscription  rendezvous ;  pressed  forward  rapidly  to  Tylocouga,  where  they 
destroyed  iron  works,  many  store-houses  with  supplies,  including  nitre. 
The  16th,  they  crossed  the  Tallapoosa  at  Stone's  Ferry,  and  on  the  next 
day  struck  the  West  Point  and  Montgomery  Railroad  at  Loachapoka. 
Though  night  had  already  set  in,  the  work  of  destruction  immediately  com 
menced.  The  depot  was  soon  in  flames,  creating  a  light  whereby  the 
troops  were  enabled  to  work  understandingly  and  effectually.  During  the 
livelong  night  the  work  went  on,  part  of  the  troops  sleeping  on  their  arms 
while  others  destroyed  the  railroad.  The  18th,  Major  Baird,  with  detach 
ments  of  the  Fifth  Iowa  and  Fourth  Tennessee,  marched  in  the  direction 
of  Montgomery,  to  destroy  a  considerable  trestle-work  near  Cheraw  Station. 
He  was  met  by  Clanton  with  a  superior  force  and  compelled  to  fall  back, 
but  the  other  portions  of  the  Fifth  Iowa,  and  the  Eighth  Indiana  coming 
up,  a  sharp  fight  ensued  in  which  the  rebels  were  defeated  with  a  loss  of 
thirty  slain  on  the  field,  and  a  large  number  wounded.  Rousseau,  after 
the  battle,  moved  in  the  direction  of  West  Point,  destroying  the  railway  as 
he  went.  By  threatening  the  town,  he  drew  thither  a  considerable  rebel 
force — more  than  he  could  have  hoped  successfully  to  cope  with.  Where 
fore,  he  left  West  Point  to  the  right,  and  marching  by  night  through  the 
gloomy  forests  which  here  abound,  passed  Lafayette,  Carrollton,  and  Villa 
Rica,  and  on  the  22d  entered  the  lines  of  Sherman's  pickets  on  the  Sweet- 
water.  As  the  sun  went  down  that  day  he  went  into  camp  at  Marietta  on 
the  line  of  communications  from  Chattanooga  to  Atlanta,  and  whence 
thirteen  days  before,  Sherman  had  telegraphed  him  "to  start." 

General  Rousseau  on  this  raid  marched  nearly  four  hundred  miles,  or 
about  thirty  miles  each  day;  he  crossed  the  Sand  Mountains,  two  large 
rivers,  and  many  lesser  streams ;  he  fought  two  engagements  in  which  the 
enemy  was  signally  defeated  ;  he  destroyed  more  than  thirty  miles  of  rail 
road,  five  large  depots  filled  with  cotton  and  supplies  for  the  rebel  army, 
and  immense  quantities  of  public  property  besides.  Yet  during  the  whole 
raid  there  was  not  a  single  act  of  pillage  or  vandalism  committed  by  any  of 
his  troopers.  His  whole  loss,  killed,  wounded,  and  stragglers,  did  not 
exceed  thirty  men,  of  whom  but  fifteen  were  placed  hors-de-combat.  Of 
these  fourteen  belonged  to  the  Fifth  Iowa  Cavalry,  a  fact  which  may  go 
far  to  show  the  prominent  part  taken  by  the  regiment  in  this  great  raid. 
Captain  Curl  was  killed  on  the  13th,  and  Captain  Wilcox  severely  wounded 
on  the  same  day. 


FIFTH     CAVALRY.  451 

The  regiment,  much  reduced  in  strength  by  reason  of  horses  worn  out, 
took  part  in  the  unfortunate  raid  under  General  Edward  McCook  in  the 
latter  part  of  July.  The  command  was  frequently  engaged  whilst  on  this 
expedition,  and  always  with  conspicuous  dash  and  gallantry.  It  is  well 
known  that  the  raid  at  first  promised  great  success ;  that  McCook  destroyed 
two  large  wagon  trains  filled  with  supplies,  and  succeeded  in  tearing  up  the 
Atlanta  and  Macon  Railroad  for  several  miles  north  and  south  of  Lovejoy ; 
and  that  disasters  came  thick  and  fast  soon  after  he  began  the  counter 
march.  The  disasters  were  the  result  of  bad  generalship,  for  troops  never 
fought  better  than  those  under  McCook.  The  loss  of  the  Fifth  Iowa  on  the 
raid  was  very  heavy.  Lieutenant  Andrew  Guler  was  killed,  Lieutenant 
William  T.  Hays  taken  prisoner,  and  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  men 
killed,  wounded,  or  captured  by  the  enemy. 

The  scattered  parts  of  the  regiment  were  collected  at  a  camp  near  Sand- 
town,  as  they  made  their  way  to  our  lines,  and  remained  there  and  at  the 
village  till  August  18th.  Then  the  effective  mounted  force  of  the  regiment, 
numbering  less  than  one  hundred  sabres,  under  Major  Young,  joined 
General  Kilpatrick  in  a  raid  on  the  Atlanta  and  West  Point  Railroad. 
Whilst  Kilpatrick  demonstrated  against  East  Point,  the  Fifth  Iowa  and 
Third  Indiana  made  a  dash  further  south,  and  striking  the  road  at  Fair- 
burn,  tore  it  up  for  some  distance,  and  fell  back  on  the  main  body,  having 
left  the  depot,  mills,  and  sundry  store-hduses  in  flames. 

Reaching  camp  at  Sandtown  the  reduced  regiment  halted  there  till  the 
2Gth,  when  it  moved  again  with  Kilpatrick' s  column  to  cut  the  communica 
tions  south  of  Atlanta  on  the  Macon  road.  Thisr  short  campaign,  in  which 
Major  Young  had  command  of  the  Fifth  Iowa,  and  Third  Indiana,  involved 
both  hard  marching  and  severe  fighting.  The  regiment  distinguished  itself 
throughout,  and  was  specially  mentioned  in  handsome  terms  by  Major- 
General  0.  0.  Howard,  who  had  just  been  assigned  to  the  command  of  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee.  "  The  Fifth  Iowa,"  says  he,  after  a  general  eulo- 
giunv  upon  all,  "though  least  in  numbers,  lost  heaviest  in  the  action." 
Lieutenant  Peter  McGuire  was  killed,  eight  men  were  wounded,  and  ten 
captured  in  the  action. 

It  is  proper  to  state  that  during  the  operations  of  the  regiment  around 
Atlanta  which  have  just  been  related,  the  dismounted  men  thereof  fought 
in  the  trenches  during  the  siege.  No  regiment  more  fairly  was  entitled  to 
have  Atlanta  emblazoned  on  its  colors  than  the  Fifth  Iowa  Cavalry. 

September  1st,  it  received  a  valuable  acquisition  in  strength  by  the  addi 
tion  of  two  companies  from  the  Fifth  Iowa  Infantry,  consolidated  with  the 
Fifth  Cavalry  by  order  of  the  War  Department,  of  the  8th  August.  They 
were  designated  Companies  G  and  I.  Captain  Albert  G.  Ellis  commanded 
the  former,  with  Lieutenants  J.  M.  Lembocker,  and  William  S.  Peck. 


452  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Captain  William  G.  McElrae,  and  Lieutenants  Robert  A.  McKee,  and 
John  Q.  A.  Campbell,  were  the  officers  of  Company  I.  The  regiment 
remained  in  quiet  during  the  month  of  September.  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Patrick  resigned  before  the  close  of  the  month.  Major  Harlan  Beard  was 
promoted  Lieutenant- Colonel  in  place  of  Patrick,  but  not  till  near  the  close 
of  the  following  November. 

When  the  operations  of  our  regiment  in  the  campaign  of  Atlanta  ceased 
there  were  but  thirty  horses  left  in  the  command.  It  was  practically  hors- 
de-combat  as  a  troop  of  cavalry.  Wherefore,  on  the  1st  of  October  it  took 
cars  for  Nashville  for  the  purpose  of  preparing  again  for  fight  and  honor. 
Delayed  on  the  'way  by  breakages  on  the  railroad,  which  the  men  them 
selves  labored  much  to  repair,  they  did  not  arrive  at  the  capital  of  Ten 
nessee  until  the  6th.  They  pitched  tents  within  three  miles  of  the  City. 
Here  they  remained  until  near  the  close  of  the  month,  when  they  moved  to 
Louisville,  and  securing  a  fine  remount  were  again  at  Nashville  by  the 
middle  of  November,  armed  with  Spencer  carbines. 

About  one  week  afterwards  the  regiment  moved  southward,  and  reaching 
the  town  of  Columbia,  on  Duck  River,  was  there  engaged  in  skirmishing 
with  Hood's  rebels,  and  in  reconnoissances  in  face  of  the  enemy,  for  several 
days.  On  the  28th,  Forrest  forced  the  passage  of  the  river  above  the  fords 
guarded  by  the  brigade  to  which  our  regiment  was  attached,  and  which, 
commanded  by  Colonel  Capron,  consisted  of  the  Fifth  Iowa,  Sixteenth 
Illinois,  and  Eighth  Michigan.  The  consequence  of  this  manoeuvre  of  the 
rebels  was  to  cut  off  Colonel  Capron' s  brigade,  and  hem  it  in  a  bend  of  the 
river,  completely  isolated  ^rom  the  main  Union  army.  It  was  an  appalling 
position,  and  the  perilous  situation  was  increased  by  the  fact  that  the 
Colonel  commanding  brigade  was  not  to  be  found.  Major  Young  rising  to 
the  dignity  of  full  responsibility,  assumed  command,  and  with  a  daring 
worthy  the  age  of  chivalry  cut  his  way  through  the  lines  of  rebels  between 
him  and  our  army.  Amidst  the  murmurs  and  suggestions,  which  naturally 
arose  among  the  troops  in  consequence  of  their  sudden  peril,  Major  Young's 
clear  voice  rang  out  on  the  night  air,  "  The  Fifth  Iowa  is  going  straight 
through ;  let  ike  brave  follow !' '  The  tumult  ceased  as  suddenly  as  the 
waves  of  the  sea  became  still  in  the  miracle.  The  dispositions  were  quickly 
made.  "Forward,"  and  forward  only,  was  the  command.  In  less  than 
five  minutes  the  rebel  lines  were  reached.  "Charge!"  shouted  Major 
Young,  and  the  bugles  had  hardly  sounded  the  command  before  these  fif 
teen  hundred  troopers  were  dashing  over  the  down-trodden  foe.  "For 
ward!"  rang  out  again,  as  the  gloom  of  the  night  was  momentarily  dis 
pelled  by  the  rebel  volley,  and  on  the  stout  riders  galloped,  the  cries  of 
their  wounded,  dying  enemies  growing  fainter  and  fainter  as  the  heroes  of 
this  romantic  charge  pressed  on  to  safety  and  the  Union  lines. 


FIFTH      CAVALRY.  453 

The  brigade  reached  the  lines  about  11  o'clock,  arid  at  midnight  Major 
Young  reported  at  General  Wilson's  head-quarters.  The  General  was 
agreeably  surprised  at  the  safety  of  the  command — only  thirty  having  been 
lost  from  the  brigade — and  the  more  so  because  Colonel  Capron,  who  had 
arrived  some  time  before,  had  reported  his  command  all  killed  or  captured. 
The  loss  of  the  Fifth  Iowa  during  these  operations  on  Duck  River  was 
about  fifteen,  all  told. 

The  29th,  the  Cavalry  Corps  retreated  on  Franklin  before  Hood's  advanc 
ing  legions.  On  the  next  day  the  battle  was  fought.  During  the  engage 
ment  our  regiment  held  the  ford  of  Harpeth  River  at  the  crossing  of  the 
old  Nashville  road,  and  after  the  battle  formed  part  of  the  rear  guard  as 
far  as  Brentwood,  when  it  moved  eastward  and  encamped  on  the  Nolens- 
ville  road.  The  next  day  it  retired  to  Nashville,  and  soon  went  into  camp 
at  Edgefield,  hard  by  the  capital. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Beard  having  gone  into  Kentucky  and  pressed  horses 
for  his  command  to  replace  those  used  up  by  the  campaign  of  Franklin, 
the  Fifth  Iowa  was  ready  for  battle  early  on  the  morning  of  the  15th 
December,  when  General  Thomas  sallied  forth  in  grand  array  to  attack  and 
put  in  rout  the  rebel  forces  which  had  for  some  time  been  investing  Nash 
ville.  In  this  engagement  our  regiment  took  part  on  the  right  of  our 
lines.  The  first  fire  of  the  enemy  killed  Lieutenant  John  W.  Watson,  of 
Company  H — the  only  casualty  that  occurred  in  the  command  during  the 
battle  of  Nashville. 

The  regiment  joined  in  the  pursuit  of  the  defeated  enemy,  and  had 
frequent  skirmishes  with  his  rear  for  several  days.  On  Christmas  it  was 
twice  heavily  engaged,  first  near  Pulaski  and  afterwards  some  miles  beyond, 
and  lost  a  number  of  men  in  each  of  the  affairs.  The  regiment  continued 
the  pursuit  to  beyond  Lexington,  Alabama,  on  the  Florence  road,  when  the 
remnants  of  the  rebel  army  having  made  good  the  passage  of  the  Tenn 
essee,  the  chase  was  relinquished.  At  the  close  of  this  eventful  year  it 
lay  encamped  on  the  banks  of  Elk  River. 

The  command  now  took  that  rest  to  which  its  active  services  during  the 
year  fairly  entitled  it.  The  next  grand  movement,  as  well  as  the  last,  in 
which  it  took  part,  was  the  memorable  raid  under  Brevet  Major-General 
James  H.  Wilson,  who,  carrying  our  victorious  eagles  through  portions  of 
the  confederacy  not  before  traversed  by  our  troops,  was  only  stopped  in  his 
career  of  conquest  by  the  receipt  of  intelligence  that  the  confederacy  itself 
had  been  rendered  entirely  hors-de-combat,  with  its  late  political  head  an 
outcast  from  his  conquered  capital  and  a  disguised  wanderer  in  the  land 
which  his  unholy  cause  had  drenched  in  blood.  I  have  already,  in  my 
accounts  of  the  Third  and  Fourth  Cavalry  regiments,  set  forth  many  of  the 
prominent  points  of  this  remarkable  campaign.  Wherefore,  I  may  with 


454  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

propriety  be  now  less  full  as  to  many  things  which  occurred  during  the  cam 
paign,  and  in  which  all  the  troops  engaged  took  common  part,  sharing 
alike  the  dangers  and  the  glory. 

When  we  left  the  regiment  at  rest  after  the  pursuit  of  Hood  from  Nash 
ville  to  the  Tennessee,  J.  M.  Young  was  a  Major.  He  was,  at  the  time 
now  in  view,  Colonel,  having  been  promoted  in  the  place  of  Lowe,  resigned. 
He  was  in  command.  The  first  engagement  of  the  campaign  occurred  on 
th£  last  day  of  March,  near  Six-Mile  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Little 
Cahawba.  The  operations  of  the  Fifth  Cavalry  are  thus  described  by 
' '  Globe  Sight ' '  in  the  Davenport  Gazette  : 

u  It  was  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  our  tired  soldiers,  subdued 
by  the  softening  rays  of  the  sun  and  the  loss  of  much  sleep  during  the 
week  past,  had  thrown  themselves  down  under  every  friendly  shade,  and 
were  wrapped  in  the  folds  of  'nature's  sweet  restorer,'  when  suddenly 
upon  the  startled  ear  the  shrill  bugle  rings  out  the  exciting  call  to  arouse. 
A  momentary  confusion,  and  then  all  is  systematic  haste,  as  company  after 
company  mounts  and  moves  into  line.  In  the  open  country,  beyond  the 
town,  our  pickets  are  seen  slowly  falling  back,  firing,  and  presently  a  large 
line  of  dusky,  grey  '  Johnnies '  emerges  from  the  woods  beyond.  There 
was  scarcely  time  for  the  usual  sensations  that  invariably  come  over  all 
soldiers,  just  before  closing  in  deadly  contest  with  an  enemy  known  to  be 
in  force,  as  our  forces  moved  out  at  a  trot  and  straight  for  the  rebel  line. 
The  Fifth  Iowa  Cavalry  was  in  the  advance  with  sabres  drawn,  and  moved 
up  steadily  under  a  heavy  fire,  to  almost  within  short  pistol  range,  when 
Colonel  Young,  at  the  head  of  his  column,  swinging  his  sabre  aloft,  gave 
the  command,  'Charge.'  For  a  moment,  both  friend  and  foe  were 
obscured  by  the  dust ;  next  moment  revealed  the  enemy  broken  and  fleeing 
in  all  directions,  while  the  gallant  Fifth  dashed  on  at  full  speed,  cutting 
and  slashing  on  all  sides  and  riding  the  enemy  down,  never  stopping  to 
take  prisoners  those  who  surrendered,  but  leaving  them  to  others  who  were 
coming  on  after.  They  pushed  on  at  this  rate  for  one  and  a  half  miles ; 
where,  dismounting  from  their  exhausted  horses,  they  drove  the  enemy 
some  two  miles ;  by  this  time  the  First  Brigade  came  up  and  relieved  the 
Fifth.  The  First  Brigade  continued  driving  the  enemy  till  long  after  dark. 
In  this  first  dash  at  the  enemy  in  force,  the  Fifth  Iowa  Cavalry  seemed  to 
vie  with  itself  and  its  past  reputation  in  the  determination  to  give  eclat  to 
the  opening  of  this  campaign  so  promising  of  important  results." 

The  next  day,  the  battle  of  Ebenezer  Church,  an  engagement  finely 
fought  by  the  Unionists  against  superior  numbers,  took  place,  and  was 
followed  on  the  day  succeeding  by  the  attack  on  Selma  and  the  capture  of 
that  strongly  fortified  place  after  a  battle  most  remarkable  for  the  enthusi 
astic  bravery  and  tremendous  energy  exhibited  by  officers  and  men  of  the 


FIFTH     CAVALRY.  455 

assaulting  forces.  In  both  of  these  battles  the  Fifth  fought  with  its  accus 
tomed  bravery.  Speaking  of  the  assault  on  the  works  of  Selma,  the  cor 
respondent  just  quoted,  says :  "  Such  bravery  and  dash  in  charging  breast 
works  supported  by  bastions,  ditches,  and  stockades,  have  been  rarely 
equalled,  never  excelled,  by  infantry,  or  cavalry.  It  is  said,  that  after 
sweeping  across  the  broad  bottom  and  over  the  diteh,  our  men  were,  for  an 
instant,  staggered  at  the  high,  sharp-pointed  stockades  before  them.  Those 
in  front  flung  their  shoulders  against  them,  and  tried  to  push  them  aside, 
pull  them  up,  or  break  some  weaker  ones  off.  A  bright  idea  struck  a 
'  Yankee's'  mind.  Seeing  the  difficulty  as  he  came  up,  he  never  stopped, 
but  leaped  on  to  the  shoulders  of  one  straining  at  the  posts,  and  over  he 
went  in  a  flirt.  The  thousands  coming  up  then  went  over  the  works  in  the 
game  of  leap-frog. ' ' 

There  was  no  rest  for  Wilson's  troopers  on  this  grand  raid.  Whilst  many 
were  engaged  at  Selma  in  destroying  the  prodigious  quantities  of  spoils 
which  fell  into  our  hands,  the  regiment  with  which  we  now  have  to  do  was 
engaged  in  reconnoissances  to  a  considerable  distance  north  and  northeast 
of  the  city.  Thus,  the  troopers  rode  to  Burnsville,  to  Summerville  and  to 
Plantersfield,  being  so  engaged  for  four  days. 

The  line  of  march  was  again  taken  up  on  the  10th,  and  three  days  after 
wards  the  Fifth  rode  into  Montgomery,  which  had  surrendered  to  McCook, 
who  on  this  expedition  redeemed  his  reputation  from  the  failure  of  the 
Atlanta  raid  of  the  year  before.  Thence  the  regiment  joined  in  the  march 
on  Columbus,  Georgia,  and  skirmished  on  the  way.  The  night  of  the  16th, 
that  city  fell  before  the  assault  of  the  Union  arms,  Winslow's  Brigade,  in 
which  were  the  Third  and  Fourth  Iowa  regiments  of  cavalry,  gaining  the 
brightest  laurels  of  the  fight.  But'  three  companies  of  the  Fifth — E,  L, 
M — joined  in  the  assault.  The  regiment  was  engaged  the  next  day  in  the 
work  of  destruction.  Moving  then  eastward  with  the  column  marching  on 
Macon,  it  had  not  reached  the  city  when,  on  the  20th,  intelligence  was  re 
ceived  of  the  cessation  of  hostilities,  which  closed  the  fighting  career  of  the 
Fifth  Iowa  Cavalry.2 

The  regiment  moved  to  Atlanta  early  in  May,  and  there  went  into  encamp 
ment  with  the  division,  the  military  roU  now  being  of  a  quiet,  uninteresting 
character  in  the  main.  However,  a  detachment  of  the  regiment,  with  a  de 
tachment  of  the  Seventh  Ohio  Cavalry,  Colonel  Young  commanding,  moved 
on  the  14th  in  escort  of  Jefferson  Davis,  family,  and  suite,  to  Augusta. 
The  ex-president  says  "Globe  Sight,"  "  looked  decidedly  seedy,  gloomy, 

2  The  losses  of  the  regiment  during  the  great  raid  were  slight.    They  were: 
Killed,  Company  7— Richard  Porter.     Wounded,  Company  A — Moses  Schofield.     Company  C—  Cor 
poral  Stiles  Molour ;  Private  Joseph  Ewing.     Company  F— John  Kephart,  Nicholas  Weber.     Com 
pany  E — C.   M.  Vangordon  (missing).     Company  G — Thomas  Limbocker.     Company  I—  A.  Griffin, 
John  Ibaugh.     Company  L — Thomas  Kein. 


456  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

and  peculiar — especially  out  of  that  blink  eye  of  his  which  seemed  to  hang 
unusually  low."  Before  his  return,  Colonel  Young  captured  the  books  and 
assets  of  the  Bank  of  Tennessee  and  its  branches,  which  had  been  pur 
loined  by  the  rebel  pretended  Governor,  Isham  G.  Harris.  The  assets 
amounted  to  about  eight  millions  of  federal  money,  including  nearly  a  mil 
lion  of  bullion.  Returning  to  Atlanta  with  this  precious  spoil,  Colonel 
Young's  command  went  into  encampment  again,  and  remained  with  the 
regiment,  performing  such  duties  as  were  required  of  troops  in  a  country 
just  emerging  from  a  state  of  war.  The  command  moved  to  Nashville, 
Tennessee,  in  July.  The  "Union"  newspaper  of  that  city,  on  the  morning 
of  the  27th,  contained  the  following  paragraph : 

"This  noble  regiment,  commanded  by  Colonel  J.  Morris  Young,  came  here 
a  short  time  since  to  be  mustered  out  of  service ;  but,  having  been  paid 
off,  were  ordered  to  Macon,  Georgia.  The  gallant  boys  were  dreadfully 
disappointed,  but  promptly  obeyed,  as  good  soldiers  ought  ever  to  do. 
There  were  no  symptoms  of  mutiny,  and  no  desertions.  The  command 
went  South,  and  have  returned  again  all  present.  They  arrived  Tuesday 
night.  This  time  they  will  be  mustered  out  certain,  and  be  sent  on  their 
way  rejoicing.  A  country's  blessing  attend  them." 

The  prophecy  of  the  "Union"  was  correct.  The  regiment  was  not  long 
after  this  honorably  discharged  the  service.  Officers  and  men  returned  to 
their  widely  separated  homes,  and  were  received  with  that  kindness  which 
the  true  and  the  brave  never  fail  in  the  long  run  to  command.  "  Braver 
men,"  said  General  Alexander,  "never  drew  sabre."  The  States  of  Min 
nesota,  Missouri,  and  Iowa,  and  the  Territory  of  Nebraska  were  all  honored 
by  this  command,  which  belonged  to  them  in  common,  and  did  as  much  to 
preserve  the  liberties  of  them  all  and  of  the  whole  country,  as  almost  any 
regiment  of  troopers  whose  history  is  recorded  in  our  annals. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

TWENTY-FIRST   INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZATION— A  WINTER  IN  MISSOURI— BJLTLLE  OF  HARTSVILLE—DQVX 

THE  MISSISSIPPI— ASSIGNED  TO  THE  THIRTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS— THE  VICKS- 
BURG  CAMPAIGN—  THE  BATTLE  OF  PORT  GIBSON—  IN  RESERVE,  AT 
THE  BATTLE  OF  CHAMPION  HILLS— BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  BLACK  RIVER— TUB 
ASSAULT  ON  THE  WORKS  OF  VICKSBURG— THE  SIEGE— THE  SECOND  CAMPAIGN 
OF  JACKSON— ORDERED  TO  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  GULF— CAMPAIGNING 
IN  LOUISIANA— IN  TEXAS— AGAIN  IN  LOUISIANA— IN  ARKANSAS— TENNESSEE— 
ONCE  MORE  IN  LOUISIANA— MOVE  TO  ALABAMA— THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  MOBILE- 
CONCLUSION. 

THE  Twenty-first  regiment  of  Iowa  Volunteers  was  organized  at  "  Camp 
Franklin,"  near  the  city  of  Dubuque  in  the  latter  part  of  August,  1862. 
One  of  the  companies  forming  a  part  thereof,  some  two  months  before,  and 
more,  had  been  mustered  into  the  service  at  Clinton,  under  that  special 
authority  of  the  Department  of  War,  by  which  as  we  have  seen,  the 
Eighteenth  regiment  was  authorized.  But  that  regiment  being  filled  by 
other  companies,  this  was  transferred  to  the  Twenty-first,  and  became  Com 
pany  A  therein.  The  other  companies  were  mustered  into  the  service  on 
the  18th,  20th,  22d,  and  23d  days  of  August,  Samuel  Merrill,  of  Clayton 
county,  having  already  been  commissioned  Colonel,  Cornelius  W.  Dunlap, 
of  Mitchell,  Lieutenant-Colonel,  and  S.  Gr.  Van  Anda,  of  Delaware,  Major, 
the  organization  was  complete  at  the  date  last  mentioned.  The  regiment 
at  this  time  had  an  aggregate  of  nine  hundred  and  seventy-six  men. 

That  company  which  had  been  recruited  by  special  leave  of  the  authori 
ties  was  recruited  in  various  counties,  but  a  majority  of  its  members  were 
citizens  of  Mitchell,  Black  Hawk,  and  Worth.  The  other  companies  were 
from  Dubuque,  Clayton,  and  Delaware,  each  of  which  contributed  gener 
ously  to  this  gallant  command — Dubuque  county  giving  no  less  than  four 
companies,  Clayton  three,  and  Delaware  two.  So,  though  the  regiment 
,  was  not  entirely  from  the  Third  Congressional  District,  it  was  near  enough 
so  to  be  claimed  as  belonging  thereto.  But,  happily,  the  claim  was  merged 
in  the  broader  and  better  one  of  the  State  at  large,  and  the  country,  for 
58  457 


458  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

both  which,  before  the  men  returned  to  their  homes  they  did  most  gallant 
service,  and  left  behind  them  in  honored  graves  many  beloved  comrades. 

The  regiment  remained  at  the  rendezvous  about  three  weeks  after  organi 
zation.  It  was  a  period  of  great  enjoyment.  Captain  Perry  M.  Johnson, 
and  Lieutenants  Alfred  R.  Jones,  and  J.  W.  Brown,  of  Company  A,  had 
seen  some  service — in  camp  at  Clinton.  Their  uniforms  and  those  of  their 
men  fitted  to  a  hair's  breadth  all  around,  and  they  were  anxious  to  drill. 
But  Captain  William  D.  Crooke,  and  Lieutenants  Charles  P.  Heath,  and 
Henry  P.  Howard,  of  Company  B.  were  in  no  such  haste.  The  regulation 
uniforms,  having  been  made  for  regulars,  were  ill  adapted  to  the  robust 
volunteers  from  Clayton.  The  coats  were  too  short  by  several  inches. 
The  line  officers  protested  against  their  men  going  into  drill  presenting  any 
such  aspect  as  they  must  necessarily  do  in  such  coats.  Captain  Jesse  M. 
Harrison,  of  Company  C,  had  like  objections,  and  was  warmly  seconded  \)y 
his  Lieutenants,  Frank  Dale,  and  John  H.  Alexander.  So  with  Company 
D,  Captain  Elisha  Boardman,  Lieutenants  William  Grannis,  and  Homer 
Butler ;  and  with  Company  E,  Captain  Jacob  Swivel,  Lieutenants  Samuel 
F.  Osborne,  and  A.  Y.  McDonald,  and  F,  Captain  Leonard  Horr,  Lieu 
tenants  Peter  M.  Brown,  and  T.  A.  Spottswood ;  G,  Captain  Willard  A. 
Benton,  Lieutenants  John  Dolson,  and  John  Craige ;  H,  Captain  Joseph 
M.  Watson,  Lieutenants  James  B.  Jordan,  and  James  L.  Noble ;  I,  Cap 
tain  David  Greaves,  Lieutenants  James  Hill,  Samuel  Bates ;  K,  Captain 
Alexander  Yoorhees,  Lieutenants  William  A.  Roberts,  and  Henry  Harger 
— with  all,  there  was  something  the  matter  with  tfye  army  clothing,  so  that 
drilling  could  not  go  on.  Perhaps,  if  the  real  secret  were  known,  the  reason 
why  the  regiment  did  not  drill  would  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  com 
panies  had  too  much  company.  The  rendezvous  was  so  near  the  men's 
homes,  that  their  fathers,  mothers,  brothers,  sisters,  wives,  sweethearts, 
and  friends,  were  too  often  present  to  allow  either  drill  or  discipline  to  any 
great  extent.  But,  whatever  the  cause,  the  main  fact  is,  the  regiment  was 
not  drilled  at  Camp  Franklin.  But  the  staff  was  fully  organized,  and  con 
sisted  of  Horace  M.  Poole,  Adjutant,  Charles  R.  Morse,  Quartermaster, 
William  A.  Hyde,  Surgeon,  Lucius  Benham,  R.  A.  Barnes,  Assistants,  and 
Reverend  Samuel  P.  Sloan,  Chaplain. 

On  the  16th  of  September,  the  regiment  embarked  on  the  steamer  Henry 
Clay  for  St.  Louis.  It  was  detained  several  days  at  Davenport  by  order  of 
General  Pope,  who  had  not  yet  learned  of  the  success  against  the  Indians. 
But  proceeding,  it  arrived  in  due  time  at  the  metropolis  of  Missouri.  Here 
it  remained  but  a  short  time,  and  the  23d  day  of  the  month  found  it  at 
Rolla,  fully  armed  and  equipped  for  the  field.  It  went  into  encampment  at 
Rolla,  and  commenced  drilling,  fully  making  up  by  long-continued  exercises 
daily  for  the  time  spent  more  pleasantly  at  Camp  Franklin.  Its  stay  here 


TWENTY-FIRST     INFANTRY.  459 

was  nearly  one  month.  On  the  18th  of  October  it  took  up  line  of  march 
for  Salem,  arriving  on  the  20th.  Here  it  formed  part  of  a  brigade,  Brig 
adier-General  Fitz  Henry  Warren  commanding,  being  associated  therein 
with  the  Thirty-third  Missouri,  Ninety-ninth  Illinois,  and  artillery  and 
cavalry.  The  duties  of  drilling  and  the  picket  engaged  the  attention  of 
the  command. 

Early  in  November  the  force  under  Warren  marched  to  Houston,  and 
having  there  halted  one  week,  moved  to  Hartsville.  On  the  night  of  the 
24th,  the  brigade  train,  moving  from  Rolla  to  Hartsville,  was  attacked  by 
Campbell's  band  of  roving  troopers,  numbering  about  one  thousand  riders 
going  about  seeking  what  they  might  destroy.  There  was  but  a  small  guard 
with  the  train.  They  were  surprised,  and  most  of  them  killed  or  captured, 
three  of  the  former  and  fifteen  of  the  latter  being  members  of  the  Twenty- 
first.  Intelligence  of  the  affair  reached  Hartsville  at  9  o'clock  at  night. 
The  regiment  at  once  fell  into  line,  and  marched  to  the  scene  of  action. 
When  a  march  of  sixteen  miles  had  been  made  the  burning  ruins  of  the 
train  appeared  in  sight,  but  the  enemy  had  escaped.  The  regiment  then 
returned  to  camp,  reaching  it  early  on  the  morning  of  the  25th,  having 
made  a  night  march  of  thirty- two  miles  in  nine  hours.  Early  in  December 
the  command  marched  to  Houston,  some  thirty  miles  east  by  north  of 
Hartsville.  Here  our  regiment,  for  more  than  a  month,  spent  several  hours 
each  day  in  drilling,  and  became  highly  efficient  in  the  manual  of  arms  and 
the  evolutions  of  the  line.  It  was  a  favorite  regiment  with  General  War 
ren,  who  was  a  strict  and  accomplished  disciplinarian.  Very  early  in  1863 
the  regiment  had  an  opportunity  to  use  its  skill,  and  to  try  its  mettle  in  a 
combat  which  put  both  to  the  test.  This  was  at 

THE  BATTLE  OF   HARTSV1LIE. 

On  the  evening  of  January  7th,  General  Brown,  commanding  at  Spring 
field,  learned  that  Marmaduke  was  advancing  on  that  place  with  several 
thousand  men,  cavalry  and  artillery.  He  forthwith  sent  for  reinforcements, 
and  among  these  requisitions  was  one  on  General  Warren,  at  Houston, 
eighty  miles  distant.  General  Warren  did  not,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  receive 
intelligence  of  the  threatened  attack  on  Springfield  till  after  it  had  been 
made  and  repulsed.  But,  instantly  upon  learning  of  the  peril  qf  his  com 
rade  in  arms  he  pushed  forward  a  column  to  his  assistance.  Not  being  him 
self  in  robust  health,  he  placed  Colonel  Merrill,  of  the  Twenty-first,  in 
command  of  the  force,  which  consisted  of  a  detachment  of  that  regiment, 
a  detachment  of  the  Ninety-ninth  Illinois,  with  a  portion  of  the  Third  Iowa 
Cavalry,  Third  Missouri  Cavalry,  and  two  pieces  of  artillery,  with  orders  to 
make  forced  marches  on  Springfield  and  reenforce  the  garrison.  Colonel 
Merrill  left  Houston  about  noon  of  January  9th,  and  encamped  for  the 


460  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

night  on  Beaver  Creek,  twenty-two  miles  distant.  But  the  night's  rest  was 
short.  Not  long  after  midnight  the  bugle  sounded  the  advance,  and  the 
column  put  itself  in  motion  toward  Hartsville.  But  a  delay  was  caused  by 
intelligence  that  a  considerable  force  of  rebels  had  occupied  that  place  on 
the  evening  before.  A  reconnoissance  showing  that  they  had  evacuated, 
Colonel  Merrill  pushed  on,  and  on  the  night  of  the  10th,  encamped  on 
Wood's  Fork,  eight  miles  west  of  Hartsville,  and  within  one  mile  of  the 
rebel  encampment. 

On  the  morning  of  the  llth,  this  fact  was  discovered,  and  the  additional 
one  that  the  enemy  was  advancing  in  heavy  force  from  the  direction  of 
Springfield.  Colonel  Merrill  immediately  made  dispositions  for  battle,  and 
here  brisk  firing  was  kept  up  for  an  hour,  when  the  enemy  fell  back  in  a 
southerly  direction.  Colonel  Merrill  now  moved  in  the  direction  of  Harts 
ville,  for  which  place  the  enemy  also  moved,  when  he  had  reached  the  old 
Springfield  road  leading  thither.  The  column  under  Merrill  approached 
the  town  about  eleven  o'clock,  and  found  the  enemy  in  possession.  Colonel 
Merrill  made  his  dispositions  for  fight  forthwith,  the  artillery  on  a  com 
manding  position  west  of  the  Court-House,  supported  on  the  right  by  the 
Illinois  Infantry,  and  on  the  left  by  the  detachment  of  the  Twenty-First, 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Dunlap.  The  cavalry  was  on  the  extreme  left,  and  the 
whole  line  well  covered  by  a  dense  growth  of  low  brush.  The  enemy, 
twenty-five  hundred  strong,  occupied  the  open  field  and  town  in  Colonel 
Merrill's  front,  whilst  as  many  more  were  posted  on  the  Springfield  road, 
on  the  Houston  road,  and  on  the  bank  of  the  Gasconade,  south  of  town. 
Their  artillery,  five  pieces,  was  in  battery  on  a  high  bluff  east  of  town. 
To  oppose  this  strong  force  of  rebels,  commanded  by  Generals  Marmaduke 
and  McDonald,  with  the  notorious  Colonels  Shelby,  Thompson,  Porter, 
Burbridge,  Henkle,  Jeffrey  and  Campbell,  Colonel  Merrill  did  not  have  one 
thousand  men. 

The  battle  was  opened  by  the  artillery.  It  was  soon  followed  by  a  charge 
of  rebel  cavalry,  seven  hundred  strong,  on  our  line.  Our  infantry,  lying 
flat,  held  themselves  with  great  coolness,  till  the  troopers  were  in  easy 
range,  when  they  fired  with  great  accuracy,  and  threw  the  whole  force  into 
utter  confusion.  Lieutenant  Waldschmidt,  in  command  of  the  artillery, 
also  threw,  in  some  well  directed  shots,  and  what  was  left  of  Jeffrey's 
Cavalry  scampered  off  the  field  in  hot  haste.  From  this  time  until  nearly 
sunset  the  firing  was  incessant,  but  the  rebels  made  the  mistake  of  moving 
up  their  attacking  columns  in  small  bodies,  and  were  every  time  repulsed. 
They  commenced  retiring  their  forces  at  three  o'clock,  and  at  dusk  were  in 
full  retreat  toward  Houston,  but  soon  turned  to  the  right  in  the  direction 
of  Arkansas.  They  had  lost  General  McDonald,  Colonels  Thompson  and 
Henkle,  and  several  other  officers  killed,  and  not  less  than  three  hundred 


TWENTY-FIRST     INFANTRY.  4G1 

I 

killed  and  wounded.  The  Union  loss  was  seven  killed,  sixty-four  wounded, 
five  captured,  and  two  missing,  who  were  supposed  also  to  have  been 
captured. 

What  was  remarkable  about  this  battle  was  the  fact  that  both  the  rebel 
and  the  Union  forces  retreated  from  the  field.  The  rebels  retreated, 
because,  unable  to  gain  any  the  least  success  in  their  attacks  upon  our 
position,  they  considered  themselves  defeated.  Colonel  Merrill  retreated 
because  his  ammunition  was  about  exhausted.  He  fell  back  on  Lebanon, 
north  of  Hartsville. 

But  the  detachment  of  the  Twenty-first  which  fought  at  Hartsville,  not 
receiving  the  order  to  retreat,  remained  on  the  field  till  long  after  dark, 
sustaining  alone  three  separate  charges  of  the  enemy  and  repulsing  them 
in  the  most  gallant  style.  Every  rebel  had  left  the  place  before  it  took  up 
line  of  retreat.  It  then  moved  in  the  direction  of  Lebanon,  arriving  before 
noon  of  the  next  day. 

This  engagement  was  the  first  battle  for  the  Twenty-first.  It  won  the 
highest  praise.  "I  make  special  mention  here,"  says  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Dunlap,  in  concluding  his  official  report,  "of  no  one  as  having  distinguished 
himself  more  than  another.  Every7  man  was  brave,  cool,  and  active,  and 
every  one  was  a  hero.  Too  much  praise  cannot  be  accorded  the  men  for 
their  conduct  during  the  whole  of  this  long  and  severe  engagement." 
"The  Twenty-first  Iowa  and  Ninety-ninth  Illinois,"  says  General  Warren, 
"were  never  before  under  fire,  yet  not  a  single  man  or  officer  flinched. 
Nothing  could  have  been  finer  than  their  steadiness  and  discipline."  "To 
Colonel  Merrill,  in  command  of  the  force,  I  am  under  high  obligations  for 
his  prudent  firmness  and  good  dispositions.  Lieutenant- Colonel  Dunlap, 
Twenty-first  Iowa,  was  conspicuous,  much  exposed,  and  wounded.  He 
is  worthy  of  high  praise. ' '  Happily,  the  regiment  fairly  won  these  high 
encomiums  without  suffering  severe  loss.  The  position,  well  covered  by 
undergrowth,  and  the  fact  that  the  men  lay  most  of  the  time  prone  on  the 
ground,  will  account  for  this  fact.  Of  the  two  hundred  and  twenty 
engaged,  twenty-one  were  killed,  wounded  and  missing.1 

On  the  morning  of  the  12th,  at  three  o'clock,  General  Warren  received 
the  intelligence  that  his  column  sent  out  to  reenforce  Springfield  had  been 
attacked  at  Hartsville.  The  general  forthwith  moved  thitherward  with  a 
force  of  five  hundred  men,  two  hundred  and  fifty  of  whom  were  from  the 

1  Wounded,  Lieutenant-Colonel  C.  W.  Dunlap— his  horse  was  shot  under  him.  Company  B— 
Killed,  Charles  Pehsschl.  Company  C— Wounded,  Lieutenant  Alexander;  William  Jones,  John  M. 
Miller,  Richard  Cook;  Captured,  Charles  Dunham.  Company  D— Wounded,  Samuel  W.  Moore. 
Company  E— Wounded,  Daniel  Wolf.  Company  H — Killed,  Ira  Carl  ton.  Company  I— Wounded, 
Jacob  Hoops,  John  Q.  Angell.  Company  K— Killed,  Harrison  Hefner.  Wounded,  Freeman  Fear, 
Ward  White,  Adam  Lnchinger,  Jacob  B.  Miller,  Erastus  Smith,  David  Hiner,  James  Jackson, 
George  Simons,  II.  B.  Stone. 


462  IOWA    AND     THE      KEBELLIOX. 

Twenty-first  Iowa,  under  command  of  Major  Van  Anda.  Approaching 
Hartsville,  General  Warren  learned  of  the  abandonment  of  the  place  by 
both  the  Union  and  rebel  forces.  He  accordingly  countermarched  to 
Houston,  reaching  camp  early  on  the  morning  of  the  13th,  having  moved 
nearly  seventy  miles  through  mud  and  rain  in  a  little  more  than  twenty- 
four  hours.  But  the  rebels  did  not  attack  Houston.  There  all  was  quiet. 
The  detachment  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Dunlap  returned  to  camp  on 
the  17th. 

This  was  the  era  of  addresses  to  soldiers,  some  of  which,  the  country 
knows  full  well,  were  very  loud  cackles  over  very  small  eggs,  and  not 
always  over  good  eggs.  But  the  battle  of  Hartsville  was  one  of  the  best 
fought  engagements  among  the  minor  battles  of  the  war,  and  in  its  direct 
and  indirect  effects  upon  the  cause  in  Missouri  was  of  very  great  import 
ance.  Hence  General  Warren  properly  yielded  to  the  prevailing  custom, 
and  issued  an  address  to  his  troops.  He  said : 

"SOLDIERS:  You  have  fought  one  of  the  fiercest  battles  of  the  war. 
You  have,  with  eight  hundred  men  actually  engaged,  met  and  repulsed  six 
thousand  of  the'enemy.  Against  their  five  pieces  of  artillery  you  had  two. 
They  had  their  choice  of  position,  and  planted  their  guns  on  a  point  which 
I  had  selected  as  being  impregnable.  With  three  thousand  five  hundred 
in  full  view,  you  knew  the  odds  against  you.  Completely  surrounded 
except  on  the  line  of  retreat,  you  fought  for  six  hours,  and  then  only  fell 
back  because  your  artillery  ammunition  was  failing,  and  your  single  outlet 
menaced.  Not  an  article  of  property  was  captured,  and  your  covering 
infantry  held  the  field  after  the  enemy  had  retired. 

"History,  in  the  larger  battles  of  this  great  rebellion,  may  make  no  full 
mention  of  your  names,  but  the  truth  that  a  determined  column,  more  than 
half  of  whom  were  never  before  under  fire,  stood  like  veterans,  without 
faltering  or  flinching,  before  volley  after  volley,  and  charge  after  charge, 
will  be  a  glorious  memory  to  those  who  love  you,  and  an  honest  pride  in 
your  own  hearts. 

"But  I  must  not  fail  to  do  justice  to  the  five  hundred,  who,  knowing  that 
the  enemy  were  still  in  force  below,  rushed  with  me  to  give  them  battle 
again,  and  when  1  learned  of  their  flank  movement  toward  Houston, 
countermarched,  making  some  sixty-four  miles  through  mud  and  rain  in 
twenty-four  hours,  to  defend  your  camp,  and  all  this  in  perfect  order  and 
discipline,  without  a  murmur  or  complaint. 

"Soldiers!  Your  endurance  and  your  valor  are  beyond  praise;  your 
accomplishment  worthy  of  the  highest  commendation.  Beyond  the  hope 
of  reinforcement,  you  have  held  your  position ;  fought  the  enemy,  saved 
Lebanon  and  Holla,  with  your  post,  from  burning  and  sack. 

"I  give  you  my  admiration  of  your  heroism,  and  my  thanks  and  grati- 


TWENTY-FIRST     INFANTRY.  463 

tude  that  my  name  can  be  associated  with  this  brigade  as  the  proudest 
memory  of  my  future  life.  "FiTZ  HENRY  WARREN, 

"Brigadier-General." 

During  the  winter  a  great  deal  of  sickness  prevailed  in  the  regiment,  and 
many  of  the  men  died.  Disease  contracted  during  these  inclement  months 
fastened  itself  upon  the  men  with  such  relentless  hold  that  the  victims  were 
at  last  only  released  by  the  angel  of  death.  It  might  have  been  otherwise, 
perhaps,  with  many  but  for  the  severe  campaign  upon  which  the  command 
entered  about  the  close  of  January. 

On  the  27th  the  regiment  left  Houston,  and  marching  to  West  Plains,  some 
thirty-five  or  forty  miles  distant,  and  about  fifteen  miles  from  the  line  separat 
ing  Missouri  from  Arkansas,  was  assigned  to  the  Second  Brigade,  Second 
Division,  Army  of  Southeast  Missouri.  When  this  march  was  made  the 
weather  was  cold,  and  the  ground  covered  with  snow.  About  ten  thousand 
troops  concentrated  at  West  Plains,  and  were  there  completely  weather-bound 
for  several  days.  The  men  shivered  in  their  tents  on  the  bleak,  dreary  hills, 
and,  with  no  enemy  to  fight,  no  shoes  to  wear,  and  no  rations  to  eat, 
suffered  intensely.  It  was  the  hardest,  cruelest  campaign  in  which  our 
regiment  was  ever  engaged.  But  when  the  first  week  of  February  had 
passed  the  encampment  at  West  Plains  was  discovered  to  be  a  mistake. 
On  the  8th,  our  regiment  struck  tents  and  took  up  line  of  march  for  Emi 
nence,  a  city  of  a  single  house  and  that  originally  built  for  a  jail,  about  fifty 
miles  northeast  of  West  Plains ;  but,  marching  by  Thomasville,  the  column 
made  nearly  seventy  miles  on  the  route.  The  country  was  poor,  the  roads 
were  bad,  food  was  scarce.  It  was  a  slow  march.  Halting  at  Eminence 
two  days,  where  our  regiment  was  paid,  the  army  moved  on  in  the  direction 
of  Iron  Mountain,  arriving  on  the  25th.  This  march,  from  Houston  to 
Iron  Mountain  by  West  Plains  and  Eminence,  was  simply  horrible.  On 
many  days  the  column  was  able  to  move  no  more  than  five  miles.  Many 
of  the  troops  were  entirely  without  shoes,  and  marched  through  the  bitter 
cold  of  morning  and  evening  and  the  mud  of  noonday  with  their  feet 
wrapped  up  in  pieces  of  worn-out  clothing.  Food  was  so  scarce  that  a  dol 
lar  was  often  offered  and  as  often  refused  for  a  single  hard  cracker.  When 
the  column  halted  at  Iron  Mountain  the  fatigue,  exposure,  and  hardships 
of  the  campaign  might  have  been  sadly  read  in  the  pale,  haggard  counte 
nances  of  the  troops,  and  heard  in  their  constant  coughing. 

The  Twenty-first  halted  nearly  a  fortnight  at  Iron  Mountain,  and  then 
marched  to  St.  Genevieve  on  the  Mississippi,  arriving  at  that  post  on  the 
llth  of  March.  Here  many  furloughs  were  granted  to  the  sick,  and  to  a 
number  of  officers.  On  the  26th,  one  wing  of  the  regiment,  under  Major 
Van  Anda,  embarked  on  the  steamer  Groesbeck,  and  moved  down  the  river. 


464  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

It  was  soon  followed  by  the  other  wing,  and  about  the  1st  of  April  the  regi 
ment  found  itself  at  Milliken's  Bend,  Louisiana.  Here,  upon  the  organiza 
tion  of  the  army  for  the  campaign  of  Vicksburg,  the  Twenty-first  Iowa  was 
assigned  to  the  Second  Brigade,  Fourteenth  Division,  Thirteenth  Corps 
d'Armee,  Colonel  Harris,  Eleventh  Wisconsin,  commanding  brigade,  Gen 
eral  E.  A.  Carr,  the  division,  and  General  McClernand  the  corps. 

The  line  of  March  was  taken  up  on  the  12th,  and  that  night  the  regi 
ment  encamped  at  Richmond,  Louisiana.  But,  without  relating  here  par 
ticular  incidents  of  this  toilsome,  laborious,  amphibious  march,  let  it  suffice 
to  state  that  on  the  last  day  of  the  month,  the  regiment  landed  from  trans 
ports,  which  had  run  the  batteries  of  Vicksburg  and  Grand  Gulf,  about  fif 
teen  miles  below  the  latter  place  on  the  Mississippi  shore,  having  since  the 
12th  undergone  labors  of  great  severity,  and  witnessed  spectacles  which  had 
never  before  passed  before  the  visions  of  the  men — magnificent  mansions, 
now  in  ruins,  surrounded  with  shrubbery  of  a  thousand  kinds,  whose  deli 
cious  fragrance  sweetened  the  air  with  a  singular  delightfulness ;  the  terrific 
bombardment  of  Grand  Gulf  by  the  gun-boat  fleet,  responded  to  with  equal 
spirit  by  the  land  batteries — the  repose,  and  beauty,  and  loveliness  of 
Peace,  by  the  side  of  grim,  horrid  War.  But  General  Grant  gave  his 
troops  no  time  to  moralize  on  these  contrasts. 

General  McClernand' s  corps  in  the  advance,  taking  time  only  for  the 
men  to  place  in  their  haversacks  three  days'  rations  (which  were  to  last  a 
fortnight)  pushed  on  from  the  landing  at  Bruinsburg  for  the  bluffs  some 
three  miles  back.  Beaching  the  bluffs  some  time  before  sunset,  McCler 
nand  continued  to  advance  rapidly,  hoping  to  be  able  by  a  forced  march  to 
surprise  the  enemy  if  he  should  be  found  near  Port  Gibson,  and  prevent 
him  from  destroying  the  bridges  over  Bayou  Pierre  on  the  roads  leading  to 
Grand  Gulf  and  Jackson.  He  did  not  succeed  in  surprising  the  enemy, 
but  his  movement  very  speedily  resulted  in  the  preliminary  skirmishing  of 
the  first  pitched  battle  of  the  campaign,  namely, 

THE  BATTLE  OF  PORT  G  IB  SON. 

This  was  a  treble  engagement  so  far  as  the  Twenty-first  and  some  other 
Iowa  regiments  were  concerned.  The  battle  was  brought  on  and  fought  in 
this  manner :  Colonel  Harris'  brigade  had  the  advance  of  the  column,  and 
the 'extreme  vanguard  was  the  Twenty-first  Iowa  regiment.  While  the 
column  was  in  rapid  motion  toward  Port  Gibson,  and  at  about  ten  o'clock 
on  the  night  of  April  30th,  Colonel  W.  M.  Stone,  Twenty-second  Iowa, 
was  ordered  to  take  command  of  the  brigade,  Colonel  Harris  being  sick. 
Colonel  Stone  was  instructed  to  march  on  Port  Gibson  as  rapidly  as  pos 
sible,  and  occupy  the  several  bridges  across  Bayou  Pierre  at  that  place. 
Four  companies  of  the  Twenty-first  Iowa,  and  one  howitzer  from  the  First 


TWENTY-FIRST     INFANTRY.  465 

Iowa  Battery,  Captain  Harry  Griffiths,  were  sent  forward  as  advance 
guard.  Two  of  the  advance  companies,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Dunlap, 
were  deployed  as  skirmishers,  the  other  two,  under  Major  Van  Anda,  moved 
in  support  of  the  howitzer.  The  remainder  of  the  brigade,  the  Twenty- 
first  leading,  moved  in  supporting  distance  behind,  formed  in  column. 
The  road  passed  through  a  country  much  broken  by  gorges  and  ravines, 
and  supporting  a  dense  forest  of  tall  timber,  thick  underbrush,  and  the 
cane  peculiar  to  the  southern  country,  the  thoroughfare  itself  running  on  a 
narrow,  elevated  ridge,  or  a  chain,  rather,  of  ridges  of  this  character,  with 
deep  and  impenetrable  ravines  on  either  side.  It  was  over  such  a  road  as 
this,  that  the  Twenty-first  Iowa  formed  the  advance  of  the  grand  army,  on 
this  night  march.  The  guide  who  pointed  out  the  way  was  an  old  negro 
slave. 

About  four  miles  from  Port  Gibson  the  road  divides  in  two  parts,  one 
turning  abruptly  to  the  right  the  other  to  the  left,  but  both  leading  to  the 
town.  Near  this  fork  in  the  road  was  a  house  of  worship — Magnolia 
church.  When  our  skirmishers  came  to  within  about  three-fourths  of  a 
mile  of  this  church  they  received  the  fire  of  the  enemy's  pickets,  posted  in 
an  angle  of  the  road.  Colonel  Stone  promptly  made  the  proper  disposition 
of  his  brigade,  and  moved  forward,  ready  to  deploy  into  line  at  a  moment's 
warning,  and  with  a  strong  covering  line  of  skirmishers.  This  was  about 
midnight.  The  march  continued.  As  the  skirmishers  approached  Mag 
nolia  church  they  received  a  heavy  volley  of  musketry  from  the  enemy, 
strongly  posted  both  on  the  right  and  left  of  the  church.  The  advance 
soon  became  engaged,  and  Colonel  Stone  ordered  up  the  whole  brigade  to 
its  support.  The  howitzer  of  the  First  Battery,  in  the  advance,  replied  to 
the  enemy,  who  had  now  opened  with  artillery,  with  great  spirit  and 
apparent  accuracy,  Sergeant  William  K.  Leebert  commanding  the  piece. 
The  battery,  and  Klaus'  Indiana  Battery,  soon  opened  on  the  enemy  from 
a  ridge  in  rear  of  our  advance,  whereupon  there  ensued  an  artillery  battle 
long  to  be  remembered  by  those  who  witnessed  it.  The  fire  of  the  rebel 
batteries  was  quite  accurate,  and  disabled  many  of  our  men  and  horses. 
The  flashes  of  the  discharges  in  the  darkness  of  the  night,  the  shells  scream 
ing  and  bursting  in  the  air,  the  rattle  of  grape  shot  through  fences  and 
timber,  altogether  formed  a  scene  of  more  awe-inspiring  power  than  almost 
any  battle-field  of  the  war.  At  about  two  o'clock  the  firing  ceased  on  both 
sides  as  if  by  mutual  consent,  and  the  weary  soldiers  laid  themselves  down 
upon  their  arms  to  sleep.  Thus  ended  the  first  act  in  the  tragedy  of  Port 
Gibson. 

The  enemy  commenced  the  battle  early  on  the  morning  of  May  1st, 
Colonel  Stone's  Brigade  for  some  time  receiving  their  fire  of  artillery,  and 
responding  thereto  with  great  spirit  and  effect,  before  other  troops  were 
59 


466  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

deployed  into  line.  Nevertheless,  the  sun  had  not  rose  high  in  the  heavens, 
nor  dispelled  entirely  the  morning  mist,  before  Osterhaus  delivered  a 
vigorous  attack  upon  the  enemy's  right.  The  position  of  the  enemy  here 
was  well  chosen,  and  it  required  an  hour's  severe  fighting  to  drive  him 
from  it.  Meanwhile,  General  Carr,  Stone's  Brigade  in  reserve,  attacked 
the  enemy's  left,  moving  over  a  rugged  country,  and  through  almost  im 
penetrable  cane-brakes,  and  presently  Stone's  Brigade,  marching  on  and  to 
the  left  of  the  main  road  by  Magnolia  church,  gallantly  delivered  attack  on 
the  rebel  left  centre.  The  action  now  became  general,  except  at  the  centre, 
where  a  continuation  of  fields  extending  to  the  front  of  McClerland's  lines 
for  more  than  a  mile  separated  the  antagonists.  Hovey's  Division  had 
gone  into  the  fight,  and  General  A.  J.  Smith's  was  holding  the  centre, 
ready  and  eager  to  join  in  the  combat.  Osterhaus'  Division  held  his  ground 
on  the  left,  whilst  Carr  and  Hovey  steadily  advanced  on  the  right,  captur 
ing  many  prisoners,  two  stands  of  colors,  two  twelve-pounder  howitzers, 
three  caissons,  much  ammunition,  and  placing  large  numbers  of  the  enemy 
hors-de-combat. 

But  just  as  we  had  fairly  driven  the  rebels  from  their  strong  position, 
General  Baldwin  came  up  to  the  aid  of  Bowen,  the  rebel  general  command 
ing,  with  heavy  reinforcements,  causing  loud  shouts  along  the  enemy's  lines. 
Just  about  this  time,  however,  General  Osterhaus,  who  had  been  reenforced 
by  Logan's  Division,  by  a  flank  movement  and  a  brilliant  charge  led  by 
Osterhaus  in  person,  had  discomfited  the  enemy's  right  and  taken  three 
pieces  of  his  artillery.  Wherefore  the  rebels  everywhere  fell  back,  and  the 
second  act  was  closed,  with  loud  shouts  on  the  part  of  the  Union  troops, 
who  continued  to  press  forward  for  more  decisive  victory. 

The  enemy  was  again  found  posted  in  a  strong  position  more  than  a  mile 
to  the  rear  of  his  former  lines.  Here  Hovey  and  Carr,  with  a  brigade  of 
General  A.  J.  Smith's  Division,  and  Stevenson's  Brigade  of  Logan's  Divi 
sion,  had  some  difficulty  in  defeating  the  enemy ;  for  our  troops  had  again 
to  move  over  hills  and  through  cane-brakes  under  a  heavy  fire  of  artillery 
and  musketry.  The  battle  raged  with  great  fury,  first  on  our  right,  where 
Hovey  delivered  a  fine  attack,  at  length  succeeding  in  enfilading  the  rebel 
lines  with  his  artillery.  The  combat  then  surged  over  to  the  centre,  where 
Carr,  and  Smith,  and  Stevenson  had  a  hot  engagement,  and  in  the  fierce 
struggle  beat  back  the  enemy,  and  gained  the  day.  It  was  now  nearly 
dark,  and  as  the  shades  of  night  closed  upon  the  field  which  our  troops 
had  won,  they  took  their  first  real  repose  since  leaving  D'Schron's  Landing, 
more  than  twenty-four  hours  before. 

The  battle  of  Port  Gibson,  if  not  decisive,  was  a  fine  precursor  of  the 
brilliant  successes  which  made  the  campaign  of  Vicksburg  memorable. 
The  Union  loss,  in  killed  and  wounded,  was  eight  hundred  and  forty-eight, 


TWENTY-FIRST     INFANTRY.  467 

and  five  missing,  all  of  which  except  about  fifty,  fell  upon  the  Thirteenth 
Army  Corps.  We  captured  from  the  enemy  five  hundred  and  eighty  pri 
soners,  but  his  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was  not  ascertained.  It  must 
have  been  heavy.  The  rebel  historian  notes  the  battle  as  "  the  first  mistake 
with  which  Pemberton  had  opened  his  chapter  of  disasters,"  but  he  is 
entirely  reticent  upon  the  subject  of  losses.  Reflecting  upon  the  duration 
and  nature  of  the  battle,  I  persuade  myself  that  the  enemy's  losses  in  killed 
and  wounded  were  equal  to  our  own,  whilst  their  losses  in  materiel  and  tro 
phies  were  considerable  against  absolutely  nothing  in  these  respects  on  our 
side. 

The  Iowa  regiments  of  infantry  besides  that  whose  histoiy  is  now  under 
our  immediate  consideration  which  bore  a  prominent  part  in  this  engage 
ment  were  the  Twenty-second,  Twenty-third,  Twenty-fourth,  and  Twenty- 
eighth,  whilst  no  artillery  on  the  field  performed  better  service  than  our 
First  Battery.  The  Twenty-first,  Twenty-second,  and  Twenty-third  were 
in  Colonel  Stone's  brigade,  as  was  the  battery.  The  other  infantry  regi 
ments  named  were  in  Hovey's  Division.  These  commands  all  fought  with 
as  conspicuous  gallantry  as  any  men  could  have  displayed  with  similar 
orders  to  obey.  The  Twenty-fourth  was  in  support  of  artillery  throughout 
the  day  and  lost  but  few  men.  The  Twenty-eighth,  Colonel  Connell,  per 
formed  similar  service  much  of  the  time  in  this  its  first  battle,  but  three  of 
the  companies  supported  an  Indiana  regiment  in  a  charge  on  a  rebel  battery, 
which  was  taken,  together  with  many  prisoners.  The  regiment  lost  quite 
heavily  in  wounded.  The  Twenty-second,  Major  J.  B.  Atherton  command 
ing,  was  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight.  Adjutant  D.  J.  Davis,  Lieutenants 
William  M.  De  Camp,  D.  W.  Henderson,  and  John  Francisco,  and  many 
men  were  wounded,  and  two  killed.  The  Twenty-third,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Glasgow,  lost  more  heavily  than  any  of  our  regiments  engaged.  Lieutenant 
D.  P.  Ballard  was  among  the  wounded.  The  First  Battery  was  handled 
throughout  with  consummate  skill,  and  suffered  a  loss  of  five  men  wounded. 

Colonel  Stone  in  his  official  report  of  the  operations  of  the  brigade  spe 
cially  names  Colonel  Merrill,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Glasgow,  Major  Atherton, 
commanding  regiments,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Dunlap  and  Major  Van 
Anda,  as  entitled  to  praise.  He  also  mentions  Lieutenant  Waterbury,  of 
the  Twenty-third,  acting  aid-de-camp,  and  states,  generally,  that  the  officers 
and  men  of  the  brigade  behaved  with  the  utmost  coolness  and  exhibited  a 
determined  courage  that  would  have  done  honor  to  any  troops.  General 
Carr,  division  commander,  gratified  with  the  fine  conduct  of  his  troops, 
bestowed  praises  upon  them  in  no  mincing  manner.  He  spoke  in  the 
highest  terms  of  Colonel  Stone ;  of  the  Twenty-first  Iowa,  "  first  in  battle 
and  one  of  the- last  to  leave  the  field  ;"  of  the  Twenty-third  Iowa  which, 
" with  its  gallant  commander,  behaved  admirably;"  he  mentioned  Lieut- 


468  IOWA    AND     THE     KEBELLION. 

enant-Co.onel  Dunlap,  Major  Yan  Anda,  Captain  Crooke,  and  Sergeant 
Kirst,  of  the  Twenty-first,  and  passed  a  glowing  compliment  upon  Sergeant 
Leebert,  in  charge  of  the  howitzer  on  the  advance.  In  fine,  the  Iowa 
commands  behaved  finely  at  the  battle  of  Port  Gibson,  according  to  the 
well  established  custom  of  the  troops  of  the  State,  and  received  the  just 
encomiums  of  their  generals. 

As  for  the  Twenty-first,  though  it  was  under  fire  as  long  as  any  regiment 
in  the  field,  it  lost  none  killed,  but  had  seventeen  wounded,  and  two  missing, 
among  the  former  Lieutenant-Colonel  Dunlap.2 

On  the  day  after  the  battle,  the  regiment  marched  to  Port  Gibson  and 
Bayou  Pierre,  where  the  right  wing  bivouacked,  but  the  left  wing,  Major 
Van  Anda,  returned  to  Port  Gibson.  On  the  6th  line  of  march  was  re 
sumed.  Moving  nearly  to  Jackson,  the  course  of  the  march  was  changed 
directly  for  Vicksburg.  In  the  battle  of  Champion  Hills,  fought  on  the 
16th,  the  regiment  was  posted  with  the  reserve,  and  was  not  called  into  ac 
tion  till  near  the  close  of  the  combat,  when  it  moved  with  the  command 
sent  out  to  flank  the  enemy's  right,  but  the  enemy  had  put  himself  in  re 
treat  before  it  gained  position,  so  that  throughout  the  day  it  was  but 
slightly  engaged. 

General  Grant  pushed  rapidly  on  in  pursuit  of  the  rebels,  and  on  the 
17th  was  fought  the  battle  of  Big  Black  River  Bridge — a  short  but  terrible 
combat  wherein  the  troops  engaged,  and  especially  the  Twenty-first  and 
Twenty-third  Iowa,  displayed  a  daring  which  amounted  to  heroism,  accom 
plishing  invaluable  results  by  a  dashing  charge,  but  leaving  many  of  their 
men  dead  and  wounded  on  the  field.  I  shall  speak  of  this  action  in  my 
account  of  the  Twenty-third  regiment.  Let  it  suffice  to  state  here  that 
Colonel  Merrill  was  there  well  nigh  mortally  wounded,  and  that  the  loss  of 
the  regiment,  out  of  less  than  three  hundred  engaged,  was  thirteen  killed 
and  seventy  wounded. 

On  the  19th  our  regiment  marched  to  the  rear  of  Yicksburg  and  took  its 
position  in  line,  which  very  soon  became  a  line  of  investment.  During  all 
the  operations  which  followed — the  sharp-shooting  of  the  19th,  20th,  and 
21st;  the  terrible  assault  of  the  22d ;  the  siege  accompanied  by  so  many  la 
bors,  discomforts,  dangers — the  Twenty-first  faithfully,  gallantly,  patiently 
performed  the  duties  assigned  it.  In  the  assault  its  bravery  and  dash  were 
conspicuous  among  all  the  regiments  which  on  that  bloody  day  so  bravely 
and  dashingly  marched  into  the  jaws  of  death.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Dun- 
lap  still  suffering  from  his  wound  received  at  Port  Gibson,  was  unable  to  lead 
the  regiment  in  the  assault,  and  it  was  commanded  by  Major  Yan  Anda. 

2  The  others  wounded  were :  C.  E.  George,  C.  D.  Hewett,  R.  M.  Cunningham,  Charles  Rhul, 
Daniel  Shilling,  A.  B.  Story,  W.  J.  Comstock,  John  Lusby,  S.  Brenton,  Robert  Strain,  Isaac  M. 
Hughes,  Edward  Murray,  John  Van  Kuran.  Missing,  John  Love,  I.  C.  Thompson. 


TWENTY-FIRST     INFANTRY.  469 

Dunlap,  however,  came  on  to  the  field  as  fast  as  his  wound  would  allow 
him  to  walk,  and  was  killed  after  the  charge  had  been  made.  Major  Van 
Anda  was  wounded  during  the  charge.  Captain  Harrison,  Captain 
Greaves,  Lieutenants  Roberts,  Adams,  Childs,  and  Bates  were  also 
wounded,  Roberts  and  Bates  mortally,  the  latter  dying  in  the  hands  of  the 
enemy.  Out  of  two  hundred  and  eighty  officers  and  men  who  took  part  in 
the  assault,  the  regiment  lost  one  hundred  and  thirteen  in  killed  and 
wounded. 

From  the  assault  until  the  3d  of  July,  the  regiment  remained  in  the 
trenches,  often  working  night  and  day,  advancing  the  parallels  to  the  ene 
my's  works.  The  siege  was  very  fatiguing  and  confining  to  the  men.  The 
rebel  sharp-shooters  in  front  of  this  part  of  our  line  of  investment  com 
pletely  commanded  every  portion  thereof,  so  that  no  man  dared  to  raise  his 
finger  above  the  works.  The  troops  could  hardly  stand  on  their  legs,  with 
out  making  targets  of  their  heads.  On  the  day  before  the  capitulation,  the 
regiment  marched  toward  Warrenton,  but  in  the  evening  returned  to  its 
accustomed  position.  On  the  next  day  it  rejoiced  with  unspeakable  glad 
ness  at  the  triumph  of  our  arms,  and  because  thereby  it  was  relieved  from 
duties  more  irksome  than  any  it  had  ever  been  called  upon  to  perform. 

The  Twenty-first,  at  this  time  under  command  of  Captain  W.  D.  Crooke, 
joined  in  the  movement  against  Johnston  which  immediately  followed  the 
victory  of  Vicksburg,  and  participated  in  the  siege  of  Jackson  and  the 
destruction  of  railways  and  public  property  which  followed  the  second  cap 
ture  of  that  capital.  In  the  heavy  skirmishing  which  accompanied  this 
campaign  before  Johnston  evacuated  Jackson  the  regiment  lost  one  man 
killed  and  fourteen  wounded.  The  campaign  over,  it  returned  to  Vicks 
burg  and  remained  in  encampment  there  until  near  the  middle  of  August, 
diseases  in  many  forms,  the  results  of  the  siege,  attacking  the  men  and 
carrying  numbers  to  the  grave. 

The  13th  of  August,  the  regiment  bade  farewell  to  many  comrades  of  the 
grand  army,  and  moved  to  CarroUton,  near  New  Orleans,  arriving  on  the 
16th.  Here  it  went  into  a  fine  healthful  encampment,  where  the  men  soon 
regained  health.  Thence  the  regiment  moved,  early  in  September,  to 
Brashear  City,  going  by  car  from  Algiers.  It  halted  at  the  former  place 
till  near  the  close  of  the  month,  when  it  crossed  the  bay  to  Berwick  City, 
where  it  made  another  halt  of  about  one  week,  and  then  moved  up  Bayou 
Teche  to  Vermillion  Bayou,  which  is  more  than  half  the  distance  from  New 
Orleans  to  the  line  separating  Louisiana  from  Texas.  Here  the  command 
remained  about  one  month,  guarding  a  bridge  across  the  stream,  and  per 
forming  heavy  picket  duty  besides,  "but  perhaps  the  best  result  of  ah1  was, 
the  regiment  continued  to  gain  health  and  strength,  and  seemed  to  have 


470  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

entirely  overcome  the  effects  of  the  exposure  and  labors  of  the  siege  of 
Vicksburg. 

On  the  7th  of  November,  the  regiment  turned  its  front  eastward,  and 
moving  by  New  Iberia,  Berwick  City,  and  Brashear,  at  each  of  which  places 
it  made  a  considerable  halt,  arrived  at  Algiers,  opposite  New  Orleans,  on 
the  21  st.  The  next  day  it  embarked  on  the  steamer  ' '  Corinthian, ' '  and  after 
a  stormy  voyage  of  four  days  disembarked  on  St.  Joseph's  Island,  Texas. 
Captain  Crooke  had  now  been  promoted  Major,  and  was  in  command,  at  this 
time.  The  regiment  remained  in  Texas  about  half  a  year.  It  marched  up 
St.  Joseph's  Island,  up  Metagorda  Island,  crossed  over  to  Metagorda  Penin 
sula,  and  early  in  January  1864  moved  to  Old  Town,  a  suburb  of  Indianola, 
but  in  a  few  days  marched  to  Indianola  proper  and  went  into  com 
fortable  quarters  there,  the  same  being  houses  of  the  city  which  had  been 
abandoned  by  their  owners  upon  the  approach  of  our  forces.  During  the 
stay  of  the  regiment  at  this  place  a  detachment  thereof,  being  on  a  scout 
in  the  interior,  was  attacked  by  a  body  of  rebel  cavalry,  who  captured 
fourteen  of  our  men  and  sent  them  to  Tyler,  the  Andersonville  of  the  trans- 
Mississippi  region.  The  13th  of  March,  the  regiment  moved  to  Metagorda 
Island,  and  remained  there  drilling,  fortifying,  and  performing  garrison 
duties  generally  till  the  departure  of  the  command  for  New  Orleans  in 
June.  During  the  long  stay  of  the  troops  in  Texas  they  had  accomplished 
nothing  of  importance  in  a  military  point  of  view,  save  to  recover  heal  thin 
this  salubrious  climate,  and  to  make  themselves  well  nigh  perfect  in  field 
evolutions  and  in  the  manual  of  arms.  The  Twenty-first  lost  only  two  men 
by  death  during  its  six  months'  sojourn  in  Texas,  and  when  it  sailed  for  New 
Orleans,  the  right  wing,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Van  Anda  on  the  10th 
of  June,  the  left  under  Major  Crooke,  on  the  14th,  scarcely  a  man  was  re 
ported  on  the  sick  list. 

The  Thirteenth  Corps  being  suspended,  our  regiment,  upon  reaching 
New  Orleans,  reported  directly  to  General  Banks.  It  remained  here  a 
short  time,  marched  to  Carrollton ;  in  a  few  days  was  ordered  to  report  to 
General  Cameron  at  Thibodeaux,  and  moving  by  steamer  to  Algiers,  and 
thence  by  rail  to  Terre  Bonne,  near  Thibodeaux,  performed  guard  and 
provost  duties  for  about  a  fortnight,  when  it  returned  to  Algiers.  Here  it 
exchanged  the  arms  with  which  it  had  been  supplied  at  Camp  Franklin  for 
Springfield  muskets,  and  on  the  26th  of  July  embarked  for  Morganza.  It 
remained  at  this  uninteresting  and  unhealthy  place  till  the  3d  of  September, 
engaged  in  the  inspiring  duties  of  guarding  rebel  estates,  and  protecting 
cotton  speculators,  both  Jew  and  Gentile.  Here  it  was  assigned  to  Colonel 
Slack's  Brigade  of  the  Nineteenth  Army  Corps.  When  the  rebel  estates 
had  been  sufficiently  guarded,  and  the  cotton  shipped,  our  regiment  moved 
to  the  mouth  of  White  River.  It  shortly  afterwards  moved  to  St.  Charles, 


TWENTY-FIRST     INFANTRY.  471 

where  it  spent  some  weeks  in  comfortable  winter  quarters,  and  then,  after 
see-sawing  between  Duvall's  Bluff  and  mouth  of  White  River,  two  or 
three  times,  proceeded  to  Memphis,  where  it  was  assigned  to  the  First 
Brigade,  Reserve  Corps,  Division  of  West  Mississippi. 

The  regiment  had  a  comfortable  time  at  Memphis  for  a  few  weeks,  but 
in  the  latter  part  of  December,  marched  into  the  interior  of  Tennessee  in 
support  of  a  column  of  cavalry  under  General  Grierson,  which  march  was 
tedious,  wearisome,  and  without  palpable  results.  Returning  to  camp  on 
the  last  day  of  the  year,  on  the  1st  day  of  January,  1865,  the  command 
embarked  on  steamer  for  the  South.  Disembarked  at  Kennerville,  and 
remained  encamped  in  one  of  the  swamps  of  that  oozy  locality  till  the  5th 
of  February.  Thence  the  regiment  sailed  for  Dauphin  Island,  Alabama, 
where  it  had  plenty  of  sand  and  oysters,  for  more  than  a  month.  Here  it 
was  assigned  to  the  First  Brigade,  First  Division,  Thirteenth  Army  Corps, 
Brigadier-General  James  R.  Slack,  an  excellent  and  popular  officer,  com 
manding  the  brigade.  On  the  17th  of  March,  the  regiment  moved  by 
steamer  to  Fort  Morgan,  whence,  on  the  19th,  it  joined  in  the  line  of 
march  for  Mobile.  In  the  difficult,  toilsome  march,  in  the  siege  of  Spanish 
Fort  and  of  Blakely,  the  Twenty-first  bore  creditable  part,  but  in  the 
assaults  of  the  8th  and  9th  of  April  it  was  not  directly  engaged.  Though 
it  was  many  days  under  fire,  its  losses  throughout  the  campaign  were  very 
trifling.  On  the  10th,  the  regiment  marched  a  few  miles  toward  Mobile, 
but  on  the  next  day  returned  to  Stark' s  Landing,  on  the  Bay  below  Spanish 
Fort,  and  embarking  on  the  steamer  "Warrior,"  moved  to  "Race  Track 
Landing,"  where  it  disembarked.  On  the  12th,  it  marched  into  Mobile, 
and  on  the  next  day  went  into  camp  at  Spring  Hill,  a  few  miles  in  rear  of 
the  city.  And  here  the  volume  of  its  history  against  rebels  in  arms  was 
closed.  After  a  few  months  of  uninteresting  services,  the  command  was 
mustered  out  of  the  service,  and  returned  to  Iowa  for  discharge,  having  as 
faithfully  and  bravely  served  the  country  as  any  regiment  that  bore  the 
colors  of  the  Union  to  the  great  triumph  of  the  national  arms. 


CHAPTEK    XXVI. 

TWENTY-SECOND     INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZATION  AT  IOWA  CITY— MOVE  TO  ST.  LOUIS— TO  ROLLA— EMBARK  AT  ST. 
GENEVIEVE  FOR  THE  FRONT— JOIN  THE  THIRTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS  IN  LOUISI 
ANA—BATTLE  OF  PORT  GIBSON— IN  RESERVE  DURING  THE  BATTLE  OF  CHAM 
PION  HILLS— BATTLE  OF  THE  BIG  BLACK  RIVER— THE  ASSAULT  UPON 
THE  ENEMY'S  WORKS  AT  VI CKS  BURG— THE  SIEGE— THE  JACKSON 
CAMPAIGN— IN  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  GULF— CAMPAIGN  IN  LOUISIANA— 
IN  TEXAS-AGAIN  IN  LOUISIANA— VOYAGE  TO  FORTRESS  MONROE-IN  THE 
TRENCHES  BEFORE  PETERSBURG  —  MOVE  TO  WASHINGTON— TO  THE  SHEN- 
ANDOAH  VALLEY— BATTLE  OF  WINCHESTER  — OF  FISHER'S  HILL— OF 
CEDAR  CREEK— MOVE  TO  SAVANNAH,  GEORGIA— TO  NORTH  CAROLINA— CON 
CLUSION. 

THE  Twenty-Second  Infantry  was  for  the  most  part  recruited  in  the  old 
capital  county  of  the  State,  Johnson,  which  contributed  to  this  noted  com 
mand  no  less  than  seven  companies.  There  was  one  company  from  Jasper 
County,  one  from  Monroe,  and  one  from  Wapello,  so  that  the  whole  was 
from  the  Fourth  District,  since  represented  in  Congress  by  the  Honorable 
Josiah  B.  Grinnell.  The  companies  went  into  rendezvous  at  "Camp 
Pope,"  near  Iowa  City,  during  the  month  of  August,  1862,  and  were  there 
mustered  into  the  service  on  the  9th  of  the  following  month.  William  M. 
Stone,  who  had  been  Major  of  the  Third  Infantry,  and  who  was  at  this 
time  a  paroled  prisoner  of  war,  was  appointed  Colonel ;  John  A.  G-arrett, 
Lieutenant-Colonel;  Harvey  Graham,  Major;  J.  B.  Atherton,  Adjutant; 
C.  F.  Lovelace,  Quartermaster ;  William  H.  White,  Surgeon,  with  Drs.  0. 
Peabody  and  Alfred  B.  Lee,  Assistants;  and  Reverend  K.  B.  AUender, 
Chaplain.1 

i  The  line  officers  were :  Company  .A— Captain  Charles  N.  Lee ;  Lieutenants  D.  J.  Davis,  William 
Hughes.  Company  B — Captain  John  H.  Gearkee;  Lieutenants  John  Remmick,  J.  A.  Boarts. 
Company  C— Captain  A.  T.  Ault ;  Lieutenants  N.  Murray,  Lafayette  R.  Mullin.  Company  D— Cap 
tain  Robert  W.  Wilson ;  Lieutenants  William  Phinney,  Matthew  A.  Robb.  Company  E— Captain 
Hiram  C.  Humbert ;  Lieutenants  E.  G.  White,  Benjamin  D.  Parks.  Company  F— Captain  Alfred  B. 
Cree;  Lieutenants  John  W.  Porter,  William  G.  Haddock.  Company  G— Captain  Isaac  V.  Deuuts; 
Lieutenants  James  0.  Hawkins,  George  H.  Shockey.  Company  H— Captain  John  C.  Shrader;  Lieu- 
472 


TWENTY-SECOND     INFANTRY.  473 

Having  remained  at  Camp  Pope  but  a  few  days  after  organization,  the 
regiment  moved  by  rail  to  Davenport,  and  thence  by  steamer  to  St.  Louis. 
Thoroughly  equipped  for  service  in  the  field,  the  command  left  Benton 
Barracks  on  the  22d  for  Holla,  arriving  on  the  next  day.  This  post  was 
garrisoned  by  the  Twenty-second  for  about  four  months,  the  troops  also  at 
times  escorting  trains  to  the  Army  of  Southwest  Missouri.  In  the  latter 
part  of  January,  1863,  the  regiment  moved  to  West  Plains,  and  joined  the 
Army  of  Southeast  Missouri,  forming  a  part  of  the  First  Brigade,  First 
Division  thereof,  Colonel  Stone  commanding  the  brigade,  which  consisted 
of  his  own  regiment,  the  Twenty-first  and  Twenty-third  Iowa,  and  the 
Eleventh  Wisconsin.  Halting  at  West  Plains  a  few  days,  the  army 
marched,  with  much  hardship,  to  Iron  Mountain,  where  another  halt  was 
made.  The  9th  of  March,  our  regiment  marched  for  St.  Genevieve,  and 
having  encamped  there  about  a  fortnight,  embarked  for  the  south,  under 
orders  to  join  the  forces  under  Grant,  about  to  commence  operations 
against  Vicksburg. 

In  the  organization  of  the  army  for  this  campaign,  the  Twenty-second 
remained  in  brigade  with  the  same  regiments  above  noted,  Colonel  Harris 
commanding  the  brigade,  General  E.  A.  Carr  the  division,  it  being  the 
Fourteenth  of  the  Thirteenth  Corps,  General  John  A.  McClernand.  The 
brigade  marched  on  the  12th  of  April,  and  going  by  Richmond  and  Car 
thage,  encamped  at  Perkins'  Landing  to  await  the  rest  of  the  Corps. 

tenants  James  L.  Perry,  Daniel  W.  Henderson.  Company  I— Captain  James  Robertson ;  Lieuten 
ants  J.  W.  Sterling,  W.  W.  Morsman.  Company  K— Captain  George  W.  Clark;  Lieutenants  John 
Francisco,  Thomas  Morrison. 

Inasmuch  as  there  were  several  changes  among  the  officers  of  the  command  before  it  met  the 
enemy  in  battle,  it  may  not  be  amiss  here  to  subjoin  the  list  of  officers  during  the  regiment's  term 
of  service,  as  shown  by  the  Adjutant-General's  Reports. 

Colonels,  William  M.  Stone,  Harvey  Graham.  Lieutenant- Colonels,  John  A.  Garrett,  (promoted 
Colonel  of  the  Fortieth,  before  the  Twenty-second  left  Iowa),  Harvey  Graham,  E.  G.  White.  Majors, 
Harvey  Graham,  E.  G.  White,  J.  B.  Atherton,  John  H.  Gearkee.  Adjutants,  J.  B.  Atherton,  John 
W.  Porter,  Horace  Poole,  Oscar  B.  Lee,  Samuel  D.  Pryce,  Taylor  Pierce.  Quartermasters,  G.  F. 
Lovelace,  James  W.  Stirling.  Surgeons,  William  H.  White,  John  C.  Shrader.  Assistant-Surgeons, 
Alfred  B.  Lee,  Oren  Peabody,  William  A.  Dinwiddie.  Chaplains,  Reverend  R.  B.  Allender,  Reverend 
Martin  Bowman. 

LINE  OFFICERS:  Company  A— Captains  Charles  N.  Lee,  David  J.  Davis,  Samuel  D.  Pryce;  Lieuten 
ants  David  J.  Davis,  William  W.  Hughes,  Samuel  C.  Jones.  Company  #— Captains  John  H.  Gearkee, 
John  Remick;  Lieutenants  James  A.  Boarts,  Joseph  S.  Turnbull.  Company  C— Captains  A.  T. 
Ault,  Lafayette  F.  Mullin;  Lieutenants  Niel  Murray,  L.  F.  Mullin,  Robert  M.  Davis,  Samuel  C. 
Fugard.  Company  D— Captains  Robert  M.  Wilson,  N.  B.  Humphrey;  Lieutenants  William  Phin- 
ney,  Matthew  A.  Robb,  William  H.  Needham.  Company  E— Captains  Hiram  C.  Humbert,  Benjamin 
D.  Parks,  Edward  J.  Dudley;  Lieutenants  E.  G.  White,  Benjamin  D.  Parks,  Edward  J.  Dudley, 
George  D.  Ulrich.  Company  F— Captain  Alfred  B.  Cree ;  Lieutenants  John  W.  Porter,  William  G. 
Haddock,  William  J.  Schell,  George  W.  Handy,  Theodore  S.  Loveland.  Company  G — Captains 
Isaac  V.  Dennis,  James  0.  Hawkins,  George  H.  Shockey ;  Lieutenants  James  0.  Hawkins,  George 
H.  Shockey,  William  M.  De  Camp,  John  Smiley.  Company  If— Captains  John  C.  Shrader,  Charles 
Y.  Hartley ;  Lieutenants  James  L.  Perry,  Daniel  W.  Henderson,  Joseph  R.  Chandler.  Company  I— 
Captains  James  Robertson,  W.  W.  Morsman;  Lieutenants  James  W.  Sterling,  W.  W.  Morsman, 
Joseph  E.  Griffith,  Nicholas  C.  Messenger.  Company  .K— Captain  George  W.  Clark ;  Lieutenants 
John  Francisco,  Thomas  Morrison,  Oliver  P.  Hull. 
60 


474  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Thence  the  troops  moved  by  transports,  which  had  run  the  blockade  of 
Vicksburg,  to  Hard  Times,  a  landing  not  far  above  Grand  Gulf,  but  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  river.  Here  the  troops  witnessed  the  unsuccessful 
attack  of  the  navy  on  the  batteries  of  Grand  Gulf,  on  the  29th.  The 
corps  marched  down  the  river  under  cover  of  the  levee,  and  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  30th  embarked  on  steamers  and  gunboats,  and  moved  down  to 
Bruinsburg,  where  a  disembarkation  was  made  about  the  middle  of  the 
afternoon. 

The  advance  did  not  tarry  long  at  Bruinsburg.  The  line  of  march  for 
"the  interior"  was  speedily  taken  up,  and  the  brigade  to  which  the 
Twenty-second  belonged  being  in  the  advance,  Colonel  Stone  commanding, 
brought  on  the  battle  at  Port  Gibson,  the  first  of  the  campaign,  before 
midnight.  This  engagement,  the  first  battle  in  which  the  regiment  took 
part,  was  a  fine  victory  for  the  Union  arms.  It  has  been  already  described. 
The  Twenty-second  took  honorable  part  therein,  and  received  the  enco 
miums  of  the  army  for  its  good  conduct.  Major  Atherton  was  here  in  com 
mand.  The  loss  of  the  regiment  was  about  twenty. 

The  regiment  remained  at  Bayou  Pierre,  with  the  brigade,  a  few  days 
after  the  battle.  Taking  up  line  of  march,  it  moved  by  Raymond  to  Mis- 
sisippi  Springs,  where  it  halted,  in  guard  of  trains.  The  city  of  Jackson 
having  succumbed  to  our  arms,  McClernand  about-faced  and  moved 
against  Pemberton  who  had  marched  from  behind  the  works  of  Vicksburg, 
with  the  hope  of  catching  Grant's  forces  in  air,  and  retrieving  the  disasters 
which  the  campaign  had  thus  far  inflicted  upon  the  insurgent  cause.  The 
consequence  of  this  manoeuvre  was  the  Battle  of  Champion  Hills,  a  splen 
did  Union  victory,  gained  by  the  divisions  of  Hovey,  Crocker,  and  Logan. 
During  this  fine  fight,  the  Twenty-second  was  posted  with  the  reserves, 
but  it  joined  in  the  pursuit  of  the  beaten  rebels,  and  captured  many 
prisoners.  The  next  day,  in  the  battle  of  Black  River  Bridge,  wherein  the 
Twenty-third  Iowa  was  most  prominently  engaged,  our  regiment  took  part, 
but,  covered  by  the  river  bank  from  the  enemy's  fire,  lost  only  two  men 
wounded  on  the  field  made  forever  memorable  in  Iowa  by  the  death  of 
Colonel  Kinsman  of  the  Twenty-third. 

General  Grant  pushed  on  his  columns  without  delay,  and  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  19th,  had  his  army  in  position  around  Vicksburg,  Sherman  on 
the  right,  McPherson  in  the  centre,  and  McClernand  on  the  left.  There 
was  an  assault  by  part  of  the  army  on  the  afternoon  of  this  day,  ordered  by 
General  Grant  in  the  hope  that  the  enemy,  demoralized  and  discouraged 
by  recent  defeats,  might  not  defend  his  works  with  vigor.  He  was  mis 
taken,  and  the  attack,  which  was  by  no  means  a  general  assault,  failed. 
Meantime,  the  troops  continued  to  arrive,  and  by  the  evening  of  the  21st  had 
Vicksburg  regularly  invested.  The  troops  had  been  marching  and  fighting 


TWENTY-SECOND     INFANTRY.  475 

battles — every  one  a  victory — for  twenty  days  on  five  days'  rations.  They 
had  begun  to  feel  the  want  of  bread.  Though  the  communications  were 
completely  opened  up  on  the  21st,  General  Grant,  reflecting  upon  what  his 
army  had  already  accomplished,  that  Johnston  was  not  far  in  his  rear  with 
a  considerable  power,  which  was  being  daily  increased  by  reinforcements, 
which  might  soon  be  strong  enough  to  raise  the  siege,  determined  upon 
trying  to  carry  the  enemy's  works  by  assault. 

ASSAULT  AND  SIEGE  OF  VICKSBT7BG. 

The  assault  was  ordered  for  ten  o'clock  precisely  on  the  morning  of  May 
22d,  the  same  to  be  rapid,  by  the  heads  of  columns.  In  order  that  it  might 
be  simultaneous  by  all  the  assaulting  columns,  the  corps  commanders  set 
their  watches  by  General  Grant's.  They  were  ordered  to  precede  the  as 
sault  by  a  heavy,  constant  cannonading  of  the  rebel  works. 

Undoubtedly  those  works  were  stronger  than  General  Grant  supposed. 
The  defences  of  Vicksburg  consisted  of  a  system  of  detached  fortifications 
on  commanding  points,  with  the  usual  profile  of  field  works,  connected  by 
rifle-pits.  The  best  engineering  skill  of  the  Confederacy  had  been  lavished 
upon  the  works,  till  the  place  was  compared  to  Sebastopol  and  Gibraltar. 
But  it  was  not  art  alone  which  made  it  strong.  It  was  by  nature  a  formida 
ble  position.  The  frowning  bluffs  on  the  river-side  made  it  there  impreg 
nable.  To  the  rear,  whence  the  assault  was  to  come,  the  country  was 
broken,  so  as  to  afford  excellent  defensive  positions — ridges  and  knolls  with 
deep  ravines  intervening,  covered  with  a  tangled  growth  of  vines,  cane,  and 
saplings,  through  which  an  army  could  not  move  in  line.  The  ridges  were 
natural  parapets  and  the  ravines  natural  ditches,  so  that,  what  with  the 
works  of  nature  and  those  of  their  own  construction,  the  rebels  had  a  series 
of  strong  lines,  each  one  of  which  was  formidable  in  the  extreme. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  assault  the  cannonading  began.  The  great 
guns  from  the  fleet  and  all  the  guns  which  could  be  put  in  position  on  the 
investing  lines  ushered  in  the  day  with  their  awful  thunder.  They  con 
tinued  their  work  till  nearly  ten  o'clock,  when  they  suddenly  ceased.  Par 
tial  breaches  of  the  enemy's  works  were  effected,  some  of  his  guns  silenced, 
and  a  number  of  his  caissons  exploded.  Our  sharp-shooters  and  skir 
mishers  also  annoyed  him  by  a  galling  fire,  picking  off  many  of  his  gun 
ners,  and  compelling  the  garrison  to  keep  well  behind  their  cover. 

At  ten  o'clock  precisely,  the  bugles  having  sounded  the  charge,  the  as 
saulting  columns  moved  forward  at  quick  time,  with  bayonets  fixed,  and 
without  firing  a  gun.  Pressing  forward  over  the  rough  ground,  through 
the  obstructions  which  nature  and  art  had  placed  in  the  way,  they  ap 
proached  within  musket  range  of  the  works  without  receiving  the  fire  of 
the  enemy.  Then  every  available  gun  was  opened  on  the  heads  of  the 


476  IOWA    AND     THE     EEBELLION. 

columns,  already  somewhat  disordered  by  the  difficult  advance,  and  the 
rebel  infantry  rising  in  the  trenches,  poured  into  our  masses  rapid  volleys 
which  had  a  fearful  effect,  covering  the  ground  with  our  dead  and  wounded. 
Still  the  brave  troops  pressed  on,  to  meet  with  the  same  fate,  the  columns 
of  the  various  corps  vying  with  each  other  in  gallant  emulation  in  their  en 
deavors  to  carry  the  works.  It  was  in  vain.  The  terrible  fire  of  the  garri 
son  checked  the  assault,  stayed  the  advance,  threw  the  assailants  into 
disorder.  They  betook  themselves  to  such  covers  as  could  be  found,  and 
by  a  common  impulse  abandoning  the  fight  by  bayonet,  maintained  their 
position,  galling  the  garrison  with  musketry.  Thus  it  was  with  Sherman 
and  McPherson,  who  early  saw  and  admitted  the  unsuccess  of  the  assault 
so  far  as  their  columns  were  concerned. 

With  McClernand  it  was  somewhat  different.  The  principal  work  in  his 
front  was  Fort  Beauregard — a  strong  fortification,  containing  a  heavy  arma 
ment,  well  manned,  covered  by  other  works  in  flank  and  rear.  The  Twenty- 
second  Iowa  led  the  column  which  assaulted  this  work.  It  was  accompanied 
by  the  Twenty-first  Iowa,  Major  Van  Anda,  and  the  Eleventh  Wisconsin, 
General  Lawler  being  in  command  of  the  brigade.  The  Twenty-second  had 
taken  an  advanced  position  on  the  right  of  the  Twenty-first,  where,  under 
cover  of  a  ridge,  the  order  for  the  assault  was  awaited.  Receiving  it, 
Colonel  Stone  shouted  "Forward!"  and  his  gallant  command  leaped  over 
the  hill  to  the  charge,  and  in  an  instant  came  in  full  view  of  the  frowning 
fort.  The  column  moved  steadily,  silently,  to  within  fifty  yards  of  the  work, 
passing  through  a  murderous  fire,  under  which  many  fell  in  death  and 
wounds,  among  the  latter  Colonel  Stone.  The  line  became  disordered,  but 
Lieutenant- Colonel  Graham  assuming  command  rallied  his  men  around  the 
flag,  and  himself  pressed  forward  with  about  sixty  officers  and  men.  The 
fort  was  reached,  the  colors  planted  on  the  ramparts,  Sergeant  Joseph  E. 
Griffith  and  a  number  of  others,  making  ladders  of  themselves,  escaladed 
the  wall,  entered  the  fort,  and  captured  a  number  of  prisoners.  Colonel 
Stone,  being  borne  from  the  field,  conveyed  this  intelligence  to  General 
McClernand,  and  a  renewed  assault  took  place  all  along  the  lines,  but  with 
out  success.  Sergeant  Griffith  and  private  David  Trine  alone  escaped  from 
the  fort,  which,  covered  by  works  in  rear,  was  entirely  untenable.  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Graham  and  several  men  were  captured  in  the  ditch.  As 
they  were  conducted  within  the  rebel  works,  the  troops  engaged  in  the  as 
sault  retired  behind  friendly  protections  and  the  fearful  slaughter  was  ended. 
The  Union  losses  in  this  assault  of  Vicksburg  were  not  far  from  three  thou 
sand,  being  nearly  three-fourths  of  the  loss  sustained  by  General  Grant's 
forces  during  the  entire  siege — from  the  19th  of  May  to  the  4th  of  July. 

In  this  assault  there  were  not  less  than  sixteen  regiments  of  Iowa  infantry 
engaged— the  Fourth,  Fifth,  Eighth,  Ninth,  Tenth,  Twelfth,  Seventeenth, 


TWENTY-SECOND     INFANTRY.  477 

Twenty-first,  Twenty-second,  Twenty-fourth,  Twenty-fifth,  Twenty-sixth, 
Twenty-eighth,  Thirtieth,  Thirty-first,  and  Thirty-fifth— whilst  the  First 
and  Second  Batteries  were  in  position  and  performing  well  their  duty  on 
the  line  of  investment.  The  Second  Battery  is  specially  mentioned  by 
General  Sherman  in  his  oflicial  report,  there  spoken  of  as  Spoor's  battery. 
Ah1  our  troops  engaged  behaved  .most  worthily,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to 
say  one  regiment  was  more  meritorious  than  another.  The  Fourth,  Ninth, 
Twenty-fifth,  Twenty-sixth,  Thirtieth,  and  Thirty-first  regiments  were  on 
the  right,  and  did  all  that  mortals  could  to  carry  the  day.  The  Eighth, 
Twelfth,  and  Thirty-fifth,  were  in  the  division  commanded  by  General 
James  M.  Tuttle,  who  fully  sustained,  throughout  the  entire  campaign 
of  Vicksburg,  the  reputation  of  a  gallant  commander  which  he  had 
fairly  gained  on  former  fields.  The  Fifth  and  the  Tenth  were  in  the 
brigade  of  the  heroic  Boomer,  of  Missouri,  who  was  slain  on  this  field. 
The  Seventeenth  supported  an  assaulting  column,  and  met  with  slight 
loss.  The  Twenty-fourth,  and  Twenty-eighth  were  in  Hovey's  Division, 
which,  having  suffered  most  severely  at  Champion  Hills,  here  met  with 
slight  loss.  The  Twenty-first,  the  Twenty-second,  and  Twenty-third  were 
in  the  same  brigade,  but  the  Twenty- third  having  but  a  few  days  be 
fore  borne  the  brunt  of  the  battle  at  Black  River  Bridge,  was  now  absent  in 
guard  of  prisoners,  and  the  other  Iowa  regiments  in  the  command  took  the 
leading  part  in  this  day's  bloody  work. 

General  Grant,  in  his  report  of  the  Vicksburg  campaign,  speaking  of 
the  assault  of  the  22d  of  May,  says:  "No  troops  succeeded  in  entering 
any  of  the  enemy's  works  with  the  exception  of  Sergeant  Griffith,  of  the 
Twenty-second  Iowa  Volunteers,  and  some  eleven  privates  of  the  same 
regiment ;  of  these  none  returned  except  the  sergeant  and  possibly  one 
man."  Those  who  participated  with  Sergeant  Griffith  in  this  famous  ex 
ploit  were :  John  Robb,  Munson  L.  Clemmons,  Alvin  Drummond,  Heze- 
kiah  Drummond,  William  H.  Needham,  Ezra  L.  Anderson,  Hugh  Sinclair, 
N.  C.  Messenger,  David  Trine,  William  Griffin,  Allen  Cloud,  David  Jor 
dan,  and  Richard  Arthur.  Of  these,  both  the  Drummonds,  Anderson, 
Arthur  and  Griffin  paid  for  their  temerity  with  their  lives,  being  slain 
within  the  fort.  The  total  loss  of  the  regiment  in  the  assault  was  one  hun 
dred  and  sixty-four,  killed,  wounded,  and  captured. 

The  assault,  though  unsuccessful,  was  gallant  in  the  extreme  on  the  part 
of  all  the  troops,  and  did  not  weaken  their  confidence,  or  that  of  the  command 
ing  general,  in  their  ability  to  ultimately  succeed.  General  Grant  deter 
mined  upon  a  regular  siege.  It  was  forthwith  entered  upon.  The  troops 
went  to  work  with  alacrity,  and  it  was  not  long  till  they  were  an  army  of 
engineers.  They  labored  day  after  day,  night  after  night,  creeping  upon 
the  enemy  slowly  but  surely  by  lines  of  entrenchments,  living  pent-up, 


478  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

enduring  many  hardships,  uttering  no  word  of  complaint.  They  held  on 
to  their  prey  with  the  tenacity  of  Grant  himself,  who  knew  no  such  word 
as  fail.  Through  the  hot  days  and  the  sultry  nights  these  devoted  troops 
learned  the  great  lesson  of  how  to  labor  and  to  wait  most  thoroughly. 
Johnston  threatened  attack  from  the  rear.  Grant  sent  Sherman  to  watch 
him.  He  ordered  reinforcements  from  the  north,  with  whom  came  more  Iowa 
troops,  so  that  before  the  final  victory  there  were  about  thirty  of  our  regi 
ments,  besides  artillery,  engaged  in  the  reduction  of  the  stronghold.  To 
relate  in  detail  the  operations  of  the  siege  were  a  tedious  and  unnecessary 
labor.  They  were  crowned  with  success  on  the  anniversary  of  our  national 
independence,  when  the  garrison  capitulated,  and  our  troops  entered  the 
city  in  joyous  triumph. 

Thus  ended  the  great  campaign,  wherein  the  enemy  had  been  signally 
defeated  in  five  battles ;  whereby  he  had  lost  thirty-seven  thousand  pri 
soners,  among  whom  were  fifteen  general  officers ;  ten  thousand  men  killed 
and  wounded,  among  the  slain  three  officers  of  the  rank  of  general ;  arms 
and  munitions  of  war  for  an  army  of  sixty  thousand  ;  immense  quantities 
of  public  property  of  other  kinds.  In  achieving  this  splendid  result, 
General  Grant  had  lost  less  than  nine  thousand  men,  killed,  wounded,  and 
missing.  But  this  fine  result  of  a  military  nature  was  not  half  the  victory. 
The  taking  of  Vicksburg  split  the  confederacy  in  twain  ;  gave  to  the  Union 
the  navigation  of  the  most  magnificent  river  of  the  world ;  threw  over  the 
rebellion  the  gloom  of  irretrievable  disaster ;  gave  to  the  nation  bright  pro 
mise  of  eventual  success.  When  we  consider  what  Grant  accomplished 
here,  and  how,  we  shall  have  no  difficulty  in  saying  which  of  all  his  great 
campaigns  is  the  greatest. 

It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  among  the  gallant  troops  who  took  part  in 
the  greatest  campaign  of  the  acknowledged  captain  of  the  age,  those  of 
Iowa  won  the  most  conspicuous  renown.  No  troops  bore  a  more  prominent 
part  at  Port  Gibson  than  Colonel  Stone's  Brigade.  It  was  General  M.  M. 
Crocker  who  stormed  the  works  of  Jackson,  where  our  Seventeenth  regi 
ment  surpassed  all  others  in  daring.  No  troops  in  Hovey's  Division  fought 
more  bravely,  or  more  tenaciously,  than  our  Twenty-fourth  and  Twenty- 
eighth  regiments  at  Champion  Hills,  where  Crocker  again  rushed  in  to  the 
aid  of  hard  pressed  friends,  and  like  the  black  knight  in  Ivanhoe,  saved 
the  day  by  vigor  almost  superhuman.  At  the  Black  River  Bridge,  our 
Twenty-first  regiment  was  only  surpassed  by  our  Twenty-third,  whose 
bravery  and  sacrifices  can  never  be  forgotten  while  courage  continues  to  be 
a  virtue.  What  soldiers  but  those  of  Iowa  entered  the  works  of  Vicksburg 
on  the  assault  of  the  22d  ?  When  the  battle  was  over,  only  our  dead  were 
found  within  those  works. 

In  this  campaign,  all  the  Iowa  regiments  engaged  suffered  less  or  more 


TWENTY-SECOND     INFANTRY. 


479 


480  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

severely,  ana  all  those  which  took  part  in  the  assault  had  many  slain  and 
wounded.  The  Twenty-second  lost  during  the  campaign  about  two 
hundred.2  Colonel  Stone,  as  we  have  seen,  was  wounded  during  the 
assault,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Graham  captured.  Captain  Gearkee,  and 
Lieutenants  Reinick  and  Mullins  were  severely  wounded  in  the  same  action. 

The  regiment  marched  against  Jackson  immediately  after  the  surrender 
of  Vicksburg,  and  took  honorable  part  in  that  campaign  of  great  labors 
and  of  great  results.  Captain  Cree,  of  Company  F,  was  specially  men 
tioned  for  gallant  conduct  on  the  skirmish  line,  on  the  9th.  Colonel  Stone, 
who  had  been  meanwhile  nominated  for  Governor  by  the  dominant  party 
of  the  State,  resumed  command  of  the  regiment  in  front  of  Jackson,  and 
was  soon  placed  in  command  of  the  brigade.  His  command  reached 
Vicksburg  on  its  return  from  the  Jackson  campaign  in  the  latter  part  of 
July.  He  soon  afterwards  resigned,  and  returned  to  Iowa,  and  was  elected 
Governor  at  the  October  election  by  a  large  majority.  I  should  have  stated 
before  that  Major  Atherton  had  resigned  during  the  siege  of  Vicksburg, 
and  that,  it  afterwards  coming  to  the  knowledge  of  the  War  Department, 
that  his  letter  of  resignation  was  a  tissue  of  falsehoods,  the  acceptance  was 
revoked,  and,he  was  dishonorably  dismissed  the  service — the  only  instance, 
says  the  generally  accurate  State  Register,  among  all  Iowa  officers,  upon 
whom  such  disgrace  was  cast.  Captain  E.  G.  White,  a  highly  meritorious 
officer  and  excellent  man,  was  promoted  Major. 

The  13th  of  August,  Lieutenant- Colonel  Graham  embarked  on  the  trans 
port  Baltic,  and  arrived  at  Carrollton  on  the  16th,  where  the  regiment  went 
into  camp.  Its  next  campaigning  was  on  what  has  been  called  the  "Bayou 
Teche  Expedition,"  to  the  west  of  Berwick  Bay.  The  regiment  was  en 
gaged  on  this  expedition  from  early  in  September  till  the  middle  of  No 
vember,  and  it  participated  in  several  skirmishes,  near  Iberia  and  beyond, 
but  without  mentionable  loss.  It  reached  Algiers  November  18th. 

a  AT  THE  BATTLE  OF  PORT  GIBSON.— Killed,  David  P.  Robertson,  J.  T.  Wittington.  Wounded,  Adju 
tant  D.  J.  Davis;  Lieutenants  William  M.  De  Camp,  D.  W.  Henderson,  John  Francisco;  Sergeant 
William  Franklin;  Thomas  Harper,  John  L.  Chiles,  James  A.Moore,  S.  S.  Garrison,  George  A. 
Remley,  E.  L.  Pardee,  Alexander  Zike,  Jeremiah  Daniels,  Wenzel  Zika. 

AT  THE  BIG  BLACK. —  Wounded,  George  W.  McCall,  Patrick  Monegan. 

ASSAULT  OF  VICKSBURG.— I  only  have  the  names  of  those  killed  and  mortally  wounded.  Kilted, 
Captain  James  Robertson;  Corporals  David  Jordan,  N.  G.  Teas,  James  A.  Eshorn,  James  A.  Rany; 
Privates  John  L.  Green,  Joseph  T.  Cushalt,  J.  R.  Kennedy,  Elvin  Drummond,  Hezekiah  Drummond, 
John  A.  Robb,  A.  H.  Green,  Abner  Magee,  John  Stallcup,  Jerome  Smart,  Marshal  D.  Fry,  William 
Griffin,  E.  W.  Hamlin,  John  B.  Lamb,  William  P.  Marvin,  John  W.  Williamson.  Mortally  Wounded, 
Lieutenant  Matthew  A.  Robb ;  Sergeant  Samuel  Lloyd ;  Color-Guards,  David  H.  Norris,  James  K. 
Mclntosh,  William  McKeever,  George  W.  Campbell;  Corporals  William  Johnson,  Jackson  F. 
Newell,  G.  Giltner;  Privates  C.  H.  Detwiler,  S.  Eister,  Rufus  J.  Hoy,  Ernest  Haverstraw,  Isaac 
Winterhalter,  Samuel  Story,  John  W.  Jack,  Emanuel  Barr,  Samuel  Kester,  C.  W.  Farrar,  E.  Brewer, 
M.  M.  Parkhurst,  Junius  Lawson,  David  Smith,  Joseph  Middleton,  E.  C.  Peregoy,  W.  H.  H.  Rose- 
brugh,  Joseph  Jackson,  Jacob  II.  Detwiler,  Martin  L.  Kirk,  John  Hale,  John  McElree. 

SIEGE  OF  VICKSBURQ. — Killed,  Nicholas  Russell,  William  Turner. 


TWENTY-SECOND     INFANTRY.  481 

Five  companies,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Graham,  at  once  embarked  for 
Texas,  the  others  remaining  at  Algiers,  under  Major  White,  awaiting 
transportation.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Graham  landed  his  command  on  Mus 
tang  Island  on  the  evening  of  the  27th,  and  on  the  29th  joined  in  the 
march  on  Fort  Esperanza.  The  work  having  been  abandoned  by  the 
enemy,  the  regiment  went  into  camp  at  De  Crou's  Point,  where  it  was 
joined  by  Major  White  .with  the  left  wing.  Early  in  January,  1864,  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Graham  moved  by  steamer  to  Indianola,  where  the  division 
went  into  winter  quarters,  the  Twenty-second  in  the  "  Old  Town"  portion, 
after  three  weeks  of  quiet  in  the  abandoned  houses  of  the  New  Town. 
General  Fitz  Henry  Warren  was  now  in  command  of  the  brigade,  desig 
nated  the  First,  of  the  First  Division,  Thirteenth  Corps.  The  regiment  re 
mained  in  Texas  until  the  latter  part  of  April,  at  Indianola  till  March  13th, 
when  it  returned  to  Matagorda  Island,  the  division  being  sent  thither  to 
lefend  the  coast.  The  men  had  good  health  and  rapidly  improved  in  dis 
cipline  and  military  efficiency,  General  Warren  carrying  his  strict  discipli 
narian  notions  to  the  extreme  of  not  allowing  a  single  "ridiculous  hat"  to 
be  seen  on  dress  parade,  and  all  the  officers  joining  in  the  laudable  ambition 
of  bringing  the  command  up  to  the  standard  of  perfection.  Hence  the 
Texas  expedition  was  of  great  value  to  the  troops,  but  without  noteworthy 
contests  with  the  enemy,  who  only  appeared  in  small  bodies,  called 
"Rangers."  One  of  these  bands,  however,  attacked  a  small  reconnoiter- 
ing  party,  whilst  the  Twenty-second  was  at  Indianola,  and  captured  six  of 
its  men.  Not  long  before  its  departure  from  Matagorda  Island,  the  regi 
ment,  under  the  command  of  General  Warren  in  person,  made  an  expedi 
tion  to  Port  Lavaca,  seventy  miles  from  the  island,  and  taking  possession 
of  the  place,  captured  a  large  quantity  of  property,  and  returned  in  safety. 

The  regiment  reached  New  Orleans  the  first  of  May,  moving  on  two  ves 
sels,  Major  White  commanding  the  right  wing  and  Captain  Gearkee  the 
left  during  the  voyage.  Soon  after  its  arrival,  the  left  wing,  Captain  A.  B. 
Crec,  now  commanding,  moved  up  the  Mississippi  and  the  Red  River  to 
Fort  De  Russey,  General  Warren  taking  thither  a  considerable  force  to  aid 
the  army  of  Banks  in  its  retreat.  Captain  Cree  rejoined  the  regiment  at 
Baton  Rouge,  on  the  10th  of  June,  whither  the  right  wing  had  meanwhile 
proceeded.  The  commanding  officer  being  now  commissioned  Colonel, 
Major  White  was  promoted  Lieutenant-Colonel  and  Captain  John  H. 
Gearkee,  Major. 

Early  in  July  Colonel  Graham  reported  to  General  Reynolds  at  New  Or 
leans.  The  Thirteenth  Corps  being  discontinued,  the  Twenty-second  was 
assigned  to  the  Second  Brigade,  Second  Division,  Nineteenth  Corps, 
Colonel  E.  L.  Molineaux,  One  Hundred  and  Fifty-ninth  New  York,  com 
manding  brigade,  General  Grover  the  division,  and  General  Emory  the 
6i 


482  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

corps.  On  the  17th,  the  regiment  embarked  for  Fortress  Monroe,  where  it 
arrived  on  the  24th,  without  memorable  incident,  except  a  general  convic 
tion  that  the  writer  of  "Life  on  the  Ocean  Wave"  ought  to  have  been 
hanged  for  his  execrable  taste.  The  command  proceeded  up  the  James 
River  to  Bermuda  Hundreds,  and  marching  thence  a  few  miles  joined  the 
Army  of  the  James,  General  Butler.  The  regiment  remained  on  duty  in 
the  trenches  between  the  James  and  the  Appomattox  till  the  31st,  when 
Colonel  Graham  was  ordered  to  report  at  Washington  City.  Arriving  the 
next  day,  the  regiment  marched  up  Four-and-a-half  street,  down  Pennsyl 
vania  Avenue  by  the  Capitol,  and  halted  at  the  Soldiers'  Rest  for  the 
night,  where  the  men  enjoyed  themselves  heartily.  The  command  re 
mained  in  the  vicinity  of  Washington  a  fortnight. 

The  14th,  the  regiment  took  up  line  of  march  to  join  the  forces  under 
General  Sheridan  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  Crossing  the  Potomac  on 
the  Chain  Bridge  near  Georgetown,  and  marching  by  Drainsville,  Leesburg, 
and  Hamilton,  over  the  Kittoctan  Mountains,  through  Snicker's  Gap  in 
the  Blue  Ridge,  and,  fording  the  Shenandoah  at  midnight,  reached  Berry- 
ville  on  the  morning  of  the  18th,  there  joining  Sheridan's  Army  in  retreat 
down  the  valley  before  the  rebel  Early.  The  retreat  was  continued  to  near 
the  Potomac,  and  after  no  little  manoeuvering,  the  Twenty-second  found 
itself  in  position  not  far  from  Halltown,  near  the  centre  of  the  army, 
occupying  a  strong  position,  its  left  resting  upon  the  Potomac,  and  the 
right  at  the  foot  of  North  Mountain  by  Martinsburg. 

From  the  time  General  Sheridan  took  command  in  the  Shenandoah 
country  till  about  the  middle  of  September,  the  campaign  was  one  of 
strategy  only.  Sheridan,  the  most  fiery  fighter  of  our  armies,  merely 
maneuvered  for  weeks,  first  marching  up  the  valley,  with  considerable 
flourish  of  trumpets,  and  then  down  again,  without  apparent  direct  results. 
But  he  accomplished  three  things  of  importance :  First,  he  detached  a 
force  from  Lee ;  second,  he  employed  that  force  in  the  valley,  so  that  not  a 
musket  could  be  sent  to  Hood  at  Atlanta,  before  whose  gates  Sherman  was 
thundering  with  his  magnificent  army;  third,  he  guarded  the  national 
capital  and  the  border  from  attack.  His  work  was  done  in  the  best  manner 
possible.  At  length  Atlanta  fell,  and,  as  it  was  Sheridan's  object  before  to 
avoid  a  battle,  so  now  it  was  his  object  to  fight,  the  moment  he  could  get 
his  antagonist  at  a  disadvantage.  There  was  some  marching  and  counter 
marching,  with  skirmishing,  after  the  army  took  the  position  last  noted, 
but  the  first  great  battle  of  the  campaign  was  fought  on  the  19th  of  Sep 
tember,  on  the  line  of  the  Opequan  Creek,  and  has  therefore  been  called 
the  Battle  of  Opequan,  but  it  will,  perhaps,  continue  to  be  popularly 
known  as 


TWENTY-SECOND     INFANTRY.  483 


THE  BATTLE   OF  WINCHESTER. 

On  the  13th,  a  heavy  reconnoissance  to  Lock's  Ford  on  the  Opequan 
discovered  the  enemy  there  in  force.  Three  days  later,  he  was  found  to 
have  disappeared  from  our  left,  on  the  Winchester  and  Berryville  turnpike, 
and  to  have  but  a  weak  line  opposed  to  our  right.  On  Sunday,  the  18th, 
the  rebel  Gordon  was  driven  from  Martinsburg  by  Averill,  and  it  became 
evident  that  the  enemy  was  in  position  near  Bunker  Hill.  General  Sheri 
dan  determined  to  attack,  and  on  this  day  ordered  the  whole  army  to  be 
ready  to  move  at  a  moment's  notice.  At  two  o'clock  of  the  following  morn 
ing,  the  Sixth  and  Nineteenth  Corps  were  in  motion,  on  the  Berryville  and 
Winchester  Pike,  the  former  in  advance.  The  Army  of  Western  Virginia, 
under  General  Crook,  was  ordered  to  move  from  its  position  near  Summit 
Point,  in  a  southwesterly  direction,  and  form  a  junction  with  the  Nine 
teenth  Corps,  occupying  the  centre,  where  the  turnpike  crosses  the  Ope 
quan.  Crook  holding  the  reserve,  moved  at  five  o'clock. 

The  Sixth  and  Nineteenth  Corps.,  marching  down  a  narrow  ravine,  wind 
ing  among  steep  and  thickly  wooded  hills,  debouched  into  an  irregular  valley, 
resembling  a  contracted  rolling  prairie,  faced  on  the  south  by  an  amphi 
theatre  of  stony  heights.  Sheridan's  object  was,  to  amuse  the  enemy's 
right,  attack  his  centre  vigorously,  turn  and  force  his  left.  The  head  of  the 
Sixth  Corps  emerged  from  the  ravine  about  10  o'clock,  and  advancing 
rapidly  to  the  left  in  two  lines  carried  a  line  of  works  and  wood  that  formed 
the  outwork  of  the  enemy's  right.  There  was  very  little  heavy  fighting  at 
this  time  or  afterwards  on  this  part  of  the  line.  The  serious  struggle  was 
on  the  centre,  and  it  was  made  the  more  severe  because  of  a  misunderstand 
ing  of  orders  whereby  the  deployment  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps  was  de 
layed  and  the  enemy  thereby  given  time  to  make  his  dispositions  against 
the  attack. 

About  noon,  however,  the  Nineteenth  Corps,  and  Rickett's  Division  of 
the  Sixth  Corps,  advanced  across  the  valley  in  a  finely  enthusiastic  onset, 
which  fairly  swept  before  it  the  enemy's  first  line.  But  these  gallant  troops 
were  met  with  a  most  stubborn  resistance  from  a  second  and  a  stronger  line 
which  poured  into  them  a  withering  fire.  They  were  enfiladed  too  by  bat 
teries  on  the  right  and  batteries  on  the  left.  They  suifered  fearfully,  but 
they  fought  on,  with  a  tenacious  courage  never  surpassed.  They  clung  to 
their  position  with  a  desperate  endeavour  to  win  the  victory  then  and  there. 
In  vain.  The  retreat  was  ordered.  They  fell  back,  at  first  in  good  order, 
but  presently  in  confusion,  so  that  brigade  and  regimental  organizations  be 
came  undistinguishable.  The  rebels  advanced  steadily  with  yells  of  triumph, 
and  a  constant  roll  of  murderous  musketry.  "It  was  the  bloodiest,  the 
darkest,  the  most  picturesque,  the  most  dramatic,  the  only  desperate  mo- 


484  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

ment  of  the  day, ' '  says  an  eye  witness,  who  wrote  an  account  of  the  battle 
for  Harper's  Monthly.  "  Through  the  midst  of  the  confusion  came  a  cap 
tain  of  infantry,  Rigby  of  the  Twenty-fourth  Iowa,  leading  a  sergeant  and 
twelve  men,  all  marching  as  composedly  as  if  returning  from  drill.  '  Cap 
tain,  you  are  not  going  to  retreat  any  further,  I  hope,'  said  Captain  Brad 
bury,  of  the  first  Maine  Battery.  '  Certainly  not, '  was  the  reply.  '  Halt ! 
Front!  Three  cheers,  men  ;  hip,  hip,  hurrah!'  The  little  band  cheered 
lustily.  It  was  the  first  note  of  defiance  that  broke  the  desperate  monotony 
of  the  panic ;  it  gave  heart  to  every  one  who  heard  it,  and  made  an  end  of 
retreat  in  that  part  of  the  field.  In  a  few  minutes  the  platoon  swelled  to 
a  battalion  composed  of  men  from  half  a  dozen  regiments." 

The  shattered  line  was  reformed,  the  rebel  advance  checked.  Presently 
the  enemy  was  repulsed.  Then  our  second  line  advanced,  and  regained  the 
position  which  had  before  been  lost,  and  amidst  terrible  slaughter,  held  it 
firmly.  It  was  after  3  o'clock  when  the  Army  of  Virginia  on  the  right, 
with  a  deafening  shout  of  defiance  rushed  to  the  attack.  Simultaneously 
the  cavalry  on  the  extreme  right  made  a  splendid  charge,  when  the  whole 
army,  rising  like  a  huge  machine  possessing  soul  and  spirit  advanced  from 
one  end  of  the  line  to  the  other  and  almost  instantly  put  the  enemy  to  rout. 
Shortly  afterwards,  in  a  disorganized  mass,  the  rebel  army  was  "whirling 
through  Winchester' '  up  the  Valley  of  the  Shenandoah.  The  day  was 
gloriously  won,  and  all  that  was  left  to  the  army  was  to  gather  up  the  im 
mense  spoils  of  victory  and  pick  up  prisoners. 

By  the  battle  of  Winchester  the  rebels  lost  not  less  than  seven  thousand 
men  hors-de-combat,  a  number  of  guns,  many  battle-flags,  and  thousands 
of  small  arms.  The  Union  loss  was  less  than  three  thousand,  the  greater 
proportion  of  which  fell  upon  the  Nineteenth  Corps.  The  soul-stirring 
victory  aroused  the  whole  country.  The  great  cities  illuminated  their 
windows  and  fired  their  big  guns  in  honor  of  it ;  the  rural  districts  shouted 
for  joy.  "Little  Phil.  Sheridan,"  as  the  great  general  was  familiarly 
called,  became  the  hero  of  the  day,  and  never  afterwards  lost  his  strong 
hold  on  the  hearts  of  the  army  and  the  people. 

In  this  engagement,  the  Twenty-fourth  and  the  Twenty-eighth  Iowa 
Regiments  fought  in  Colonel  Shunk's  Brigade,  the  Fourth  of  Grover's 
Division.  It  will  be  remembered  that  these  gallant  regiments,  fighting 
together  on  Champion  Hills,  there  won  proud  distinction.  Ever  afterwards 
they  maintained  their  admirable  reputation,  and  on  the  field  of  Winchester 
were  surpassed  by  none  in  dashing  courage  or  obstinate  tenacity.  Lieuten 
ant-Colonel  J.  Q.  Wilds,  and  Major  Ed  Wright,  of  the  Twenty-fourth, 
Lieutenant-Colonel  B.  W.  Wilson,  and  Major  John  Meyer,  of  the  Twenty- 
eighth,  all  the  staff  and  line  officers  and  men  of  both  regiments,  fought  on 
this  field  in  the  bravest  manner  possible.  When  our  troops  were  compelled 


TWENTY-SECOND     INFANTRY.  485 

to  retire  before  the  blasting  fire  of  the  enemy,  they  passed  through  the 
dreadful  ordeal  of  retreat  under  such  circumstances,  with  as  little  breaking 
of  ranks  as  any  regiments  engaged,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  it  was  what  was 
left  of  a  company  of  the  Twenty-fourth,  whose  cool  courage  and  defiant 
manner  first  stayed  the  tide  of  disaster,  and  enabled  the  officers  to  bring 
order  out  of  chaos.  It  might  seem  a  small  thing,  but  without  it  the  sun 
might  have  set  upon  our  army  in  retreat  and  rout.  It  propitiated  fortune, 
without  whose  aid  the  best  generals  and  the  best  troops  must  suffer  defeat. 
Both  the  regiments  now  spoken  of  suffered  severely  in  killed  and  wounded, 
and  lost  on  this  glorious  field  not  a  few  of  their  most  gallant  officers. 

Molineaux's  Brigade,  in  which  was  the  Twenty-second,  occupied  the 
extreme  left  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps.  No  brigade  had  more  to  do  at 
Winchester,  and  none  did  more  than  Molineaux'.  All  his  troops,  for  the 
most  part  New  York,  Connecticut,  and  Massachusetts  men,  fought  long 
and  well,  in  the  most  hotly  contested  part  of  the  line;  none  longer  or 
better  than  the  Twenty-second  Iowa.  Its  position  was  one  of  full  as  much 
exposure,  perhaps,  to  the  enemy's  terrible  fire,  as  that  of  any  regiment  on 
the  field.  Its  endurance  of  such  a  fire  for  so  long  a  time  was  a  miracle  of 
splendid  tenacity.  Not  faltering  for  an  instant,  it  stood  like  a  wall,  till 
D  wight's  Division  on  its  left  gave  way,  when  it  fell  back.  It  was  speedily 
rallied,  at  no  time  losing  its  oneness.  It  joined  in  the  second  charge,  with 
its  ranks  already  thinned  by  many  mournful  casualties,  but  with  its  colors 
proudly  waving  in  the  midst  of  an  unbroken  line,  officers  and  men  rushing 
to  the  attack  with  a  grand  enthusiasm,  born  of  vengeance  and  patriotism. 

When  the  regiment  went  into  bivouac  that  night  near  Winchester,  it  was 
proud  of  the  glory  it  had  won,  sorrowful  for  the  brave  men  it  had  lost. 
Its  losses  in  the  battle  had  been  one  hundred  and  nine,  slain,  wounded,  and 
captured.  Among  the  first  to  fall  was  Captain  D.  J.  Davis,  who,  his 
temple  pierced  by  a  minie  ball,  fell  dead  at  the  head  of  his  company.  No 
more  gallant  officer  or  estimable  man  fell  on  the  field  of  Opequan.  Captain 
B.  D.  Parks,  as  brave  as  warm-hearted,  fell  near  by.  Sergeant-Major  George 
A.  Remley,  pierced  with  three  balls,  gave  up  his  noble  life.  Lieutenant 
James  A.  Boarts,  a  most  promising  young  man,  received  a  mortal  wound. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  White  and  Captain  Cree  were  slightly  wounded,  Lieu 
tenants  Jones  and  Hull,  captured.  ' '  Colonel  Graham,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
White,  Major  Gearkee,  Captains  Mullins,  Humphrey,  Cree,  Clark,  Shockey, 
Hartly,  and  Morsman,  and  Lieutenants  Turnbull,  Davis,  Needham,  Mes 
senger,  and  Chandler  are  all  entitled  to  great  praise,"  says  Adjutant 
Samuel  D.  Pryce,  in  his  account  of  the  engagement,  "for  their  gallantry 
throughout  the  battle."  He  also  makes  mention  of  Surgeon  Shrader, 
Quartermaster  Sterling,  Hospital-Steward  Ealy,  and  Commissary-Sergeant 
Brown  for  efficient  services,  accompanied  by  danger,  in  caring  for  the 


486  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

wounded.  And  it  is  for  me  to  say,  on  the  authority  of  many  eye-witnesses, 
that  in  this  great  battle,  where  not  a  man  of  the  regiment  faltered,  no  one 
quitted  himself  more  handsomely  than  Adjutant  Pryce  himself.8 

On  the  morning  of  the  20th,  the  regiment  joined  in  the  pursuit  of  the 
retreating  rebels,  marching  through  Newtown  and  Middletown  to  the  vici 
nity  of  Strasburg,  beyond  Cedar  Creek,  where  the  command  went  into 
encampment.  The  enemy  made  a  stand  at  Fisher's  Hill,  a  strong  position 
not  for  behind  Strasburg.  The  battle  of  Fisher's  Hill,  another  fine  victory, 
took  place  on  the  22d.  Our  regiment  participated  in  the  fight,  but,  owing 
to  the  nature  of  the  ground  over  which  it  advanced  lost  but  four  men 
wounded.  The  regiment  joined  in  the  pursuit  by  night,  with  the  famous 
Eleventh  Indiana,  also  of  Molineaux'  Brigade,  occupying  the  extreme 
advance  till  four  o'clock  the  next  morning.  It  marched  to  Mount  Craw 
ford,  beyond  Harrisonburg,  in  this  pursuit,  having  frequent  skirmishes  with 
the  enemy.  At  the  close  of  the  first  week  in  October  the  army  counter 
marched  from  Harrisonburg,  and  went  into  fortified  encampment  on  the 

3  LIST  OF  CASUALTIES:  Field  and  Staff. — Killed,  Sergeant-Major  George  A.  Remley.  Wounded, 
Lieutenant-Colonel  E.  G.  White. 

Company  A — Killed,  Captain  David  J.  Davis.  Wounded,  Corporal  Edmund  II.  Wilcox  ;  Privates 
Noel  Morrison,  (mortally),  John  E.  Mead,  Solomon  McGue,  James  A.  Smith,  Chester  Hunter,  Jacob 
Erb,  Jacob  C.  Switzer.  Captured,  Lieutenant  Samuel  C.  Jones;  Barney  Tallman,  Nicholas  H. 
Bryce,  Robert  J.  Smith. 

Company  B — Killed,  First  Sergeant  John  D.  Bane;  Private  John  McCarty.  Wounded,  Lieutenant 
James  A.  Boarts,  (since  died);  Sergeant  William  Franklin;  Privates  Andrew  Douglass,  George 
Lunrion,  Mark  Thomas. 

Company  C— Wounded,  Corporal  John  W.  Dinsmore ;  Privates  Barney  Worrell,  Henry  B.  Jack, 
Jeremiah  Adams,  Adam  Bennett,  (mortally).  Prisoners,  Corporal  George  C.  Nicholl;  Private 
James  T.  Dailey. 

Company  D — Wounded,  Privates  Joseph  H.  Holbrook,  (since  dead),  William  C.  WTilson,  George 
Lefever,  James  II.  Van  Pelt.  Prisoners,  Privates  Henry  C.  Kritzer,  Charles  II.  Stevenson. 

Company  E — Killed,  Captain  Benjamin  D.  Parks.  Wounded,  Sergeant  Washington  J.  Warren; 
Privates  William  A.  Mahon,  James  Porter,  John  W.  McCoy,  Shelby  C.  Byers,  Samuel  D.  Lain,  Nichols 
Motes,  Angelo  Macklin.  Prisoners,  Corporals  Usher  J.  Stalcup,  Benjamin  F.  Pickerel;  Privates 
Thomas  Anderson,  James  M.  Anderson,  Henry  Webb,  Horatio  G.  Stalcup ;  Corporal  Julius  B. 
Gardner,  (Color  Guard). 

Company  F— Killed,  Privates  Joseph  Knapp,  Alvin  W.  Pinney.  Wounded,  Captain  Alfred  B. 
Cree;  Sergeant  James  A.  Pinney ;  Corporal  James  M.  Hopwood;  Privates  David  II.  Ealy,  Jacob 
Hirt,  Peter  Shilling,  Conrad  Strickler,  John  Rafter,  (mortally),  John  W.  Kinsey,  (mortally),  Joseph 
Fox.  Prisoner,  Private  Philip  Burgy. 

Company  G — Killed,  Sergeant  Cyrus  Wical ;  Private  Henry  Sharp.  Wounded,  Sergeants  John  K. 
Duncan,  David  R.  Shockey,  John  Grewell ;  Corporal  Hiram  Toms;  Private  Nathaniel  E.  Eells. 

Company  H — Killed,  Sergeant  David  H.  Minor.  Wounded,  Corporals  Henry  F.  Devault,  George 
Flint;  Privates  Joseph  Armstrong,  Jacob  F.  Pfaff,  Luther  Ulum,  Charles  Parsen,  John  W.  Car- 
inichael.  Prisoners,  First  Sergeant  John  Walt;  Corporals  Elisha  B.  Judson,  Edward  H.  Goodison; 
Privates  Anthony  Bower,  Alexander  Miller,  James  Stearns,  Jared  Strauser,  Joseph  Clure,  Jeremiah 
Daniels,  H.  Caldwell. 

Company  I— Killed,  Private  Uriah  M.  Kimberly.  Wounded,  Sergeant  Clement  W.  Baker,  (mor 
tally);  Corporal  John  W.  Poland;  Privates  David  W.  Connelly,  Thomas  Carr,  Francis  McReynolds, 
Edward  W.  Mullen,  (mortally). 

Company  K — Killed,  Sergeant  Jacob  Frank.  Wounded,  Private  Jacob  Stover.  Prisoners,  Lieu 
tenant  Oliver  P.  Hull;  Corporal  Simon  Taylor;  Privates  Loren  G.  Cutler,  Wenzel  Zika. 

A  few  others,  slightly  wounded,  were  not  reported. 


TWENTY-SECOND   -INFANTRY. 

line  of  the  Cedar  Creek,  where  the  last  great  battle  of  the  camp.'vi'. 
place  on  the  19th,  and  resulted,  after  a  hard  day's  fight,  in  a  complete  • 
glorious  victory  for  the  Union  arms.     In  this  engagement  the  To- 
ments  in  Sheridan's  army  took  a  most  honorable  part,  and  lost  many  g 
officers  and  men.4 

The  battle  of  Cedar  Creek  was  the  last  in  Tfhich  ilt^  ,T.p::jK  >--'• 
engaged.    It  met  the  enemy  in  skirmishes  afterwards  ] 
the  valley,  but  suffered  no  further  loss  at  the  hamf>')> 
men  of  the  regiment  made  quarters  for  the  winter  twicj/i- 
Valley,  but,  nevertheless,  bade  farewell  to  tho  locality  i 
mand  had  fougut  so  nobly  and  suffered  so  severely  early  in  January,  1865. 
The  command  proceeded  by  rail  to  Baltimore,  whence  it  embarked  for 
Savannah,  Georgia,  and  arrived  at  the  Forrest  City  on  the  20th.     Here 
the  regiment  remained  on  garrison  duty  about  two  months.     About  the 
middle  of  March,  it  left  its  beautiful  encampment  in  a  suburb  of  Savannah 
and  sailed  for  Morehead  City,  where  the  men  performed  heavy  duties  in 
the  way  of  assisting  Brevet  Brigadier- General  Easton,  Sherman's  chief 
quartermaster,  having  also  performed  the  journey  to  Newbern  and  return. 
Early  in  April  the  command  returned  to  Savannah,  where  the  brigade  was 
reorganized.      It    consisted   of  the  Twenty-second,    Twenty-fourth,    and 

*  The  wounded  of  the  Twenty-second  at  Fisher's  Hill  were:  Sergeant-Major  David  Higby,  Fife- 
Major  Paul  Miller;  Corporal  John  Hack,  Jacob  Bitner. 

The  casualties  at  Cedar  Creek  were  severe.    They  are  thus  officially  reported: 

Company  A— Wounded,  First  Sergeant  Calvin  H.  Bane;  Sergeants  Peter  B.  Boarts,  Oscar  B.  Lee; 
Corporals  Joshua  B.  Hughes,  William  H.  Bechtel,  Selva  S.  Street,  El mer  J.  C.  Bealer ;  Private  Andrew 
J.  Hamilton. 

Company  B— Wounded,  Privates  Edward  Mulhern,  Christian  Dodt. 

Company  C— Wounded,  Captain  Lafayette  F.  Mullins;  Sergeants  Taylor  Pierce,  George  W.Cooney; 
Privates  Jonathan  Guthrie,  Lewis  W.  Smithhart,  Robert  I.  Beau,  Jeremiah  Adams,  William  F. 
Strater,  Anthony  McKeever.  Prisoners,  Lieutenant  Robert  W.  Davis;  Corporals  Benjamin  West, 
George  S.  Post. 

Company  D— Wounded,  Privates  Samuel  Byerly  (mortally),  James  Moore,  William  W.  Cook, 
Samuel  R.  Conley.  Prisoners,  Joel  Webb,  Calvin  II.  Bray. 

Company  E —  Wounded,  Lieutenant  Edward  J.  Dudley ;  First  Sergeant  George  D.  Ulrich ;  Sergeant 
Oscar  J.  Shoemaker;'  Corporal  John  Giltner;  Privates  Charles  R.  Kackly,  John  Motes,  Jehial 
McDonald.  Prisoners,  Privates  Edward  C.  Shoemaker,  Elias  W.  Lively,  Joseph  W.  Jennings,  Abra 
ham  Myers,  James  F.  Wiley. 

Company  F— Killed,  Amos  M.  Scott.  Wounded,  Captain  Alfred  B.  Cree ;  First  Sergeant  Theodore 
S.  Loveland;  Sergeant  Richard  H.  Gabriel;  Privates  James  M.  Fernean,  Edward  Morgan,  Isaac 
S.  Struble,  George  Hibler.  Prisoners,  Privates  George  W.  Bell,  Isaac  N.  Halderman,  Lewis  Goben, 
Francis  M.  Payn. 

Company  G— Wounded,  Privates  John  Loader,  Albert  T.  Baker,  Charles  Kepford.  Missing,  Andrew 
L.  Crain. 

Company  H— Wounded,  Captain  Charles  Hartley;  Sergeant  George  Reynolds;  Corporal  Caleb 
L.  Eddy;  Privates  Marion  Blaylock,  James  Holt,  James  K.  P.  Rowe.  Prisoner,  Drummer  Francis 
C.  Flint. 

Company  T—  Wounded,  Lieutenant  Nicholas  C.  Messenger.  Prisoners,  Captain  Westel  W.  Morsman  ; 
Privates  Frank  Booth,  Oliver  Crocker,  David  Conriely.  Missing,  James  M.  Bonham. 

Company  K— Wounded,  Captain  George  W.  Clark.  Prisoners,  Sergeant  William  J.  Oldacre; 
Private  Charles  Bowen. 


488  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

^enty-eighth  Iowa  regiments,  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-eighth  and  One 
•ndred  and  Fifty-ninth  New  York,  and  Thirteenth  Connecticut,  and  was 
jmanded  by  Colonel  Harvey  Graham.  On  the  llth  this  command 
f6hed  for  Augusta,  where  it  arrived  on  the  19th.  And  there  our 
remained,  performing  garrison  and  provost  duties  till  after  the 


•-'  JUjHp*.  when  it  returned  to  Savannah  to  be  mustered  out  of  the 
steady  which  took  place  on  the  20th  of  July,  and  elicited 

'.)iu  the  .v  spaper,  edited  by  a  former  army  correspondent 

,1'  the  ISY  Tribune,  the  following  paragraph  : 

"  We  felt  a  thrill  of  vo  noble  State  which  has  sent  these 

brave  men  to  represent  L  seiples  and  unswerving  fealty  to  the 

Union  upon  the  bloody  ti<  Iowa  has  a  glorious  record,  and 

having  personally  witnessed  ;  tcr  honest,  hardy  sons  of  toil 

in  the  fiercest  battles,  we  but  do  our  duty  as  loyal  journalists  to  add  a  few 
words  of  commendation  for  a  State  thai  h.  assed  nearly  every  State  in 

our  Union  in  her  positive  proofs  of  loyally*  The  battle-torn  flags  that  will 
grace  the  State  archives  of  Iowa,  will,  in  fature  years,  be  gazed  upon  by 
admiring  thousands  with  the  proud  satisfaction  that,  though  the  storms  of 
heaven  caused  the  silk  to  fade,  yet  the  Colors  never  run  when  the  enemies 
of  our  country  swarmed  in  legions  around  the  valiant  lowans,  and  may  God 
bless  and  protect  them,  and  permit  them  to  live  long  enough  to  reap  the 
blessings  of  that  rich  harvest  which  their  valor  and  patriotism  have  won." 

The  following  was  the  roster  of  the  ,regiment  at  this  time  : 

Colonel  Harvey  Graham  ;  Lieutenant-Colonel  E.  G.  White  ;  Major  John 
H.  Gearkee  ;  Adjutant  Taylor  Pierce  ;  Surgeon  John  C.  Schrader  :  Acting 
Quartermaster  W.  H.  Needham  ;  Chaplain  Martin  Bowman.  Company 
A  —  Captain  Samuel  D.  Pryce  ;  First  Lieutenant  Samuel  C.  Jones.  Com 
pany  B—  First  Lieutenant  Joseph  S.  Turnbull.  Company  C—  Captain  Lafay 
ette  F.  Mullins  ;  First  Lieutenant  Robert  W.  Davis.  Company  D  —  Captain 
Napoleon  B.  Humphrey.  Company  E  —  Captain  Edward  J.  Dudley  ;  First 
Lieutenant  George  D.  Ulrich.  Company  F  —  Captain  Alfred  B.  Cree. 
Company  G  —  Captain  George  H.  Shockey.  Company  H  —  Captain  Charles 
Y.  Hartley  ;  First  Lieutenant  Joseph  R.  Chandler.  Company  I  —  Captain 
W.  W.  Morsman  ;  First  Lieutenant  Nicholas  C.  Messenger.  Company  K 
—First  Lieutenant  Oliver  P.  Hull. 

The  Twenty-second  arrived  at  Davenport  near  the  end  of  the  month,  and 
went  into  bivouac  at  Camp  Kinsman.  The  original  Colonel,  now  Governor 
Stone,  soon  arriving,  tents  were  procured  and  the  men  made  comfortable. 
August  3d,  the  regiment  was  disbanded,  then  being  in  charge  of  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  White,  and  numbering  four  hundred  and  thirty-six  officers  and 
men.  At  Iowa  City,  a  place  remarkable  for  its  warm-hearted  citizens,  the 
returning  soldiers  met  with  a  grand  reception,  as  did  those  from  other  parts 


TWENTY-SECOND     INFANTRY.  .        489 

of  the  district,  at  their  respective  homes.  During  its  long  and  honorable 
term  of  service  the  Twenty-second  Iowa  had  been  in  nearly  every  State  of 
the  rebellion  ;  had  traveled  thirteen  thousand  miles ;  had  been  engaged  in 
many  battles  and  skirmishes,  always  with  honor,  and  almost  always  with 
conspicuous  gallantry.  If  there  was  a  single  regiment  in  the  service  which 
made  a  prouder,  brighter  record  in  three  years'  service,  I  am  unacquainted 
with  its  history. 
62 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

TWENTY-THIRD    INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZATION  AT  DES  MOINES— MOVE  TO  THE  "  FRONT"— CAMPAIGN  IN  MISSOURI 
—JOIN  GENERAL  GRANT'S  ARMY— BATTLE  OF  PORT  GIBSON— BATTLE  OF 
BLACK  RIVER  BRIDGE—  COLONEL  KINSMAN  SLAIN— BATTLE  Of 
MILLIKEN'S  BEND— SIEGE  OF  VICKSBURG— JOIN  THE  TROOPS  UNDER 
BANKS  IN  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  GULF— CAMPAIGN  IN  LOUISIANA— VOY 
AGE  TO  TEXAS— RETURN— MOVE  UP  RED  RIVER  TO  REENFORCE  BANKS— CAM 
PAIGN  IN  ARKANSAS— GENERAL  CANBY'S  CAMPAIGN  OF  MOBILE— AGAIN  IN 
TEXAS— MUSTERED  OUT— DISBANDED  AT  DAVENPORT. 

THE  Twenty- third  Iowa  Volunteers,  by  universal  consent  the  heroes  of 
the  battle  of  the  Black  River  Bridge,  and  the  equal  sharers  with  other  troops 
of  the  honors  of  many  battle-fields,  were  recruited  from  counties  in  no  less 
than  three  of  our  Congressional  Districts — the  Fourth,  Fifth,  and  Sixth — 
though  it  is  but  just  to  state  that  Polk,  the  capital  county,  contributed  more 
generously  to  the  organization  than  any  other  county.  It  was  decidedly 
just  and  proper,  therefore,  that  the  regimental  rendezvous  should  have 
been,  as  it  was,  at  Des  Moines.  Hither  the  different  companies  moved  in 
the  latter  summer  and  early  autumn  of  1862,  and  were  mustered  into  the 
service  of  the  Union  on  the  19th  of  September.  The  field  and  commis 
sioned  staff  officers  were :  Colonel  William  Dewey,  of  Fremont  county ; 
Lieutenant-Colonel  William  H.  Kinsman,  of  Pottawattamie ;  Major  Samuel 
L.  Glasgow  of  Wayne  ;  Adjutant  Charles  0.  Dewey ;  Quartermaster  Robert 
W.  Cross ;  Surgeon  A.  H.  East,  with  Assistants  S.  Y.  Campbell,  C.  B. 
Bosbyshell ;  Chaplain  Reverend  Arthur  J.  Barton.  It  was  a  stout  regi 
ment  of  hardy  men,  with  an  aggregate  of  nine  hundred  and  sixty.1 

i  Company  A,  from  Polk,  Story,  and  Dallas  counties,  was  commanded  by  Captain  Leonard  B. 
Houston,  whose  Lieutenants  were  Devillo  P.  Ballard,  Theodore  G.  Cree.  Company  B,  from  Polk, 
had  for  Captain  Charles  J.  Clark,  and  Lieutenants  Joel  M.  Walker,  Stephen  Waterbury.  Company 
C,  was  also  from  Polk,  Captain  James  C.  Gregg,  Lieutenants  John  A.  T.  Hull,  Benjamin  Jennings. 
Company  D,  Wayne  county,  Captain  James  W.  Glasgow,  Lieutenants  Hiram  Evans,  James  B. 
Ormsby.  Company  E,  from  Pottawattamie,  Polk,  Story,  Harrison,  and  other  counties,  was  com 
manded  by  Captain  John  C.  Leininger,  (who  resigned  in  November,  and  was  succeeded  by  William 
R.  Henry),  Lieutenants  William  E.  Houston,  William  Merrill.  Company  F,  enrolled  in  Page  and 
Montgomery,  Captain  Charles  G.  George,  Lieutenants  Washington  Rawlings,  Isaac  H.  Walker. 

490 


TWENTY-THIRD     INFANTRY.  491 

Not  long  after  organization  the  regiment  left  "  Camp  Burnside."  near 
Des  Moines,  for  the  front.  Its  first  campaign  was  in  Missouri,  in  which 
State  it  spent  several  months,  performing  guard,  provost,  and  garrison 
duties,  and  engaging  in  a  number  of  minor  expeditions  wherein  the  troops 
did  considerable  marching,  suffered  no  little  hardship,  met  the  enemy  in 
skirmish,  and  became  enured  to  war.  While  at  West  Plains,  small 
pox  broke  out  in  the  regiment,  but  its  ravages  were  happily  stayed  in  a 
short  time.  The  regiment  performed  heavy  duties,  especially  by  marching 
over  the  mountains  of  southeastern  Missouri,  and  into  the  borders  of  Ar 
kansas,  during  the  winter.  But  the  campaign  was  more  remarkable  for  the 
sufferings  of  the  troops  than  for  any  great  good  accomplished. 

Colonel  Dewey  was  among  the  first  sufferers.  He  died  of  disease  at 
Patterson,  the  last  of  November,  and  was  succeeded  by  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Kinsman,  promoted.  Major  Glasgow  was  promoted  lieutenant-colonel, 
and  Captain  Charles  J.  Clark,  major.  Very  early  in  1863,  Colonel  Kins 
man  was  put  in  arrest  by  General  Davidson,  for  refusing  to  obey  an  order. 
The  order  made  by  General  Davidson,  an  unprincipled  and  tyrannical  Vir 
ginian,  was  itself  illegal.  The  Colonel  was  afterwards  tried  by  court- 
martial,  and  acquitted  of  the  principal  charge,  but  nominally  punished  for 
using  disrespectful  language  to  a  superior  officer.  I  suppose  very  few 
officers  who  knew  General  Davidson,  ever  spoke  of  him  in  respectful 
language,  except  as  required  by  regulations. 

The  regiment  took  part  in  that  march  of  suffering  from  West  Plains  by 
Eminence  to  Iron  Mountain,  elsewhere  in  this  work  described,  and  went 
into  encampment  at  the  last-named  place  in  the  latter  part  of  February. 
Having  made  a  halt  of  about  a  fortnight,  the  line  of  march  was  taken  up 
for  St.  Genevieve.  Thence  the  regiment  moved  down  the  Mississippi,  but 
made  a  considerable  halt  at  New  Madrid  and  again  at  Memphis,  so  that  it 
was  the  1st  of  April  when  the  command  disembarked  at  Milliken's  Bend, 
and  joined  the  forces  under  General  Grant,  about  to  institute  the  grand 
campaign  of  Vicksburg.  The  brigade,  in  which  were  the  Twenty-first, 
Colonel  Samuel  Merrill,  the  Twenty-second,  Colonel  W.  M.  Stone,  and  the 
First  Battery,  Captain  Harry  Griffiths,  of  Iowa  troops  besides  the  Twenty- 
third,  was  assigned  to  Carr's  Division  of  McClernand's  Thirteenth  Corps. 
The  regiment  remained  in  camp  near  Milliken's  Bend,  engaged  in  drill  and 
reviews,  till  the  army  started  on  the  famous  roundabout  march  for  the 
stronghold. 

The  details  of  the  difficult,  laborious  march,  need  not  be  here  set  forth. 

Company  G,  Jasper  county,  was  commanded  by  Captain  James  P.  Roach,  Lieutenants  R.  L.  McCray, 
George  F.  Ingle.  Company  H,  Madison  county,  Captain  James  F.  Goolman,  Lieutenants  S.  Q. 
Beckwith,  William  Mills.  Company  I,  from  Cass  and  other  counties,  was  in  charge  of  Captain 
James  II.  Coe,  Lieutenants  N.  M.  Whitted,  John  C.  Brown.  Company  K,  from  Marshall  county, 
came  in  with  Captain  Frederick  J.  Woodbury,  Lieutenants  N.  S.  Howard,  George  W.  Raff. 


492  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

A  number  of  transports  and  gun-boats  having  run  by  the  batteries  of 
Vicksburg,  the  troops  embarked,  and  moved  down  the  river  to  a  point  not 
far  above  Grand  Gulf,  but  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river.  Here  those 
first  transported  disembarked,  while  the  vessels  returned  for  others. 

The  29th  of  May,  Admiral  David  D.  Porter,  with  a  fleet  of  seven  gun 
boats,  bombarded  Grand  Gulf  in  the  presence  of  the  army.  The  morning 
was  clear  and  beautiful.  There  was  not  a  cloud  to  be  seen  in  the  heavens. 
Not  a  breath  of  air  was  astir.  The  majestic  river  flowed  by  in  sublime  silence, 
with  an  unrippled  surface,  smooth  as  the  polished  face  of  a  mirror.  About 
eight  o'clock  the  fleet  dropped  down  the  river  to  begin  the  attack.  Presently 
the  remarkable  silence  was  broken  by  the  heavy  boom  of  a  single  cannon, 
and  directly  the  battle  began  in  earnest.  It  was  a  grand  sight — the  moving 
monsters  in  the  water,  belching  forth  flame,  and  smoke,  and  iron ;  the  im- 
moveable  hills,  wreathed  with  smoke,  and  sublimely  vocal  with  the  thunder 
of  heavy  ordnance ;  the  air  filled  with  the  flying,  screaming  missiles,  the 
waters  boiling  like  the  waters  of  a  great  cauldron ;  the  transports  and  the 
levee  crowded  with  troops,  eager  spectators  of  the  noisy  battle,  and  who 
rent  the  air  with  shouts  when  the  gun-boats  made  successful  shots  or 
silenced  the  enemy's  guns.  The  engagement  lasted  more  than  five  hours, 
when  the  fleet,  having  silenced  nearly  all  the  hostile  guns,  withdrew  from 
the  contest. 

As  the  battle  closed,  the  troops  fell  into  line,  and  marched  across  the 
peninsula  on  a  levee  of  the  river.  The  army  marched  in  ranks  of  four,  and 
when  all  the  troops  had  filed  into  line  they  were  plainly  visible  on  their  elevated 
position  from  head  to  end  of  the  column,  and  presented  a  scene  of  surpass 
ing  interest.  Reaching  the  river  below  Grand  Gulf,  they  prepared  a  hasty 
supper,  and  went  into  bivouac  on  the  green  sward.  Thousands  had  gone  to 
sleep,  when  a  tremendous  sound  of  heavy  guns  shook  the  earth,  and 
aroused  the  slumbering  army.  The  cannonading  continued  thirty  minutes, 
when  a  dark  object  with  a  mouth  of  flame  appeared  in  the  river  toward 
Grand  Gulf.  Then  another,  and  another.  The  transports  had  run  by  the 
batteries  under  cover  of  the  fire  of  the  gun-boats.  Their  arrival,  writh  the 
welcome  intelligence  of  "no  casualties,"  brought  forth  loud  cheers  from  the 
whole  army. 

Early  on  the  following  morning  the  troops  embarked,  and  after  a  short 
voyage  down  the  river  landed  at  Bruinsburg.  The  Twenty-third  joined  in 
the  march  into  the  interior,  which  was  at  once  commenced,  and  which  very 
soon  brought  on,  as  is  well  known,  the  battle  of  Port  Gibson.  The  brigade 
was  at  this  time  commanded  by  Colonel  Stone,  of  the  Twenty-second  Iowa, 
and  formed  the  van  of  the  army.  It  was  first  in  the  battle  of  Port  Gibson, 
and  the  last  out  of  it.  The  Twenty-third,  Lieutenant- Colonel  Glasgow 


TWENTY-THIRD     INFANTRY.  493 

commanding,  fought  with  uncommon  gallantry  in  this  its  first  battle,  and 
suffered  more  heavily  than  any  regiment  in  the  brigade.2 

The  command  took  part  in  the  subsequent  movements  of  the  division, 
which  belonged  to  the  corps  that,  having  fought,  almost  alone,  the  first 
battle  of  the  campaign,  was  not  called  into  action  in  the  two  succeeding  en 
gagements.  A  division  of  this  corps,  that  of  Hovey,  stood  the  brunt  of 
battle  at  Champion  Hills,  the  other  divisions  being  but  slightly  engaged  or 
in  reserve.  Carr  was  among  the  latter.  But  the  rebels  having  been 
thoroughly  beaten,  the  troops  of  the  reserve  moved  at  once  in  pursuit,  and, 
having  captured  many  prisoners  before  sunset,  continued  to  march  on  in 
the  direction  of  Vicksburg,  giving  no  rest  to  the  wicked  rebels.  They  at 
tempted  to  make  a  stand  at  Black  River,  but  were  driven  by  McClernand 
from  that  their  last  position  outside  the  works  of  Vicksburg,  by  a  sharp  en 
gagement,  fought  on  the  17th  of  May.  This  was  called 

THE  BATTLE  OF  BLACK  RIVER  BRIDGE. 

The  pursuing  Unionists,  leaving  their  bivouacs  at  daylight  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  17th,  pushed  rapidly  forward,  McClernand' s  Corps  in  the  advance, 
and  Carr  having  the  extreme  front.  The  enemy  was  found  strongly  posted 
on  both  sides  of  the  Black  River.  At  this  point  the  bank  of  the  stream 
on  the  west  side  consists  of  high  bluffs  rising  abruptly  from  the  water's 
edge.  On  the  east  side  there  is  an  open,  level  bottom,  about  one  mile  in 
width,  surrounded  by  a  deep,  miry  bayou,  from  ten  to  twenty  feet  wide. 
Following  the  line  of  the  bayou  was  a  line  of  defences,  consisting  of  a  series 
of  works  for  artillery,  and  a  line  of  breastworks.  The  bayou  served  admi 
rably  as  a  ditch  in  front  of  the  enemy's  outer  line  of  works ;  beyond  which 
was  another  line,  shorter  than  this,  and  about  one-half  mile  in  rear  of  it. 
Both  extended  from  the  river  above  the  bridge  to  the  river  below.  The 
position  of  the  enemy,  was,  therefore,  on  an  island,  strongly  fortified  by 
the  work  of  the  engineer. 

McClernand  immediately  invested  the  place,  Carr's  division  on  the  right, 
Osterhaus  on  the  left.  Brigadier-General  Lawler,  now  commanding  the 
brigade  which  Colonel  Stone  had  commanded  at  the  battle  of  Port  Gibson, 
occupied  the  extreme  right  of  the  line.  General  Benton's  Brigade  extended 
from  Lawler' s  left  to  the  railroad.  A  few  hours  having  been  spent  in  skir 
mishing,  General  Lawler  discovered  that  by  moving  a  portion  of  his  troops 

*  The  casualties  were  six  slain,  and  twenty-seven  wounded.    Namely: 

Kitted,  Calvin  Johnson,  J.  G.  Webb,  C.  C.  Batterille,  Mortimer  W.  Goss,  W.  H.  Gumming,  Henry 
Burns. 

Woundtd,  Captain  William  R.  Henry ;  Lieutenant  D.  P.  Ballard ;  G.  W.  Smiley,  J.  E.  Banning,  H. 
J.  Hiestand,  W.  Bissel,  Henry  Carr,  G.  W.  McLaughlin,  William  Musgrove,  William  Woodward, 
James  O'Blennis,  W.  Hogue,  Jacob  A.  Tabler,  Marshall  Craig,  George  T.  Cavender,  A.  A.  Brown, 
William  Franks,  D.  H.  Skidmore,  E.  A.  Jones,  N.  W.  Hiatt,  Frank  R.  Howard,  Peter  Cocklin,  Jacob 
Neth,  Alvey  Smith,  Jamea  Hoile,  Harrison  Hubbard,  David  Inman. 


494  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

under  cover  of  the  river  bank  he  could  get  a  position  from  which  the 
enemy's  works  could  be  successfully  assaulted.  A  charge  was  accordingly 
ordered. 

The  Twenty-second  Iowa  moved  under  cover  of  the  river  bank,  but  the 
other  troops  charged  across  the  bottom,  through  the  bayou,  over  the 
enemy's  works,  every  foot  passed  being  under  a  murderous  fire,  and  in  a 
very  few  minutes,  eighteen  guns  and  fifteen  hundred  prisoners  were  the 
trophies  of  this  short,  sharp  battle.  Those  of  the  rebels  who  escaped  set 
fire  to  the  bridge,  so  that  immediate  pursuit  was  impracticable.  The  battle 
was  ended.  The  charge  had  hardly  occupied  more  time  than  it  takes  to 
tell  of  it.  But  along  its  track,  the  ground  was  covered  with  the  dead,  and 
the  dying.  The  victims  of  this  short  combat  numbered  three  hundred 
and  seventy-three,  most  of  whom  belonged  to  the  Twenty-first  and  Twenty- 
third  regiments  of  Iowa  Infantry. 

Among  the  slain  was  Colonel  Kinsman  of  the  Twenty-third.  He  had 
received  two  wounds  through  the  body.  He  was  as  gallant  an  officer  as 
ever  drew  a  sword.  Of  an  amiable  disposition,  brave  almost  to  rashness, 
ever  attentive  to  the  wants  of  his  troops  and  always  prompt  to  insist  upon 
their  having  all  their  rights,  he  was  beloved  by  his  command  universally, 
as  he  was  by  all  who  knew  him  in  the  walks  of  private  life.  His  death, 
heroic  though  it  was,  cast  a  gloom  all  over  Iowa,  which  was  deeply  poignant 
in  that  part  of  the  State  where  he  had  long  lived.  His  regiment  lost 
heavily  in  line  officers,  and  in  men.  It  went  into  the  fight  with  most 
wonderful  enthusiasm.  The  sutler  of  the  regiment,  seizing  a  gun,  took 
part  in  the  assault.  He  was  slain.  When  the  command  came  out  of  the 
fight,  the  companies  scarcely  averaging  a  score  of  men,  General  Lawler 
passed  down  the  line,  and  with  speechless  emotion  seized  every  man  by  the 
hand.  Theji,  completely  overcome,  the  brave  man  lifted  up  his  voice  and 
wept.3 

The  assault  was  called  by  General  Grant,  who  never  deals  in  injudicious 
praise,  a  brilliant  and  daring  movement.  It  was  "eminently  brilliant," 
says  McClernand,  "  and  reflects  the  highest  credit  upon  the  officers  and  men 
who  achieved  the  victory."  Besides  the  Twenty-third,  the  Twenty-first 
Iowa  was  prominently  engaged  in  this  battle.  It  was  on  this  field  that 
Colonel  Merrill,  of  that  gallant  command,  was  severely  wounded,  whilst 
bravely  leading  his  regiment  through  a  storm  of  bullets.  The  command 
then  devolved  upon  Lieutenant-Colonel  Dunlap.  He  speaks  in  the  highest 
praise  of  the  conduct  of  officers  and  men.  "Major  S.  G.  Van  Anda," 

8  So  also  did  Iowa  weep  at  the  great  immolation  of  the  Twenty-third  regiment  at  Black  River 
Bridge.  The  loss  of  the  regiment  in  killed  and  wounded  was  very  heavy.  Colonel  Kinsman  having 
been  slain,  and  the  regiment  soon  moving  away  in  charge  of  prisoners,  will,  perhaps,  account  for 
the  fact  that  no  official  report  of  the  engagement,  so  far  as  the  regiment  is  concerned,  was  ever 
published.  I  am  indebted  for  my  meagre  account  of  the  battle  to  reports  of  general  officers. 


TWENTY-THIRD      INFANTRY.  495 

says  Lieutenant-Colonel  Dunlap,  in  this,  his  last  official  report,  for  in  the 
next  engagement  of  the  regiment  he  was  slain,  "received  the  highest 
credit  for  the  coolness  and  bravery  with  which  he  conducted  the  charge, 
the  left  being  in  front,  through  the  storm  of  leaden  hail.  Much  of  the 
success  of  the  charge  is  owing  to  his  gallant  conduct  and  daring  example. 
Captain  Harrison  was  one  of  the  first  officers  on  the  enemy's  works.  Cap 
tains  Swivel,  Voorhees,  Watson,  Boardman,  and  Crooke  behaved  with 
great  coolness.  Lieutenants  Roberts,  Childs,  and  Dolson,  received  the 
praise  of  all  who  saw  their  bravery.  Lieutenant  Howard,  acting  adjutant, 
received  a  mortal  wound  while  gallantly  performing  his  part  in  this  gallant 
charge.  We  lost  many  of  our  bravest  men ;  but  it  was  a  great  under 
taking,  and  the  object  most  important. ' ' 

All  accounts  agree  in  speaking  of  the  conduct  of  officers  and  men  of  the 
Twenty-third  in  terms  of  unqualified  praise.  Captain  McCray  was  mor 
tally  wounded,  as  were  Lieutenants  S.  G.  Beckwith  and  J.  D.  Ewing.  Of 
others  who  fell  I  cannot  speak  for  want  of  official  reports.  I  may  state, 
however,  as  illustrative  of  the  fearful  ordeal  through  which  the  assaulting 
column  passed,  that  of  the  thirty-seven  members  of  Captain  Gooiman's 
company  who  were  engaged  in  the  charge,  twenty-two  were  hit.  His  two 
lieutenants  and  his  orderly  sergeant  were  slain,  and  a  number  more  of  his 
command  received  fatal  wounds.  He  himself  had  a  leave  of  absence  in 
his  pocket,  which  he  had  carried  from  Milliken's  Bend. 

To  the  Twenty-third  was  awarded  the  duty  of  guarding  the  prisoners. 
It  marched  to  the  Yazoo,  in  guard  of  several  thousand  officers  and  men, 
the  captured  at  Champion  Hills  and  Black  River  Bridge,  and  embarked, 
after  a  most  fatiguing  march,  for  Memphis.  The  voyage  was  made,  with 
some  delays  on  the  way.  Returning,  the  regiment  disembarked  at  Milli 
ken's  Bend.  This  post  was  garrisoned  for  the  most  part  by  negro  troops, 
who  had  but  recently  been  received  into  the  service,  and  were,  consequently, 
raw  and  inexperienced.  General  Dennis  was  in  command  of  the  post,  his 
forces  numbering  about  fifteen  hundred  men.  On  the  6th  and  7th  of  June, 
a  considerable  engagement  took  place. 

THE  BATTLE   OF  MILLIKEN'S  SEND. 

The  Union  troops  were  encamped  along  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  be 
tween  the  river  and  the  levee  which  is  here  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
yards  from  the  stream.  Breastworks  had  been  thrown  up  on  the  right  and 
left  of  the  encampment.  There  were  a  few  rifle-pits  along  the  levee,  which 
is  at  this  place  about  eight  feet  high.  These  were  the  defensive  works  of 
Milliken's  Bend.  In  the  rear  of  the  levee  is  a  large  plantation,  abounding 
in  fruit  and  ornamental  trees  and  hedges.  The  colored  troops  occupying 
this  encampment  were,  the  Ninth  Louisiana,  Colonel  Lieb,  the  Eleventh, 


496  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Colonel  Chamberlain,  and  part  of  the  First  Mississippi.  The  Twenty-third 
Iowa,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Glasgow,  was,  except  a  small  force  of  cavalry, 
the  only  command  of  white  men  present,  and  this  had  been  so  reduced  by 
the  casualties  of  its  honorable  service,  that  it  numbered  less  than  two 
hundred  men  fit  for  duty. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  6th  of  June,  Captain  Anderson,  command 
ing  two  companies  of  the  10th  Elinois  Cavalry,  and  Colonel  Lieb,  Ninth 
Louisiana,  colored,  made  a  reconnoissance  in  the  direction  of  Richmond. 
Colonel  Lieb  marched  on  the  main  Richmond  road  to  a  railroad  depot, 
about  three  miles  from  town,  where  he  met  and  drove  the  enemy's  advance, 
but  in  anticipation  of  an  attack  in  force  fell  back  slowly  toward  Milliken's 
Bend,  directly  after  the  first  brush  of  the  engagement.  He  had  counter 
marched  about  half  way  to  the  Bend,  when  Captain  Anderson,  who  had 
marched  by  a  different  road,  came  dashing  up  in  his  rear,  hotly  pursued  by 
the  rebels.  Colonel  Lieb  instantly  formed  his  blacks  in  line  of  battle,  who 
delivered  a  volley  into  the  advancing  enemy,  which  turned  him  at  once 
to  the  right-about.  He  retired  precipitately,  with  considerable  loss.  This 
closed  the  contest  for  the  day.  Colonel  Lieb  returned  to  the  Bend,  where 
he  was  reenforced  by  the  Twenty-third  Iowa,  reduced  in  strength  as  above 
stated. 

At  three  o'clock  of  the  following  morning,  the  enemy  appeared  in  strong 
force,  advancing  against  our  left  in  close  column  by  division,  with  man} 
troopers  on  his  right  flank.  The  force  now  at  the  Bend  consisted  of  the 
Twenty-third  Iowa  and  the  African  brigade,  and  numbered  less  than  eleven 
hundred  combatants.  They  did  not  open  on  the  enemy  till  he  had  got 
within  point-blank  musket  range.  They  then  let  drive  a  well  directed  vol 
ley  plump  into  the  rebel  columns,  which  caused  them  to  waver  and  recoil. 


But  only  for  a  moment.     T 
assault  with  great  intrepid 


been  drilled  but  a  few  days. 


rallied,  and  soon  again  moved  to  the 
colored  troops  were  not  well  armed, 


and  were  not  yet  skilful  in  t  General  G  their  weapons,  some  of  them  having 


though  they  fought  with  acknow 


ledged  gallantry,  their  execution  was  not  first-rate,  and  the  enemy  gained 
our  works.  There  ensued  a  fearful  hand-to-hand  contest.  The  rebels, 
rushing  over  the  works  with  the  savage  cry  of  "no  quarter,"  were  met  by 
the  blacks  with  bayonets  and  clubbed  muskets.  The  dreadful  melee  con 
tinued  many  minutes,  black  men  and  white  mingling  in  the  strange  en 
counter,  and  falling  together  in  the  deadly  strife.  At  length,  our  forces, 
receiving  an  enfilading  fire,  fell  back  to  the  defence  of  the  river  bank,  when 
the  gun-boats  "  Choctaw"  and  "  Lexington"  came  to  the  rescue,  and  by  a 
few  broadsides  soon  sent  the  rebels  tumbling  over  the  works  and  the  levee. 
They  again  essayed  attack,  now  moving  against  our  right,  but  were  quickly 
repulsed. 


TWENTY-THIRD     INFANTRY.  497 

The  battle  closed  at  noon,  in  the  complete  defeat  of  the  rebels,  who  left 
more  than  an  hundred  of  their  dead  upon  the  field,  and  who  lost  in  others 
killed  and  in  wounded  probably  not  less  than  five  hundred  more.  The  loss 
of  the  Unionists  was  about  six  hundred.  The  Twenty-third  Iowa  lost  in 
killed  and  wounded  about  fifty  officers  and  men,  among  the  former  being 
Captain  John  C.  Brown,  a  gallant  officer  and  worthy  man,  one  among  the 
many  representatives  of  the  Iowa  press  who  gave  their  lives  in  defence  of  the 
Union  against  rebellion.  Adjutant  Thomas  Free,  of  the  Eleventh  Louisiana, 
who  was  here  conspicuous,  and  who  received  several  balls  through  his 
uniform,  was  a  citizen  of  Iowa,  But  Colonel  Chamberlain,  of  that  regi 
ment,  who  had  been  Major  of  the  First  Iowa  Cavalry,  conducted  himself. 
I  regret  to  say,  in  a  very  unsoldierlike  manner.  All  others,  officers  and 
men,  so  far  as  records  show,  behaved  most  handsomely,  The  Twenty-third 
fought  with  unsurpassed  courage  and  tenacity.  "The  officers  and  men, 
who  fought  at  Milliken's  Bend, ' '  says  General  Dennis,  ' '  deserve  the  highest 
praise  for  their  gallant  conduct,  and  especially  Colonel  Glasgow,  of  the 
Twenty-third  Iowa,  and  his  brave  men. "  It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  this 
regiment  won  the  proudest  honors  of  the  day  on  this  "dark  and  bloodv 
field." 

The  battle  has  become  specially  memorable  from  the  fact  that  it  was  the 
first  considerable  engagement  in  which  negro  troops  took  part.  Their  con 
duct  here  was  highly  gallant  and  meritorious— so  much  so  that  it  received 
the  warm  encomiums  of  General  Grant.  It  was  regarded,  therefore,  as  a 
justification  of  a  policy  which  had  met  with  much  opposition,  and  had  not 
been  adopted  by  the  general  government  without  much  misgiving  and  long 
hesitation.  It  was  a  marked  coincidence,  too,  that  an  Iowa  regiment  fought 
with  the  African  brigade  in  the  battle,  for  it  was  an  Iowa  General,  Hugh 
T.  Reed,  who  did  more,  perhaps,  than  any  other  officer  in  the  army,  to 
bring  into  favor  the  employment  of  colored  troops.  He  had  advocated  the 
policy  with  all  the  arguments  which  an  acute  and  powerful  mind  could 
suggest,  and  had,  before  this  battle,  put  it  into  practical  operation  at  Lake 
Providence,  of  which  post  he  was  in  command  for  several  months,  and 
though  frequently  attacked,  invariably  sent  off  his  assailants  thoroughly 
convinced  that  a  battle  there  would  be  a  useless  waste  of  rebel  blood  and 
life. 

In  another  respect  also,  besides  that  of  the  gallantly  of  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Glasgow  and  his  command,  was  the  battle  peculiarly  interesting  to  the  people 
of  Iowa.  Even  that  gallantry  might  not  have  saved  the  troops  from  utter  de 
feat,  perhaps  general  massacre,  but  for  the  timely  aid  of  the  gun-boats  of  the 
Navy.  Those  gun-boats  were  the  fruits  of  Iowa  statesmanship.  It  was  James 
W.  Grimes,  a  Senator  of  the  United  States  from  Iowa,  who  inaugurated  and 
established  the  plan  by  which  our  rivers  and  our  ocean  coasts  were  protected 
63 


498  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

by  iron-clad  vessels.  In  the  general  dearth  of  statesmanship  which  prevailed 
in  the  early  era  of  the  rebellion,  there  was,  nevertheless,  vigorous  growth  in 
naval  affairs.  It  is  but  the  truth  of  history,  that  Mr.  Grimes,  the  leading 
member  of  the  naval  committee,  put  flesh,  and  blood,  and  sinew,  and 
muscle  about  the  dry  bones  of  the  Navy  Department,  and  breathed  therein 
a  living  soul.  To  his  statesmanship  is  due  no  little  of  the  national  glory 
which  sprang  from,  the  achievements  of  Foote,  of  Farragut,  of  Du  Pont, 
of  Winslow,  to  the  common  stock  of  which  Porter  might  also  have  added, 
but  for  his  unfortunate  inability  to  distinguish  between  a  matter  of  fact  and 
a  matter  of  imagination.  Milliken's  Bend  was  only  one  of  an  hundred  en 
gagements  made  Union  triumphs  by  the  help  of  the  navy. 

After  this  battle,  the  Twenty-third  returned  to  its  brigade  and  took  posi 
tion  in  the  investing  lines  around  the  works  of  Vicksburg.  The  regiment 
was  not  strong  in  numbers,  but  the  officers  and  men  who  had  escaped  the 
ravages  of  battle  and  disease  endured  the  severe  labors  and  trials  of  the 
siege  with  as  good  spirit  as  was  possible.  The  siege  having  been  success 
fully  concluded,  the  regiment  marched  with  the  expeditionary  army  against 
Jackson,  and  having  taken  full  part  in  that  campaign,  returned  to  the  vici 
nity  of  Vicksburg  in  the  latter  part  of  July. 

About  the  middle  of  August,  the  Thirteenth  Corps,  General  Ord,  was 
transferred  to  the  Department  of  the  Gulf.  In  this  Department,  the  history 
of  the  Twenty-third  Iowa  was  for  nearly  a  year  substantially  the  same  as  that 
of  its  gallant  comrade  regiment,  the  Twenty-second,  the  principal  note 
worthy  events  of  which  have  already  been  related.  It  will  avoid  boraceous 
repetition,  then,  here  to  state  only  in  brief  outline,  that  in  the  campaigning 
which  has  been  described  in  Louisiana,  in  which  the  Twenty-second  took 
part,  the  Twenty-third  participated  ;  that  in  the  fall  it  made  the  voyage  to 
Texas,  and  joined  in  the  march  against  Fort  Esperanza,  which  fell  into  our 
hands  without  serious  fighting ;  that  it  spent  the  winter  at  Indianola,  the 
spring  on  Metagorda  Island,  where  Major  Houston  of  the  Twenty-third 
for  some  time  commanded  the  Twenty-second,  in  the  absence  of  its  field 
officers ;  and  that,  one  of  the  best  drilled  and  disciplined  regiments  that 
ever  bore  arms,  it  returned  to  New  Orleans  in  the  spring  of  1864,  to  reen- 
force  Banks,  then  retreating  down  the  Red  River  to  the  Mississippi. 

It  at  once  started  up  the  river  from  New  Orleans,  General  Fitz  Henry 
Warren  being  in  command  of  a  considerable  force,  of  which  the  Twenty- 
third,  and  a  detachment  of  the  Twenty-second,  Captain  Cree,  formed  the 
principal  part.  This  force  proceeded  to  Fort  De  Russey,  but  the  naviga 
tion  of  the  Red  River  above  being  obstructed,  it  returned  to  the  mouth  of 
Red  River  and  went  into  encampment  there.  The  15th  of  May,  the  troops 
again  embarked  and  proceeded  to  Semmsport  on  the  Atchafalaya  where 


TWENTY-THIRD     INFANTRY.  499 

General  Banks'  army  had  crossed  on  a  bridge  of  transports.  The  regi 
ment  arrived  at  Morganza  on  the  22d,  and  went  into  camp. 

Soon  after  this,  the  Thirteenth  Corps  was  discontinued,  and  by  the 
changes  which  were  thus  brought  about  the  Twenty-third  and  the  Twenty- 
second  bade  each  other  a  final  farewell.  The  Twenty-third,  after  a  consi 
derable  period  of  rest,  moved  into  Arkansas.  It  was  now  in  a  brigade  with 
the  Twentieth,  Lieutenant-Colonel  J.  B.  Leake,  a  regiment  from  Wisconsin 
and  one  from  Illinois.  It  belonged  to  the  Third  Division  of  the  Nineteenth 
Corps,  which  was  dispersed  over  the  country,  from  the  Shenandoah  Valley 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  campaigning  of  the  Twenty-third  in  Arkansas 
consisted  rather  of  marches  and  countermarches  through  the  mud  about 
Duvall's  Bluff  and  Brownsville,  and  hard  labor  on  fortifications  than  of 
fighting.  It  did  not  here  meet  the  enemy. 

Early  in  1865,  the  command  moved  to  the  vicinity  of  New  Orleans,  and 
there  awaited  the  general  preparations  for  the  last  grand  campaign  of  the 
war,  that  of  Mobile.  On  this  campaign,  Lieutenant- Colonel  Charles  J. 
Clark  was  much  of  the  time  in  command  of  the  regiment,  Colonel  Glasgow 
being  in  command  of  the  brigade.  In  the  muddy  marches,  the  siege  labors, 
the  assault  of  formidable  works  of  the  campaign,  the  regiment  bore  a  con 
spicuous  part,  and  in  the  various  operations  before  the  storming  of  Spanish 
Fort  and  in  that  brilliant  charge,  lost  between  thirty  and  forty  wounded, 
one  mortally.4 

The  brilliant  and  memorable  operations  of  the  regiment  in  the  campaign 
against  Mobile  ended  its  operations  in  the  face  of  the  enemy.  It  is  a 
remarkable  coincidence  that  at  Spanish  Fort  it  met  and  whipped  the 
Twenty-third  Alabama  regiment,  which  it  had  met  and  whipped  on  the 
occasion  of  its  first  going  under  fire,  at  the  battle  of  Port  Gibson.  But  the 
regiment  did  not  here  end  its  campaigning.  Remaining  near  the  scene  of 
its  latest  renown  a  little  more  than  two  months,  it  embarked  again  for 
Texas,  arriving  at  Galveston  on  the  22d  of  June.  Thence  it  moved  by 
Houston  to  Columbus,  and  went  into  encampment.  Colonel  Glasgow  and 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Clark  being  necessarily  absent  in  New  Orleans,  and 
Major  Houston  in  command  of  the  post,  Captain  J.  J.  Van  Houten  was  in 

*  Reverend  A.  J.  Barton,  Chaplain  of  the  regiment,  writing  to  the  State  Register,  a  short  time 
after  the  capture  of  Spanish  Fort,  says :  "  The  Twenty-third  regiment  was  very  fortunate.  It  had 
but  thirty-five  wounded,  and  but  one  of  that  number  has  died.  The  officers  and  men  are  enjoying 
fine  health,  and  ready  for  any  emergency  the  occasion  may  require.  General  Glasgow  is  in  charge 
of  the  prisoners,  and  ordered  to  Ship  Island  with  them." 

The  only  list  of  casualties,  except  that  of  Fort  Gibson,  of  the  Twenty-third  regiment  I  have  ever 
seen,  either  in  manuscript  or  print,  is  a  partial  list  sent  by  the  correspondent  just  named  to  the 
Register,  and  which  embraces  only  these  names  of  wounded :  Corporal  Harrison  H.  Beighler ; 
John  Love,  Franklin  Kridelbaugh,  William  Richmond,  Elias  Cottle,  Richard  Campbell,  Seymour  B. 
Williams,  (mortally),  Joseph  C.  Williams,  John  J.  Rollings,  N.  E.  Wilder,  Lyman  J.  Jordan,  John 
Hudson,  John  J.  Harrison,  Hamilton  Roth. 

The  letter  embracing  this  list  seems  to  have  been  written  before  the  assault. 


500  IOWA    AND     THE     KEBELLION. 

command  of  the  regiment.  A  correspondent  says,  "we  get  all  tlie  chick 
ens,  eggs,  butter,  watermelons,  green  corn,  etc.,  we  want,  and  don't  have 
to  pay  much  for  them." 

After  about  a  month  spent  rather  agreeably  in  Texas,  the  regiment  was 
honorably  discharged  the  service,  on  the  26th  of  July,  with  the  following 
officers : 

Colonel  S.  L.  Glasgow,  Brevet  Brigadier-General;  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Charles  J.  Clark;  Major  L.  B.  Houston;  Surgeon  0.  Peabody;  Assistant 
Surgeon  T.  J.  Caldwell;  Adjutant  E.  B.  Nelson;  Quartermaster  P.  E. 
Grier.  Company  A,  Captain  D.  P.  Ballard;  First  Lieutenant  John  W. 
Mattox.  Company  B,  Captain  J.  M.  Walker;  First  Lieutenant  M.  C. 
Brown;  Second  Lieutenant  Frank  Weitman.  Company  C,  Captain  Ben 
jamin  Jennings ;  First  Lieutenant  L.  A.  Garrett.  Company  D,  Captain 
William  M.  Littell;  First  Lieutenant  Frank  Crathorne.  Company  E, 
Captain  William  E.  Houston.  Company  F,  Captain  I.  H.  Walker;  First 
Lieutenant  N.  C.  Ridenour;  Second  Lieutenant  A.  Van  Eaton.  Company 
G,  Captain  Thomas  H.  Miler.  Company  H,  Captain  R.  W.  Cross;  First 
Lieutenant  J.  L.  Shipley.  Company  I,  Captain  J.  J.  Van  Houten;  First 
Lieutenant  E.  P.  Mills.  Company  K,  Captain  John  McGowen;  First 
Lieutenant  H.  C.  Wilson. 

The  regiment,  numbering  four  hundred  and  seventeen,  officers  and  men, 
proceeded  to  Davenport  to  be  disbanded,  and  reached  that  city  at  a  very 
early  hour  on  the  morning  of  August  8th.  Not  being  expected  at  such  a 
time  of  the  night,  it  was  not  met  with  a  public  reception.  "But  they  are, 
nevertheless,"  said  the  "Gazette,"  "most  heartily  welcomed  back  to  the 
State  they  have  made  illustrious  by  their  heroic  deeds. ' '  A  most  palpable 
truth.  Certainly  there  was  no  regiment  of  Iowa  Volunteers  more  entitled 
to  kind  welcome  home  than  the  Twenty-third  Infantry.  It  was  a  small 
matter  that  the  inopportune  hour  of  its  return  to  the  State  prevented  a 
formal  reception.  Its  reception  was  in  the  hearts  of  the  people,  where  it 
must  forever  retain  a  strong  hold  of  kindly  recollection— mournful  for  its 
illustrious  dead,  grateful  for  its  illustrious  living. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

TWENTY-FOURTH  INFANTRY. 

CALLED  THE  TEMPERANCE  REGIMENT— RENDEZVOUS  AT  CAMP  STRONG,  NEAR  MUS- 
CATINE—  EMBARK  FOR  HELENA,  ARKANSAS— MAKE  SEVERAL  MARCHES  DURING 
THE  WINTER  OF  1862-3— HELENA  INUNDATED— A  DARK  PERIOD— DAILY  DRILL- 
JOIN  THE  THIRTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS,  MAJOR-GENERAL  McCLERNAND— THE  CAM 
PAIGN  AGAINST  VICKSBURG— BATTLE  OF  PORT  GIBSON,  OR  THOMPSON'S  HILL- 
ACTIVE  CAMPAIGNING— BATTLE  OF  CHAMPION  HILLS-SIEGE  OF  VICKSBURG— 
TRANSFER  TO  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  GULF— THE  RED  RIVER  EXPEDITION— BAT 
TLE  OF  SABINE  CROSS  ROADS— A  VOYAGE  BY  SEA  TO  FORTRESS  MONROE, 
VIRGINIA— BY  STEAMER  TO  WASHINGTON  CITY— WITH  GENERAL  PHILIP  SHER 
IDAN  IN  THE  SHENANDOAH  VALLEY— BATTLE  OF  WINCHESTER— BATTLE  OF 
FISHER'S  HILL— CEDAR  CREEK— AIRY  WINTER  QUARTERS— AGAIN  IN  THE 
SOUTH— HOME. 

SOON  after  the  receipt  of  the  President's  Proclamation  of  July  2d,  1862, 
calling  for  three  hundred  thousand  volunteers,  Governor  Kirk  wood  issued 
a  commission  to  Eber  C.  By  am,  of  Linn  County,  authorizing  him  to  raise  a 
regiment  to  be  called  the  "The  Iowa  Temperance  Regiment. "  Circulars 
were  accordingly  distributed  by  By  am  through  Linn  and  the  adjoining 
counties.  In  a  very  short  time  more  than  double  the  requisite  number  of 
companies  were  organized  and  ready  to  march  to  the  appointed  rendezvous. 
They  were  composed  of  men  of  temperance  principles  and  temperance 
habits — that  is  to  say,  of  men  who  touch  not,  taste  not,  handle  not  spiritu 
ous  or  malt  liquor,  wine  or  cider.  If  the  men  have  since  adopted  other 
principles  or  other  habits,  it  has  only  been  at  such  times  as  they  were  under 
the  overruling  power  of  military  necessity.  Out  of  the  companies  reported 
as  ready  to  join  the  regiment,  choice  was  made  as  follows :  three  from  Linn 
County,  F,  Gr,  and  H,  under  Captains  Dirnmitt,  Vinson,  and  Carbee ;  two 
from  Cedar,  B  and  C,  Captains  Rathburn  and  Johnson;  two  from  Jackson, 
A  and  I,  Captains  Henderson  and  Martin;  Company  D,  from  Johnson, 
Captain  Casbeer;  Company  E,  from  Tama,  Captain  Clark;  and  Company 

501 


502  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

K  from  Jones,  Captain  Williams.  E.  C.  Byam  was  duly  commissioned 
colonel;  John  Q.  Wilds,  lieutenant-colonel;  and  Ed  Wright,  major. 

The  rendezvous  of  the  companies  was  at  Camp  Strong,  near  the  city  of 
Muscatine,  where  the  Thirty-fifth  was  also  rendezvousing  at  the  same  time. 
After  medical  inspection  of  the  Twenty-fourth,  some  of  the  companies  were 
more  than  full.  Those  making  the  excess  were  transferred  to  the  Thirty- 
fifth.  On  the  18th  of  September  the  regiment  was  mustered  into  the 
service  of  the  United  States,  and  was  henceforward  officially  known  as  the 
Twenty -fourth  Iowa  Infantry,  though  it  was  long  called  by  the  public  and 
by  newspaper  correspondents  the  Temperance  Regiment.  The  command 
remained  at  Camp  Strong  more  than  a  month  after  muster  in,  having  a 
great  deal  of  fun,  drill,  parade,  and  bad  water,  and  a  good  deal  of  measles 
in  camp.  Marching  orders  came  on  October  19th,  and  on  the  next  day  the 
regiment  embarked  for  St.  Louis.  On  reaching  that  city,  orders  were  re 
ceived  commanding  the  regiment  to  proceed  forthwith  to  Helena.  It 
reached  that  place  on  the  28th,  disembarked,  and  went  into  camp  about 
one  mile  south  of  town  on  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi  River.  In  this  its 
first  encampment  on  the  theatre  of  war  the  Twenty-fourth  numbered  nine 
hundred  and  fifty,  officers  and  men,  who  at  the  time  of  landing  were  nearly 
all  in  apparent  good  health.  In  a  short  time,  however,  on  account  of  ex 
posure  during  the  late  voyage,  the  steamers  having  been  much  crowded, 
and  of  the  unhealthy  locality,  more  than  an  hundred  were  on  the  sick-list. 

During  the  winter  the  regiment  remained  at  Helena,  except  during  three 
or  four  short  periods  in  which  it  marched  with  certain  expeditions,  one  or 
two  of  which  had  a  military  purpose  in  view,  the  others  having  no  purpose 
whatever  that  has  ever  yet  been  discovered.  This  was  the  era  when  so 
many  general  officers  had  "expedition  on  the  brain."  On  the  17th  of 
November,  Brigadier-General  A.  P.  Hovey  took  some  transports,  and 
made  an  expedition.  He  took  his  command  to  the  mouth  of  White  River, 
and  then  back  again,  without  having  disembarked  or  seen  an  enemy.  The 
Twenty-fourth  was  with  him.  The  regiment,  on  the  28th,  marched  under 
the  same  general,  in  the  direction  of  Cold  Water,  Mississippi.  The  com 
mand  now  had  its  first  experience  in  marching,  and  found  no  difficulty  in 
keeping  up  with  veteran  troops.  Arrived  at  Cold  Water,  the  brigade  in 
which  was  our  regiment  halted,  while  another  with  a  small  force  of  cavalry, 
advanced  to  Oakland,  some  twenty  miles  further.  On  the  afternoon  of 
December  1st,  artillery  firing  was  heard  in  the  direction  of  Oakland — the 
first  sound  of  actual  battle  that  had  yet  reached  the  ears  of  the  Twenty- 
fourth.  The  brigade  at  Cold  Water  was  at  once  formed,  and  soon  moved 
to  the  front  on  the  double-quick.  Having  thus  marched  several  miles, 
they  heard  of  the  retreat  of  the  enemy,  and  themselves  about-faced,  and 
returned  to  Cold  Water.  They  reached  Helena  again  on  the  7th  of 


TWENTY-FOURTH     INFANTRY.  503 

December.  On  the  morning  of  January  llth,  1863,  our  regiment  embarked 
with  the  troops  who  endured  so  much  suffering  during  General  Gorman's 
White  River  Expedition,  of  which  I  shall  relate  many  particulars  in  my 
account  of  the  Twenty-eighth  regiment,  Suffice  it  here,  that  the  sufferings 
of  all  the  regiments  which  went  on  this  unfortunate  and  unprofitable  expe 
dition  were  well  nigh  unendurable,  and  left  marks  in  each  organization 
which  have  never  been  effaced. 

When  the  regiment  reached  Helena  on  its  return,  the  old  encampment 
had  to  be  abandoned  on  account  of  the  rising  waters.  A  new  camp  was 
made  on  the  first  range  of  hills  in  rear  of  the  town  and  about  a  mile  dis 
tant.  Helena  was  soon  inundated.  It  became  a  miserable  burlesque  of 
Venice.  The  citizens  could  go  from  house  to  house  only  in  canoes  or  skiffs, 
which  were  constantly  plying  from  place  to  place.  All  the  streets  and 
alleys  were  navigable.  The  government  transports  bringing  supplies  could 
with  the  greatest  difficulty  find  places  where  the  stores  could  be  landed. 
Water,  water  everywhere.  When  the  floods  subsided,  deep,  unfathomable 
mud  took  the  place  of  the  waters.  Sign-boards  were  everywhere  stuck  on 
poles,  telling  the  unlucky  teamsters  of  "No  Bottom."  It  is  impossible 
there  can  be  a  place  in  the  world  so  utterly  uninteresting,  in  the  very  air  of 
which  there  are  so  many  blue  devils,  as  Helena  in  Arkansas.  During  this 
rainy  winter  the  troops  there  quartered  were  unspeakably  miserable.  It 
was  the  darkest  period  of  the  war  for  them  all.  There  could  be  no  drills, 
no  dress  parades.  The  troops  who  were  well  enough  to  sit  up  at  all  sat  in 
their  cheerless  quarters,  ruminating  on  their  own  unhappiness,  barely 
noting  the  drum-beat  for  the  dead,  beating  evermore.  General  Fisk,  com 
manding  brigade,  was  so  good  a  man  and  officer,  so  thoroughly  appreciative 
of  the  situation,  that  he  accomplished  what  mortal  could  accomplish  toward 
driving  off  the  clouds  of  despondency  settling  on  the  army.  The  expedi 
tion  under  General  Washburne,  which  left  Helena  on  February  15th,  to 
open  the  Yazoo  Pass  to  navigation  aroused  the  army  from  its  lethargy. 
It  gave  the  troops  who  performed  that  heavy  labor,  change,  which  they 
greatly  needed,  and  it  gave  all,  hopes  of  active  movements  in  the  field. 
Of  this  expedition,  General  Fisk's  Brigade  formed  a  part.  From  its 
return  till  the  commencement  of  the  campaign  against  Vicksburg,  our 
regiment  had  daily  drill,  and  almost  daily  dress  parade.  The  command, 
under  the  skilful  and  experienced  instructions  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Wilds 
rapidly  improved,  and  by  the  time  the  operations  under  General  Grant 
commenced,  was  distinguished  for  its  efficiency  and  discipline. 

When  the  army  was  reorganized  for  the  active  operations  of  spring,  the 
Twenty-fourth  was  attached  to  the  Thirteenth  Corps.  It  was  known  to  all 
that  the  taking  of  Vicksburg  was  to  be  the  object  of  the  campaign,  and  all 
looked  forward  to  the  hour  of  departure  with  joy.  Nevertheless,  when  the 


504  IOWA    AND     THE     KEBELLION. 

troops  moved,  their  hearts  were  filled  with  deep  and  solemn  feelings.  Not 
one  but  had  a  brother  or  a  favorite  comrade  sleeping  the  last  sleep  on  the 
bluffs  above  or  in  the  vale  by  the  river's  bank  below.  The  Twenty-fourth 
had,  I  suppose,  suffered  neither  less  nor  more  than  the  other  regiments. 
During  the  first  three  months  of  the  year  fifty  of  its  members  were  buried 
near  Helena.  More  were  sent  to  the  hospitals  of  Memphis,  Cairo,  and  St. 
Louis.  When  the  fleet  was  ready  to  sail  on  the  llth  of  April,  the  regiment 
could  muster  but  little  more  than  six  hundred,  rank  and  file. 

The  world  knows  how  active  was  the  grand  campaign  actually  begun  by 
the  disembarking  of  the  army  at  Milliken's  Bend  on  the  14th  of  April,  till 
after  the  assault  of  the  22d  of  May,  and  how  hard  were  the  duties  of  the 
investing  army  till  the  campaign  was  crowned  with  complete  success  on  the 
4th  of  July.  The  march,  in  Louisiana,  from  the  point  of  debarking  to  a 
place  named  Perkins'  Landing,  was  made  difficult  and  laborious  by  reason 
of  the  high  waters.  Bridges  had  to  be  built,  corduroy  roads  made  for  the 
passage  of  trains.  Here  the  army  embarked  on  transports  and  barges,  and 
proceeded  on  its  way  down  the  river  to  a  point  about  four  miles  above 
Grand  Gulf,  and  which  is  well  named  Hard  Times,  it  having  the  appear 
ance  of  being  able  to  maintain  a  very  poor  family  in  a  very  poor  way  during 
a  favorable  season.  Here  the  army,  without  disembarking,  witnessed  the 
cannonading  between  the  gun-boats  and  the  rebel  batteries  at  Grand  Gulf. 
The  batteries  could  not-all  be  silenced.  The  army  accordingly  disembarked, 
marched  across  to  the  levee  below  Grand  Gulf,  where  the  transports  reached 
them,  having  run  the  batteries  successfully.  The  Battle  of  Port  Gibson, 
or  Thompson's  Hill  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  and  with  more  geographical 
accuracy,  was  fought  and  won  very  soon  after  the  Thirteenth  Corps  landed 
at  Bruinsburg.  In  this  engagement,  the  Twenty-fourth  was  almost  all  the 
time  supporting  artillery.  Its  loss  was  slight — six  wounded,  one  mortally. 

From  this  time  until  the  Battle  of  Champion  Hills,  our  regiment  did 
much  marching,  skirmishing,  and  foraging,  but  was  not  engaged  at  Ray 
mond  or  at  Jackson.  On  the  2d  of  May,  the  column  marched  into  the 
beautiful  town  of  Port  Gibson,  and  bivouacked  in  the  streets.  The  beauty 
and  fashion  of  this  place  had  made  great  preparations  for  a  grand  ball  in 
honor  of  the  victory  over  our  fleet  at  Grand  Gulf.  The  Battle  of  Port 
Gibson  had  altogether  changed  the  programme.  Many  of  our  troops  par 
took  of  the  viands  which  had  been  prepared  for  guests  of  another  sort. 
Here  the  column  halted  three  days.  The  country  roundabout  Port  Gibson 
is  one  of  the  richest  cotton-growing  regions  of  Mississippi.  The  white 
inhabitants  were  wealthy,  cultivated  after  the  Southern  fashion,  and  aristo 
cratic  according  to  Southern  notions.  The  war  had  not  hitherto  been  car 
ried  into  their  door-yards.  Their  dwellings  were  magnificent  mansions. 
They  had  fine  carriages  and  blooded  horses.  Many  of  them  had  blooded 


TWENTY-FOURTH     INFANTRY.  505 

negroes,  too,  for  coachmen.  They  fared  sumptuously  every  day.  Thus 
were  they  living  till  our  troops  landed,  when  the  most  of  the  wealthy 
planters  suddenly  decamped.  Our  foraging  parties  met  with  all  the  embar 
rassment  of  riches.  They  would  return,  loaded  down  with  supplies  — 
beef,  bacon,  pork,  poultry,  vegetables.  One  might  see  gorgeous  family 
carriages  coining  into  Port  Gibson  from  all  directions,  filled  with  geese, 
ducks,  and  chickens,  or  coming  from  the  mills,  laden  with  great  bags  of 
meal.  Yet  no  man's  property  was  destroyed,  or  even  taken  for  the  use  of 
the  army,  without  there  being  first  obtained  evidence  of  his  disloyalty  to 
the  Union,  which  evidence  very  often  consisted  of  the  fact  that  he  had  run 
away  from  the  Union  army.  No  houses  were  burned,  no  cotton  was 
destroyed.  The  Union  troops  simply  did  what  the  planters  had  done  before 
them.  They  fared  sumptuously  every  day.  Having  remained  here  long 
enough  to  get  together  a  large  quantity  of  supplies,  the  column  moved  on 
the  6th  to  Rocky  Springs.  On  the  next  day,  it  moved  to  Big  Sandy  Creek, 
and  was  there  reviewed  by  General  Grant.  On  the  10th  it  moved  still 
farther  northward,  halting  near  Cayuga,  Here  the  grand  army  first  came 
together,  and  marched  forward  in  an  unbroken  line  of  several  miles  extent, 
making  a  grand  sight.  McClernand's  Corps  was  on  the  left.  On  the 
morning  of  the  12th,  his  advance  Division,  being  that  of  General  Hovey, 
to  which  the  Twenty-fourth  belonged,  moved  to  Fourteen  Mile  Creek,  in 
the  direction  of  Edwards'  Depot.  Here  he  had  a  sharp  skirmish  with  the 
enemy,  and  deployed  his  men  in  line  of  battle.  The  main  rebel  army  from 
Vicksburg,  twenty-five  thousand  strong,  as  reported,  was  drawn  up  two  or 
three  miles  in  advance.  Meantime,  while  Hovey  was  here  amusing  the 
enemy,  McPherson  whipped  the  rebel  force  at  Raymond.  Hovey  then 
withdrew,  and  taking  a  new  road  just  made  by  his  pioneers,  passed  through 
Raymond  on  the  day  after  the  battle,  and  reached  Clinton  on  the  14th.  On 
the  next  morning  the  Thirteenth  Corps  turned  about,  and  marching  west 
ward,  reached  Bolton  Depot  in  the  evening. 

In  the  battle  of  Champion  Hills,  fought  on  the  16th,  and  which  was  the 
most  severe  engagement  of  the  campaign  except  the  assault  of  Vicksburg 
itself,  Hovey's  Division  bore  the  brunt  of  the  contest  for  hours,  fighting  with 
a  valor  and  obstinacy  which  conferred  eternal  honor  upon  the  troops.  The 
Twenty-fourth  Iowa  was  second  to  no  regiment  in  splendid  fighting  on  this 
bloody  field.  Not  an  officer  or  a  man  engaged  but  did  his  duty  meritoriously, 
yea,  with  special  gallantry.  At  one  time  in  the  fight  the  regiment  advanced, 
unsupported,  to  charge  a  battery  of  five  guns  whose  grape  and  canister  were 
rapidly  thinning  the  Union  ranks.  The  Twenty-fourth  rushed  to  the  charge 
with  the  greatest  enthusiasm,  trampled  down  the  gunners,  and  by  their  own 
momentum  the  men  pressed  far  beyond  the  battery,  driving  the  infantry 
supports  away  in  wild  confusion.  But  they  were  in  turn  attacked  by  over- 
64 


506  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

whelming  numbers,  and  compelled  to  give  way.  It  was  in  this  daring 
charge  that  Major  Wright  was  severely  wounded.  Here  were  slain  Cap 
tains  Silas  D.  Johnson  and  William  Carbee,  and  Lieutenant  Chauncey 
Lawrence — gallant  officers  as  ever  lived  or  died  in  the  cause  of  American 
nationality  and  of  man.  The  loss  of  the  regiment  was  severe.  Forty -three 
officers  and  men  were  slain,  forty  more  were  borne  with  mortal  wounds 
from  the  field  to  the  grave,  nearly  thirty  were  maimed  for  life,  and  the 
whole  loss,  killed,  wounded  and  captured,  out  of  the  four  hundred  and 
seventeen  who  entered  the  fight,  was  one  hundred  and  ninety-five.  Such 
was  the  great  sacrifice  of  the  Temperance  Regiment  on  the  glorious  field 
of  Champion  Hills.3 

The  regiment,  with  the  division  to  which  it  belonged,  did  not  join  in  the 
rapid  pursuit  of  the  enemy  which  followed  this  great  victory,  and  did  not 
take  part,  consequently,  in  the  battle  of  Black  River  Bridge,  the  next  day, 

3  Killed,  Captains  Silas  D.  Johnson,  William  Carbee ;  Lieutenant  Chauncey  Lawrence ;  Sergeants 
Michael  Seeber,  Anthony  Mattaneu,  James  S.  Carpenter,  William  C.  Steward,  Absalom  Simes,  John 
Miller;  Corporals  Daniel  M.  Caton,  Martin  Guering,  George  II.  Stoddard;  Privates  Henry  Brandlett, 
Ashel  F.  Gage,  Edward  Henry,  Lorenzo  Ross,  George  Williams,  Joseph  P.  Gallins,  Albert  R.  Huey,  Wil 
liam  C.  Huey,  Isaac  Boyers,  Silas  Baily,  James  Hemingway,  Simon  Krouth,  Thomas  E.  Langdon,  John 
Cerbe,  David  Stainberger,  Austin  G.  Spreague,  Simon  Bogenz,  John  Gross,  George  W.  Goodman, 
Crute  Anderson,  Homer  H.  Fellow,  Robert  L.  Hill,  Mahlon  B.  Stream,  Charles  O'Kelley,  George 
W.  Rollf,  Isaac  Hershberger,  Wellington  Mitchell,  Henry  H.  Stephens,  Samuel  J.  Noyes,  Darius  C. 
Hedge,  Alexander  Casselman. 

Wounded  (mortally),  Sergeants  Alfred  J.  Scofield,  Emor  Ramsey;  Corporals  William  A.  Seeber, 
William  P.  Cochran,  Frank  Robinson ;  Privates  Daniel  W.  Vance,  George  W.  Nelson,  William  Barber, 
William  Aikman,  James  Hickson,  Theodore  Jacobson,  Patrick  Pendergast,  Alfred  J.  Waddilow, 
James  Ilakeman.  William  Peters,  Frederick  Mungessor,  George  Blackburn,  Perry  Burnett,  John  II. 
Hawkins,  Albert  G.  Woore,  Irenius  Smith,  Isaac  P.  Walker,  Joseph  Weddin,  George  Hillman,  J. 
Christopher  Clinack,  Francis  Y.  Me  Williams,  Washington  Turner,  Andrew  Doty,  James  A.  Porter, 
John  Hull,  Jackson  Boyer,  Loren  Sisson,  James  M.  Taylor,  Harrison  W.  Day,  Hiram  Gunter,  Wil 
liam  0.  Kelley,  Delos  Sweat,  Jacob  Umbarger,  Caleb  Archer,  Samuel  K.  Powers. 

Wounded  and  permanently  disabled,  Sergeant  John  Vasser ;  Corporals  Robert  Kneely,  John  R. 
Serrin;  Privates  David  F.  0.  Cattell,  Stephen  Depue.  James  Esmay,  Cornelius  M.  Kenley,  Benjamin 
Van  Steenberg,  Albert  Walker,  Hugh  Murry,  James  V.  Barnard,  Isaac  Newton,  John  Hastings, 
Henry  Kuntz,  James  Stephenson,  Addison  W.  Zwicher,  Walter  Gater,  James  Matthews,  Francis 
Rosa,  Jacob  W.  Hosier,  Robert  Brown,  Wellington  Carrant,  James  Green,  John  Lock,  John  E. 
Mason,  Samuel  E.  Quick,  James  C.  Smith,  Charles  Ingraham. 

Wounded,  Major  Ed.  Wright;  Captains  Leander  Clark,  James  W.  Martin;  Lieutenants  S.  J. 
McKinley,  J.  C.  Gue,  S.  S.  Dillmnan;  Sergeants  J.  B.  S  \vaffird,  Anson  R.  Hodgkins,  Charles  Davis, 

E.  C.  Miles,  James  G.  Potter,  Royal  S.  Williams ;  Corporals  William  B.  Davis,  George  M.  Scott, 
Robert  B.  Steward,  James  Oxley.  Samuel  Correll,  Farnsworth  Cobb,  Thomas  B.  Fawcett,  John  E. 
Jayne,  James  M.  Gardner,  Hardy  Williams;  Privates  John  Drown,  Isaac  N.  Esmay,  John  Storm, 
C.  T.  Bumgardner,  William  P.  Tansey,  A.  M.  Gifford,  Thomas  Pendergast,  Thomas  Sims,  L.  L.  Houtcn, 
John  Miller,  Salem  L.  Morse.  William  Myers,  Rufus  N.  Rosenberger,  Albert  D.  Carmichael,  Oliver 

F.  Glenn,  L.  Monroe  Kepper,  Eddie  Kepper,  John  Renfro,  Isaac  R.  Woodcock,  David  Boyd,  John  H. 
Hunter,  John  W.  Hagg,  Alexander  S.  Taylor,  David  C.  Winans,  Emmor  Gregg,  Hugh  M.  Blakely, 
James  M.  Carrington,  Davis  M.  Leland,  Tiberius  Donaldson,  Edgar  Babcock,  Thomas  D.  Lain,  Wil 
liam  White,  Winfield  S.  Kellogg,  Frederick  Krumwiddie,  Joseph  Turner,  Carl  Beeze,  Charles  W. 
Tyson,  Samuel  Cozine,  Lorin  E.  Grout,  John  V.  Young,  John  W.  Ferkins,  Alfred  Walton,  Anthony 
Cooper,  A.  W.  Noah,  Francis  N.  Bever,  Henry  Wendell,  Thomas  Sennett,  Leonard  Gee. 

Missing  (believed  to  be  killed),  Job  Cuttell.  Captured,  Privates  E.  S.  Huber,  James  Wingert,  A. 
Y.  Worthington,  Axim  J.  Lamb,  Frederick  Verner,  A.  T.  Waler,  Anthony  R.  Betzer,  James  SI ife, 
James  Wagner,  Josiah  Bundy,  Benjamin  Clendenan,  James  H.  Potter,  Franklin  Sinkey. 


TWENTY-FOURTH     INFANTRY.  507 

where  the  Twenty-first  and  Twenty-third  Iowa  regiments  won  the  first 
honors  and  suffered  the  saddest  losses.  It  joined  the  beleaguering  army 
soon,  however,  and  bore  its  full  share  in  the  siege  of  the  rebel  stronghold. 
When  Vicksburg  surrendered,  there  were  few  regiments  in  all  the  army 
which  had  accomplished  more,  or  suffered  more,  in  bringing  about  the  great 
victory  than  the  Twenty-fourth. 

But  it  was  not  yet  to  have  rest,  for  at  once  joining  General  Sherman's  ex 
peditionary  army,  it  took  part  in  the  campaign  of  Jackson — a  campaign  of 
great  labors  and  of  great  results,  but  without  a  general  battle.  Johnston 
having  been  driven  far  to  the  eastward,  and  central  Mississippi  laid  waste, 
the  army  under  Sherman  returned  to  the  vicinity  of  Vicksburg,  and  most 
of  the  troops  which  had  been  instrumental  in  the  reduction  of  that  place 
were  granted  rest.  But  the  Thirteenth  Corps,  now  commanded  by  General 
Ord,  was  transferred  to  the  Department  of  the  Gulf,  having  had  only  about 
a  fortnight's  repose  after  the  Jackson  campaign. 

The  history  of  the  Twenty-fourth  in  this  department  until  it  joined  the 
army  on  the  Red  River  Expedition  is  devoid  of  memorable  events.  It  took 
part,  in  the  fall  and  early  winter  of  1863,  in  one  or  two  expeditions,  but 
though  the  troops  marched  much,  labored  much,  and  sometimes  met  the 
enemy  in  small  force,  their  marches,  labors,  and  skirmishes,  were  barren  of 
results. 

The  first  of  the  year  1864  found  the  regiment  encamped  at  Algiers, 
weather  very  wet,  the  mud  and  water  rendering  the  camp  almost  impassable 
to  man  or  beast.  Recollections  of  Helena  came  back  forcibly  to  the  men's 
minds,  but  the  14th  of  January,  quarters  were  obtained  in  warehouses. 
The  21st,  the  command  moved,  and  the  next  day  encamped  near  the  north 
ern  shore  of  Lake  Pontchartrain,  by  Madisonville.  This  was  the  most 
pleasant  camp  the  regiment  ever  had,  after  leaving  Camp  Strong,  near 
Muscatine.  It  was  evacuated  on  the  evening  of  February  26th.  The  regi 
ment  was  reviewed  by  General  McClernand  at  Algiers  on  the  3d  of  March, 
and  received  the  special  commendations  of  that  officer. 

From  Algiers  the  Twenty-fourth  moved  by  rail  to  Berwick  Bay,  and  thence 
on  the  13th  joined  the  Red  River  Expedition  under  General  Banks.  The 
1st  of  April,  the  command  reached  Natchitoches,  after  a  march  of  nearly 
three  hundred  miles  from  Berwick  Bay.  Here  it  remained  in  camp  till  the 
morning  of  the  6th,  when  the  army  resumed  the  march  for  Shreveport. 
Encamped  near  Pleasant  Hill  on  the  evening  of  the  7th.  On  the  next  day 
was  fought 

THE  BATTLE  OF  SABINE  CROSS  ROADS. 

It  was  the  intention  of  General  Banks,  when  his  forces  moved  from  Grand 
Ecore  on  the  morning  of  the  6th,  that  the  advance  should  reach  Spring- 


508  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

field  Landing  on  the  10th,  and  there  effect  a  junction  with  Admiral  Porter 
preparatory  to  the  final  combined  movement  against  Shreveport.  His 
army  moved  in  unique  fashion.  The  cavalry  had  the  advance.  It  was  fol 
lowed  by  prodigious  trains,  enough,  one  might  suppose,  to  have  formed  the 
impedimenta  of  the  army  of  Xerxes.  The  Thirteenth  Corps  came  next 
after  this  prodigious  train,  but  marching  in  disjointed  manner,  one  division 
far  in  advance  of  the  other.  The  Nineteenth  Corps  was  several  miles  in  rear. 
Now  when  it  is  considered  that  the  roads  in  this  part  of  Louisiana  are  narrow 
and  bad,  that  the  country  is  covered  with  a  dense  pine  timber,  rendering 
military  operations  on  a  large  scale  impracticable,  except  in  a  few  localities, 
and  cavalry  absolutely  useless,  it  might  seem  that  common  prudence  should 
have  dictated  the  most  careful  compression  of  the  line  of  march,  the  ut 
most  caution  against  surprise,  the  greatest  care  in  the  selection  of  a  posi 
tion  on  which  to  deliver  battle,  and  constant  vigilance  in  keeping  the  troops 
in  hand.  On  the  contrary,  the  enemy  having  hitherto  offered  the  merest 
show  of  resistance  to  our  advance,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  General 
Banks  had  his  army  all  the  while  in  air.  Thus  his  troops  were  moving 
recklessly,  blindfold,  as  it  were,  when  on  the  afternoon  of  the  8th,  at  Sabine 
Cross  Roads,  nesfr  Mansfield,  the  mounted  advance  came  upon  the  enemy 
in  force,  and,  fighting  on  foot,  was  soon  defeated.  The  enemy's  line  over 
lapped  ours  on  both  flanks.  Embarrassed  by  their  horses,  astonished  at 
the  unexpected  fury  of  an  enemy  whose  heels  only  they  expected  to  see,  the 
cavalry  melted  away,  and  speedily  became  a  rout  of  shrieking  men  on 
frightened  horses.  The  Thirteenth  Corps  was  hurried  into  action  division 
at  a  time,  but  though  each  fought  gallantly  to  stem  the  tide  of  defeat,  each 
was  compelled  to  give  way.  The  troops  fell  back  in  confusion.  The  enemy 
pursued,  and,  flushed  with  victory,  fell  upon  the  Nineteenth  Corps,  in  the 
very  act  of  deploying  into  line  of  battle,  but  met  with  the  first  check  of  the 
day.  But  he  was  not  repulsed,  and  the  whole  army  was  soon  in  retreat, 
having  lost  two  thousand,  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners,  several  batteries 
of  artillery,  and  large  quantities  of  property. 

Such  was  the  disastrous  battle  of  Sabine  Cross  Roads,  in  which  the 
troops  engaged  fought  with  great  valor,  but  which  was  lost  to  the  Union 
arms  by  reason  of  unskilful  generalship  on  the  part  of  the  commanding  of 
ficer,  and  by  that  alone.  Few  troops  ever  fought  more  bravely  than  those 
who  were  compelled  to  pass  under  the  yoke  of  this  defeat,  and  it  is  impos 
sible  that  any  could  ever  have  been  handled  worse.  The  defeat,  therefore, 
brought  unmixed  disgrace  upon  General  Banks,  but  no  discredit  to  his 
troops  generally. 

Only  half  the  Twenty-fourth  regiment  took  part  in  this  engagement,  five 
of  the  companies  being  on  guard  duty  with  the  train  in  the  rear.  To  get 
into  the  fight,  the  command  was  marched  several  miles  on  the  double- 


TWENTY-FOUKTH     INFANTRY.  509 

quick,  and  then  pushed  into  battle  with  the  division,  after  the  other  divi 
sion  of  the  corps  had  been  thoroughly  defeated.  The  regiment  fought  for 
more  than  an  hour,  and  then  gave  way  with  the  division.  Major  Wright 
commanding  says  his  officers  and  men  behaved  handsomely,  standing  firmly 
at  their  posts  until  ordered  to  retreat.  The  regiment  lost  thirty-four, 
wounded  and  captured.  Captain  Wilbur  C.  Dimmitt,  a  brave  oificer  and 
accomplished  gentleman,  was  severely  wounded.  He  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  enemy,  and  not  long  afterwards  died.4 

General  Ransom,  an  intrepid  commander,  beloved  by  his  troops  as  Gene 
ral  MePherson  was  by  his,  was  wounded  at  Sabine  Cross  Roads.  The  de 
tachment  of  the  Thirteenth  Corps — Third  and  Fourth  Divisions — which  he 
commanded  on  this  expedition  took  charge  of  the  train  after  the  battle, 
moving  in  guard  thereof  to  Grand  Ecore.  In  the  retreat  from  Grand 
Ecore,  the  Twenty-fourth  frequently  met  the  enemy  in  skirmish,  and  lost 
several  men  wounded.  After  the  army  reached  Morganza  on  the  22d  of 
May,  the  regiment  joined  in  a  reconnoissance  to  the  Atchafalaya,  during 
which  Captain  B.  G.  Paul  was  slain  and  a  number  of  men  wounded. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Wilds  had  rejoined  the  regiment  at  Alexandria,  after  a 
considerable  absence  in  Iowa  on  recruiting  service. 

About  the  middle  of  June  the  command  left  Morganza,  and  having  en 
camped  at  Greenville,  near  New  Orleans,  a  few  days,  and  at  Kennerville  a 
few  days  more,  hastened  to  Thibodeaux  in  the  latter  part  of  the  month  to 
repel  an  enemy  who  turned  out  to  be  imaginary.  Having  stayed  here  a 
few  days  the  regiment  returned  to  Algiers,  whence  on  the  22d  of  July,  it 
commenced  the  voyage  by  river,  gulf,  and  ocean,  to  Alexandria,  in  Vir 
ginia,  arriving  on  the  evening  of  the  30th.  Passed  through  Washington 
the  next  day,  and  moved  right  on  by  cars  to  Monocacy,  Maryland.  Soon 
afterwards,  it  moved  to  Harper's  Ferry,  and  joined  the  forces  under  Gene 
ral  Sheridan,  to  take  part  in  that  officer's  campaign  of  the  Shenandoah 
Valley. 

The  first  great  engagement  of  the  campaign  was  the  battle  of  Winchester. 

*  The  following  is  the  list  of  casualties :  Surgeon  J.  M.  Witherwax,  captured ;  Assistant  Surgeon 
II.  M.  Lyons,  captured;  Captain  Wilbur  C.  Dimmitt,  Company  F,  wounded  severely  and  captured. 

Privates  Nathan  Edmonson,  Company  S,  John  L.  Kent,  wounded,  William  Crisman,  wounded, 
Henry  W.  W.  Scott ;  Corporal  John  B.  Crisman.  Sergeant  John  Hershey,  Company  F,  wounded. 
Corporal  Herman  Bleucthner,  Company  G,  wounded ;  Privates  Henry  Hefielfinger,  wounded,  Jack 
son  G.  Hall.  Corporal  Charles  H.Johnson,  Company  K,  wounded;  Privates  James  E.  Gilmore, 
wounded.  E.  William  Webb,  Company  B,  wounded  and  captured,  John  E.  Gardiner,  wounded  in 
arm  severely  and  captured,  James  R.  Collins,  missing,  Benjamin  F.  Jenkins,  captured,  Jesse  Rigby, 
captured. 

Privates  Stephen  R.  Rushton.  Company  E,  wounded  and  captured,  Rufus  W.  Rosenberger,  cap 
tured,  William  L.  Conant,  captured.  Amos  Brenneman,  Company  F,  captured.  Corporal  James  H. 
Selby,  Company  G,  captured ;  Privates  James  H.  Wagner,  captured,  William  Netterhizer,  captured, 
Nelson  J.  Potter,  captured,  Rufus  R.  Hall,  captured,  Justice  L.  Streeter,  captured,  Josiah  Litchte- 
borger,  wounded  and  captured ;  John  F.  Rodgers,  wounded  and  captured.  Josiah  A.  Hanna,  Com 
pany  K,  captured,  Granville  McC.  Atkinson,  captured,  Daniel  G.  Zebo,  captured. 


510  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

In  this  long  and  severe  contest  the  Twenty-fourth,  as  we  have  seen  in  the 
history  of  the  Twenty-second  regiment,  fought  with  prominent  gallantry, 
and  lost  many  of  its  officers  and  men.  Captain  Joseph  R.  Gould  and 
Lieutenant  Sylvester  S.  Dillman  were  slain  while  leading  their  men  in  the 
hottest  of  the  fight;  Adjutant  Daniel  W.  Camp,  Lieutenants  W.  W.  Edg- 
ington,  and  Royal  S.  Williams  were  wounded.  The  entire  loss  of  the  regi 
ment  was  seventy-four,  killed,  wounded,  and  captured,  there  being  only 
three  captured.  Leaving  the  killed  to  be  buried,  and  the  wounded  cared 
for  by  the  proper  details  of  men,  the  regiment  pushed  on  up  the  valley 
with  the  army. 

THE  JtATTLE  OF  FISHER'S  HILL. 

Immediately  after  the  battle  of  "Winchester,  Early  withdrew  to  Fisher's 
Hill,  a  strong  position  just  beyond  Strasburg,  and  commanding  the  town. 
Here  he  made  a  stand,  his  right  resting  on  the  base  of  Massanutten  Moun 
tain,  his  left  on  the  Little  North  Mountain,  his  line  thus  extending  across 
the  Strasburg  Valley.  Notwithstanding  the  strength  of  the  rebel  position, 
General  Sheridan  determined  to  deliver  battle.  His  army  was  in  position 
early  on  Thursday  morning,  the  22d,  Crook's  Eighth  Corps,  the  Army  of 
Western  Virginia  on  the  right,  the  Sixth  Corps  in  the  centre,  the  Nine 
teenth  Corps  on  the  left.  There  was  considerable  manoeuvering  until  after 
noon.  Emory  demonstrated  on  the  left.  Ricketts'  Division  of  the  Sixth 
Corps  advanced  directly  in  front,  and  Averill's  Cavalry  drove  in  the 
enemy's  pickets.  Under  cover  of  these  demonstrations  Crook  moved  out 
to  the  extreme  right,  and  by  an  arduous  march  gained  the  enemy's  left 
and  rear,  and,  charging  with  splendid  impetuosity,  drove  him  from  his 
intrenchments  in  utter  confusion.  Wright  and  Emory  at  the  same  time 
moved  against  the  enemy,  who  fled  in  disorder  and  rout  before  the  dashing 
attacks  of  the  whole  Union  army.  It  was  a  short  fight,  and  a  magnificent 
victory.  Nearly  twelve  hundred  prisoners  of  war,  sixteen  cannon,  and 
immense  spoils  besides  fell  into  our  hands.  The  loss  of  the  rebels  was  also 
great  in  killed  and  wounded,  whilst  that  of  the  Unionists  did  not  probably 
exceed  five  hundred,  all  told.  The  enemy's  fire  was  wild.  He  was  thrown 
into  panic  by  the  suddenness  with  which  Sheridan  dashed  against  him  with 
his  whole  force.  And  hence  the  troops,  looking  at  their  small  losses,  not 
thinking  that  they  won  the  battle  by  their  legs  and  their  enthusiasm,  did 
not  regard  it  as  so  great  a  victory  as  that  of  Winchester,  which  preceded 
it,  or  that  of  Cedar  Creek,  which  followed  it.  In  sober  truth,  there  were 
but  few  so  great  victories  during  the  war,  gained  with  such  little  cost  of 
life  and  blood. 

In  this  engagement,  the  Twenty-fourth  took  active  part,  but  as  it  lost 
only  five  wounded,  it  was  a  matter  of  doubt  for  some  time  whether  its  ope- 


TWENTY-FOURTH     INFANTRY.  511 

rations  should  be  reported !  So  apt  are  even  the  most  skilful  and  gallant 
officers  to  associate  great  victories  with  great  losses,  instead  of  results. 
The  regiment  moved  from  its  position  in  the  line  to  the  extreme  left,  pass 
ing  with  almost  miraculous  safety,  through  a  shower  of  shells.  It  went 
into  position,  in  support  of  a  Maine  battery,  and  there  remained  under  fire, 
but  covered  much  by  the  nature  of  the  ground,  till  Sheridan's  signal 
ordered  the  charge  along  the  whole  line,  when  it  dashed  forward  with  yells 
that  made  the  welkin  ring. 

The  quick,  decisive  battle  over,  the  regiment  at  once  took  up  the  pursuit, 
and  marching  the  livelong  night  close  to  the  enemy's  rear,  reached  Wood 
stock  early  on  the  morning  of  the  23d.  During  this  march  Captain 
McKinley  was  severely,  and  several  men  were  slightly,  wounded  by  the 
enemy's  fire.  Pursuing  as  far  as  Harrisonburg  the  regiment  went  into  camp. 

Countermarching  with  the  army  it  took  position  on  the  line  of  the  Cedar 
Creek,  which  was  soon  well  fortified  on  the  left  and  centre.  Early  having 
been  heavily  reenforced,  turned  this  position  on  the  morning  of  the  19th 
of  October,  and  came  near  ruining  our  army  by  a  similar  plan  to  that  of 
Sheridan  against  him  on  the  field  of  Winchester.  Sheridan  was  at  the 
time  at  Winchester,  on  his  return  from  Washington.  His  wild  ride  to  the 
field  of  battle,  and  his  saving  the  day,  can  never  be  forgotten,  for  they 
have  been  made  immortal  by  the  genius  of  T.  BUCHANAN  READ,  whose 
thrilling  poem  upon  this  subject  is  the  most  soul-stirring  lyric  of  the  war. 
In  this  the  last  and  crowning  victory  of  the  campaign,  the  Twenty-Fourth 
bore  a  brilliant  part,  losing  here  its  commanding  officer,  mortally  wounded, 
and  many  others  in  death  and  wounds.  Nearly  an  hundred  of  its  officers 
and  men  were  placed  hors-de-combat  on  this  bloody  field,  on  which  no  regi 
ment  in  all  the  Union  army  fought  more  heroically,  or  more  steadfastly 
than  the  Iowa  Twenty-fourth.  The  same  may  be  safely  said,  too,  of  its 
conduct  at  Winchester  and  Fisher's  Hill.  During  the  campaign  its  losses 
were  nearly  two  hundred,  officers  and  men.5 

6  The  names  of  the  wounded  at  Fisher's  Hill,  and  on  skirmish,  have  not  been  reported.  The 
following  is  the  official  list  of  the  killed,  wounded,  and  captured,  at  Winchester  and  at  Cedar 
Creek: 

BATTLE  OF  WINCHESTER.— Company  C—  Captain  Joseph  R.  Gould ;  Lieutenant  S.  S.  Dillman ;  Pri 
vate  William  II.  Davis.  Company  E—John  W.  Arbuckle,  Woostor  B.  Bricker.  Company  F— 
Albert  D.  Carmichael,  Theodore  Stinger,  Ilenry  M.  Reed.  Company  G— Q.  F.  Coleman,  Charles  II. 
Dean.  Company  H—  Sergeant  Hardy  Williams.  Wounded,  Officers,  Adjutant  Daniel  W.  Camp; 
Lieutenants  Washington  W.  Edgington,  Royal  S.  Williams. 

Company  A— Captain  Seymour  J.  McKinley;  Sergeant  Winfield  S.  Kellogg;  Corporals  John 
Laing,  Byron  Cotton;  Privates  James  H.  Cottral,  Ilenry  Kain,  Frederick  Krumwide,  Rudolph 
Smith,  John  Sturm. 

Company  B— Corporal  Carlos  F.  Weeks ;  Privates  John  Bardue,  Ezra  Goodrich,  Robert  Irwin, 
John  S.  Pitman,  Samuel  S.  Rice,  James  D.  Dickinson,  James  Fletcher. 

Company  C— Sergeant  Francis  L.  Sheldon;  Privates  Daniel  Trivetts,  William  0.  Miller,  David  C. 
Cole,  Robinson  Layport. 

Company  D— Corporal  Cornelius  F.  Bumgardner;  Privates  Thomas  R.  Chandler,  Samuel  Godlove, 


512  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

With  the  battle  of  Cedar  Creek,  the  campaign  of  the  Shcnandoali  Valley 
was  brought  to  an  end.  Our  regiment  did  not  afterwards  meet  the  enemy. 
It  performed  heavy  escort  duty  for  a  time,  marching  and  countermarching 
between  Cedar  Creek  and  Martinsburg,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  November 
went  into  cold,  airy  encampment  on  the  Opequan.  The  men  constructed 
huts,  however,  and  got  to  be  quite  cozy,  but  near  the  close  of  the  month 

Isaac  Miller,  Israel  M.  Hitter,  Sooter  Spillman,  Cornelius  M.  Westfall,  Arthur  Y.  Worthington, 
Thomas  Pendergest ;  Corporal  William  E.  Berry. 

Company  .E— Privates  Elias  Brewer,  Joseph  Pass. 

Company  F—  Sergeant  John  Hershey;  Privates  John  F.  Oldham,  Anthony  Betzer,  Smith  P.  Cor 
nell,  Christian  Hummer. 

Company  G — Privates  Walter  Smithson,  Thomas  Croghan. 

Company  H—  Sergeant  George  W.  Martin ;  Corporal  William  M.  Giffen ;  Privates  Martin  Ham 
mond,  Daniel  L.  Post,  Richard  S.  Hollingshead,  John  W.  Carmichael. 

Company  7— Sergeant  McCourtney  B.  Nichols;  Corporal  Abraru  B.  Stoner;  Privates  James  H. 
Porter,  Thomas  Hood,  Ira  S.  Miller,  John  Johnson. 

Company  K—  Sergeant  George  L.  Foote;  Corporal  George  W.  James;  Privates  David  A.  Mc- 
Daniels,  Robert  Garrett. 

Prisoners,  (all  since  paroled),  Corporal  Warrington  Dobson ;  Privates  Joseph  Dougherty,  James 
Adams. 

CEDAR  CREKK. — Company  A — Killed,  Private  Joseph  Conway.  Company  B — Corporal  Charles  F. 
Weeks.  Company  D— Sergeant  Chester  F.  Channell.  Company  F— Corporal  A.  C.  McCoy ;  Private 
George  S.  Smith.  Company  G — Peter  Carney.  Company  K — Sidney  B.  Diamond.  Wounded,  Offi 
cers,  Lieutenant-Colonel  John  Q.  Wilds,  (mortally);  Major  Ed.  Wright.  Company  C—  Captain 
Edwin  H.  Pound.  Company  If— Captain  Abraham  R.  Knott.  Company  K — Captain  Aaron  M. 
Loomis.  Company  F—  First  Lieutenant  Christian  H.  Kurtz. 

Company  A— Sergeants  Thomas  E.  Blanchard,  Lewis  A.  Carman;  Privates  Forest  M.  Miles, 
Francis  H.  Calder. 

Company  B— Sergeants  Martin  F.  Rigby,  Elias  Gabriel;  Privates  Sanford  A.  Crisman,  Benjamin 
C.  Zeitler. 

Company  C—  First  Sergeant  Andrew  Pierce ;  Corporal  Thomas  B.  Faucett. 

Company  D— Sergeant  Jeremiah  B.  Swafford;  Corporal  William  P.  Tansey ;  Privates  Thomas 
Evans,  Orrin  B.  Ford,  John  Knott. 

Company  E—  Privates  Andrew  J.  Roberts,  Robert  Filloon,  Morris  Mink. 

Company  F—  Privates  George  W.  McCoy,  Milton  T.  McCoy,  Christian  Hummer,  Matthias  Kafer, 
John  W.  Firkins. 

Company  G— Corporal  William  Franks;  Privates  William  H.  Updike,  Henry  II.  Fitz,  William  J. 
Giddings,  David  J.  Forsyth,  John  W.  Hagey. 

Company  H—  Privates  'Samuel  P.  McCauley,  Samuel  P.  White. 

Company  7— Sergeant  McCourtney  B.  Nichols;  Corporals  Francis  A.  Dawes,  Elias  M.  Cook  ;  Pri 
vate  Thomas  Ashkettle. 

Company  K—  Sergeants  James  L.  Hall,  Farnsworth  Cobb;  Privates  James  E.  Gilmore,  James  A. 
Gould. 

Prisoners,  Officers,  Company  G — Captain  William  W.  Smith.  Company  A — First  Lieutenant 
Charles  Davis. 

Company  A— Corporal  Francis  J.  Esmay.  Company  B— Sergeant  John  B.  Crisman;  Private 
James  E.  Crisman.  Company  C—  Privates  David  C.  Cole,  Western  D.  Norton,  II.  A.  Downing,  Wil 
liam  H.  Hunnicutt.  Company  D — Sergeant  Dewitt  C.  Holmes ;  Privates  David  W.  Parrott,  David 
P.  Hawthorne,  Lymau  Bartlett,  Edmond  C.  C.  Geary,  William  A.  J.  Hill.  Company  E—  Sergeants 
James  Rokcs,  Mefford  Mitchell ;  Corporal  Richard  T.  Shelly ;  Private  William  Delany.  Company 
F—  Sergeant  John  Hershey;  Privates  James  B.  Nicholson,  James  T.  Morford,  Samuel  H.  Hallock, 
Christopher  Kafer.  Company  G—  Privates  Morris  Hutton,  William  M.  Coleman,  Dehart  C.  Lucus. 
Company  77— Sergeants  James  Oxley,  William  C.  Glover;  Corporal  Josiah  Bundy;  Private  Francis 
Smith.  Company  7— Sergeant  Willis  F.  Hanson;  Corporal  Samuel  Correll;  Privates  Robert  Cod 
ling,  William  II.  Koontz,  George  W.  Palmer,  Joseph  Sheets.  Company  K— Privates  Henry  Moore, 
II.  F.  Paul,  Joseph  Ruly,  William  White. 


TWENTY-FOURTH      INFANTRY.  513 

the  command  was  ordered  to  Winchester,  where  it  remained  on  post  duty 
till  ordered  south  in  the  early  part  of  January,  1865.  At  this  time  the 
officers  of  the  regiment  were :  Lieutenant-Colonel,  commanding,  Ed. 
Wright ;  Major,  Leander  Clark ;  Adjutant,  William  H.  Smouse ;  Surgeon, 
Doctor  Henry  M.  Lyons,  with  S.  S.  Cook,  J.  M.  Lanning,  assistants; 
Quartermaster,  A.  B.  Eshelman.  Company  A — Captain  Seymour  J. 
McKinley;  Lieutenants  Charles  E.  Davis,  William  B.  Davis.  Company 
B— Captain  William  T.  Rigby ;  Lieutenants  William  Kelly,  W.  W.  Edging- 
ton.  Company  C — Captain  Edwin  H.  Pound ;  Lieutenants  A.  J.  Scott, 
Andrew  Pierce.  Company  D — Captain  Charles  A.  Lucas ;  Lieutenants  J. 
B.  Swafford,  D.  W.  Ott.  Company  E — Captain  James  Rokes ;  Lieutenant 
William  T.  Holmes.  Company  F — Captain  C.  B.  Bradshaw ;  Lieutenant 
Thaddeus  L.  Smith.  Company  Gr — Captain  William  W.  Smith;  Lieu 
tenant  J.  M.  Hord.  Company  H — Captain  A.  R.  Knott ;  Lieutenants  F. 
R.  Jones,  A.  R.  Hodgkins.  Company  I — Captain  James  W.  Martin; 
Lieutenant  J.  W.  McMichael.  Company  K — Captain  Aaron  W.  Loomis ; 
Lieutenants  Royal  S.  Williams,  James  L.  Hall. 

The  6th  of  January,  1865,  the  Twenty-fourth  bade  farewell  to  the 
Shenandoah  Valley.  Moving  by  cars  to  Baltimore,  the  regiment  was  there 
quartered  in  stables ! — an  insult  which  could  have  been  nowhere  else  offered 
to  troops  who  had  proudly  borne  the  colors  of  the  Union  at  Port  Gibson, 
Champion  Hills,  Vicksburg,  Jackson,  Sabine  Cross  Roads,  Winchester, 
Fisher's  Hill,  and  Cedar  Creek.  Thence  the  regiment  moved  by  steam 
ship  to  Savannah,  Georgia,  where  it  had  quiet  for  some  two  months.  It 
then  moved  to  Morehead  City,  North  Carolina,  in  which  State  it  performed 
heavy  duties  for  some  time,  helping  on  the  transportation  between  G-olds- 
boro  and  Raleigh.  After  the  capitulation  of  Johnston  it  returned  to 
Savannah,  and  thence  made  the  same  movement  to  Augusta  and  back, 
which  has  been  noted  in  the  history  of  the  Twenty-second  regiment.  It 
was  mustered  out  of  service  at  Savannah,  and  from  there  moved  to  Iowa, 
and  was  finally  disbanded  in  the  early  part  of  August. 

The  Twenty-fourth  Iowa  Infantry,  sometimes  called  our  "Temperance," 
sometimes  our  "Methodist"  regiment  was  among  the  most  distinguished 
of  our  commands.  Colonel  Byam,  a  clergyman  of  the  Methodist  Epis 
copal  Church,  was  compelled  to  leave  the  service  by  reason  of  ill  health  in 
the  summer  of  1863.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Wilds,  who  succeeded  in  the 
command,  took  faithful,  conscientious  charge  of  his  troops,  till  he  gave  up 
his  life  in  the  cause  of  his  country.  Wright,  the  last  commanding  officer, 
was  one  of  our  most  successful  soldiers  as  he  had  been  one  of  our  most 
noted  men  in  the  walks  of  civil  life.  All  the  officers,  and  the  men  gene 
rally,  were  remarkable  for  their  bravery,  their  powers  of  endurance,  their 
moral  rectitude.  Not  the  stern  soldiery  which,  under  the  inspiration  of 
65 


514  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Hampden  and  the  leadership  of  Cromwell  overturned  the  monarchy  of 
England,  ever  fought  more  bravely,  or  suffered  more  patiently,  than  the 
Twenty-fourth  Iowa  Volunteers.  It  is  impossible  that  men  should  have 
ever  gone  into  war  out  of  a  higher  sense  of  duty  than  did  those  of  this 
command ;  and  it  is  to  the  praise  of  morality,  of  temperance,  of  Chris 
tianity,  that  throughout  a  long  career  of  as  gallant  service  as  was  ever  per 
formed,  they  were  as  brave  as  they  were  virtuous.  No  troops  left  the  ser 
vice  with  a  cleaner  record  than  did  these  Methodist  Volunteers,  when,  the 
war  ended,  they  laid  aside  the  sword  of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon. 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

TWENTY-FIFTH     INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZATION  AT  "CAMP  McKEAN,"  NEAR  MOUNT  PLEASANT— MOVE  TO  HELENA, 
ARKANSAS— GENERAL  SHERMAN'S  UNSUCCESSFUL  ATTACK  ON  VICKSBURG  BY 
CHICKASAW  BAYOU— THE  ARMY  UNDER  McCLERNAND  MOVES  AGAINST  ARKAN 
SAS  POST— ITS  CAPTURE— THE  CAMPAIGNS  OF  VICKSBURG  AND  JACKSON- 
QUIET— GENERAL  SHERMAN'S  MARCH  TO  CHATTANOOGA— THE  REGIMENT  EN 
GAGED  ON  LOOKOUT  MOUNTAIN,  MISSIONARY  RIDGE,  AND  AT  RINGGOLD— A 
QUIET  WINTER— THE  ATLANTA  CAMPAIGN— THAT  OF  SAVANNAH— THE  MARCH 
THROUGH  THE  CAROLINAS—  THE  CAPTURE  OF  COLUMBIA— MARCH  ON 
NORTHWARD— MUSTERED  OUT— HOME. 

THE  city  of  Mount  Pleasant,  the  seat  of  the  Iowa  Wesleyan  University, 
and  of  several  other  institutions  of  learning,  has  been  called  the  Athens  of 
our  State.  Distinguished  for  the  intelligence  and  high-toned  morality  of 
its  population,  for  its  men  who  have  become  eminent  in  politics  and  litera 
ture,  it  is  one  of  the  finest  little  cities  in  Christendom.  It  was  hard  by  this 
pleasant  town,  that  the  Twenty-fifth  Iowa  Infantry  was  organized,  in  the 
month  of  September,  1862,  under  the  command  of  Colonel  George  A. 
Stone,  who  had  been  a  lieutenant  in  the  First  Infantry,  and  a  Major  in  the 
Fourth  Cavalry.  He  had  associated  with  him  Lieutenant-Colonel  Fabian 
Brydolph,  Major  Calvin  Taylor.  His  Adjutant  was  Samuel  Kirkwood 
Clarke,  of  Iowa  City.  Doctor  William  S.  Marsh  was  surgeon,  with  James 
D.  Gray  and  Henry  M.  Farr,  assistants;  Frederick  J.  Clark,  Quarter 
master  ;  Reverend  Thomas  E.  Corkhill,  Chaplain. 

The  companies  composing  the  Twenty-fifth  were  enrolled  in  four  counties 
of  the  First  Congressional  Districts-four  in  Henry,  three  in  Des  Moines, 
two  in  Washington,  and  one  in  Louisa.  They  moved  to  the  rendezvous 
the  1st  of  September,  with  the  following  organization:  Company  A,  Cap 
tain  David  J.  Palmer,  Lieutenants  James  M.  Dick,  John  A.  Young;  Com 
pany  B,  Captain  John  A.  Smith,  Lieutenants  Jacob  B.  Ritner,  Samuel  L. 
Steele;  Company  C,  Captain  Joshua  G.  Newbold,  Lieutenants  A  J.  With- 
row,  J.  W.  Brush;  Company  D,  Captain  John  L.  Perkins,  Lieutenants 

515 


516  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Robert  M.  Seamans,  Albert  A.  Perkins ;  Company  E,  Captain  John  N. 
Bell,  Lieutenants  Samuel  W.  Snow,  John  W.  Shafer;  Company  F,  Cap 
tain  William  G.  Allen,  Lieutenants  Elisha  T.  Williamson,  Thomas  G. 
Stark;  Company  Gr,  Captain  Joseph  Utter,  Lieutenants  B.  D.  Harper, 
William  I.  Tizzard;  Company  H,  Captain  James  D.  Spearman,  Lieu 
tenants  Alexander  Lee,  Alfred  Wilson;  Company  I,  Captain  Samuel  A. 
Russell,  Lieutenants  John  Orr,  Thomas  Y.  Williams ;  Company  K,  Captain 
Hugh  Gilmore,  Lieutenants  John  Thompson,  Wesley  C.  Hobbs.  The 
number  of  officers  and  men,  at  the  time  the  regiment  formally  entered  the 
service — September  27th — was  nine  hundred  and  seventy-two,  and  it  was 
very  soon  increased  to  within  five  of  an  even  thousand. 

The  regiment  remained  at  Camp  McKean  a  little  more  than  a  month, 
undergoing  a  thorough  course  of  instruction  in  discipline  and  the  drill. 
There  is  little  doubt  that  Colonel  Stone  was  one  of  the  very  best  disciplina 
rians  who  entered  the  service  from  Iowa,  or,  indeed,  from  any  State. 
Herein  he  had  not  only  fine  talents,  but  absolute  genius.  His  troops  were 
always  remarkable  for  those  admirable  qualities  which  spring  from  a  com 
manding  officer  like  Stone.  His  regiment  had  been  but  a  short  time  in 
camp  till  it  presented,  on  occasions  of  battalion  drill  or  dress  parade,  the 
appearance  of  a  command  of  veterans. 

Early  in  November,  the  Twenty-fifth  shook  hands  with  the  hospitable 
people  of  Mount  Pleasant  and  "High  Henry"  County,  and  moved  for  the 
front.  Merely  stopping  at  St.  Louis,  it  proceeded  down  the  river,  and  on 
the  17th  made  the  port  of  Helena,  after  having  undergone  the  many  dis 
comforts  and  annoying  delays  incident  to  the  navigation  of  even  the  Father 
of  Waters  at  a  period  of  unusual  drought.  It  remained  at  Helena  about 
four  weeks,  portions  of  the  command,  however,  accompanying  reconnoiter- 
ing  expeditions  to  White  River,  westward,  and  the  Coldwater,  in  Missis 
sippi. 

The  22d  of  December,  being  then  attached  to  General  C.  E.  Hovey's 
Second  Brigade  of  Steele's  First  Division,  Fifteenth  Army  Corps,  the 
regiment  embarked  on  transport,  and  moved  down  the  Mississippi  with  the 
forces  under  General  Sherman,  who  soon  afterwards  delivered  unsuccessful 
attack  against  Vicksburg  by  Chickasaw  Bayou.  The  battle  of  this  name, 
a  series  of  disconnected  engagements,  and  a  final  heroic  charge  by  a  few 
troops,  who  were  repulsed  with  great  slaughter,  was  the  first  in  which  the 
Twenty-fifth  Iowa  took  part.  But  it  did  not  join  in  the  main  charge  against 
the  enemy's  impregnable  position,  nor  did  it  meet  with  serious  loss.  One 
man  was  slain  and  a  few  were  wounded. 

The  army  withdrew,  and  a  few  days  afterwards  passed  into  the  command 
of  General  McClernand,  at  Young's  Point.  That  officer  designated  the 
troops  under  his  command  the  Army  of  the  Mississippi,  and  at  once  began 


TWENTY-FIFTH      INFANTRY.  517 

the  campaign  which  resulted  in  the  capture  of  Arkansas  Post,  on  the  llth 
of  January,  1863.  In  this  campaign,  in  the  battle  which  crowned  it  with 
victory,  and  enriched  it  with  the  spoils  of  war,  the  Twenty-fifth  performed 
its  part  most  handsomely,  winning  the  praises  of  superior  officers,  and 
suffering  a  loss  of  about  sixty,  killed  and  wounded,  and  a  few  captured. 
Among  the  mortally  wounded  was  Adjutant  Samuel  Kirkwood  Clarke,  a 
most  promising  young  officer,  warmly  esteemed  by  the  whole  command.1 

The  regiment,  returning  to  the  vicinity  of  Vicksburg,  disembarked  at 
Young's  Point,  and  went  into  encampment  within  less  than  one  mile  of  the 
famous  "Butler  Canal."  The  army  remained  encamped  about  Young's 
Point  several  wet,  weary,  gloomy  months.  There  are  qualities  of  a  com 
mander  of  troops  less  noticed  by  the  crowd,  but  not  less  valuable  to  the 
troops,  than  the  quality  of  dashing  courage  on  the  field  of  battle.  The 
eminent  talents  of  Colonel  Stone,  of  which  I  have  already  spoken,  were 
specially  exercised  during  this  era  of  general  sickness  and  gloom.  He 
inaugurated  a  system  of  drill  and  exercise  which  did  much  in  the  way  of 
counteracting  the  evil  effects  of  long  confinement  on  transports,  and  of  an 
unhealthy  locality.  The  strict  policing  of  camp  and  quarters  was  constantly 
enforced.  To  this  rigid  but  wise  government  of  his  command  by  the 
colonel  may  fairly  be  attributed  the  fact,  that  during  the  regiment's  three 
months'  stay  in  that  region  of  pestilence  and  malaria,  but  four  men  died  in 
the  camp  of  the  Twenty-fifth  Iowa ;  whilst  in  most  other  regiments  the 
deaths  were  numbered  by  the  scores,  and  in  not  a  few  by  fifties  and 
hundreds. 

During  the  encampment  of  the  regiment  near  Young's  Point  there  were 
several  changes  in  the  command.  Captain  Smith,  of  Company  B,  resigned, 

1  The  following  is  the  official  list  of  casualties.    Adjutant  S.  K.Clarke,(mortally  wounded). 

Company  A —  Wounded,  Captain  Palmer ;  Sergeant  James  G.  Vincent ;  Corporal  Samuel  McKee ; 
J.  Clary,  John  A.  Hammond,  R.  E.  Wilkin. 

Company  B— Killed,  George  W.  Calhoun.  Wounded,  Sergeant  T.  J.  Tount;  Private  Hanrey 
Millhone. 

Company  C— Killed,  Corporal  James  W.  Thompson ;  Privates  Henry  R.  Boley,  Andrew  J.  Stand- 
ley.  Wounded,  Privates  W.  M.  Hufstedler,  Caleb  B.  Rhode,  A.  Kimple. 

Company  D— Wounded,  Corporal  John  A.  Johnson;  Privates  John  Q.  Dennis,  (now  dead),  A.  M. 
Fox,  H.  H.  Mitchell. 

Company  E— Killed,  Swan  F.  Peterson.  Wounded,  Captain  Bell ;  Privates  E.  A.  Holland,  L.  New- 
comb,  C.  L.  Renz,  William  Bauman,  F.  Mester. 

Company  F—  Wounded,  Lieutenant  Stark ;  Sergeant  H.  L.  Dcnham ;  Privates  A.  S.  Paschal,  R.  B. 
Hewett,  A.  S.  Smith,  E.  M.  Sargent,  C.  C.  Bailey. 

Company  G— Killed,  Privates  Andrew  McGuire,  George  A.  Rouse.  Wounded,  Privates  Jacob  B. 
Barnhart,  James  M.  Kelly.  Missing,  Corporal  C.  J.  Lemen;  Privates  Robert  Clark,  John  G.  Reese, 
Richard  Storer. 

Company  H— Kitted,  Sergeant  Henry  C.  Zickafoose.  Wounded,  Sergeant  John  S.  Athearn;  Pii- 
vates  Joseph  Hesler,  Alois  Brotzer,  Lewis  Lavenburg,  John  Cole.  Missing,  Silas  F.  Mabee,  John 
W.  Ray,  Thomas  Jeflfere. 

Company  I— Wounded,  Lieutenant  Orr;  Privates  J.  G.  Smith,  M.  C.  Ogden,  J.  G.  Rowan. 

Company  K— Killed,  Corporal  George  W.  Wilson.  Wounded,  Privates  James  M.  Philpott,  Charles 
F.  See,  C.  C.  Stanley,  M.  C.  Prier,  A.  J.  Virgin,  J.  H.  Harmon. 


518  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

and  was  succeeded  by  Lieutenant  Ritner.  Captain  Russell,  of  Company  I, 
also  resigned.  Private  Thomas  H.  Maxwell  was  promoted  to  the  command. 
Private  William  F.  Conrad,  of  Company  G,  succeeded  to  the  Captaincy  of 
Company  K,  in  place  of  Gilmore  who  had  resigned  at  Helena.  Dr.  Farr 
succeeded  Surgeon  Marsh,  resigned.  Chaplain  Corkhill  also  here  left  the 
service  by  resigning  his  commission.  Finally,  Lieutenant  Samuel  W.  Snow, 
succeeded  the  lamented  Kirkwood  Clarke,  as  Adjutant. 

The  2d  of  April,  the  regiment  joined  its  division  in  that  expedition 
made  by  General  Steele,  to  Greenville,  Mississippi,  and  into  the  interior 
of  the  State,  which  not  only  materially  aided  General  Grant  by  the  large 
captures  of  stores  made  thereby,  but  served  also  to  attract  the  enemy's  at 
tention  from  the  principal  movement  of  the  campaign.  The  division  re 
mained  encamped  near  Greenville,  making  sundry  excursions  into  the  ad 
joining  country,  till  the  24th,  when,  the  purpose  of  the  movement  having 
been  entirely  accomplished,  it  returned  to  Milliken's  Bend.  Thence 
Colonel  Stone,  commanding  his  own  and  a  Missouri  regiment,  marched  to 
Richmond,  where  he  remained  a  few  days,  and  then  marched  to  Grand 
Gulf,  recently  fallen  into  our  possession.  The  main  portion  of  the  army 
had  already  moved  on  in  the  direction  of  Jackson,  and  the  Twenty-fifth 
was  ordered  to  escort  the  train.  This  was  done,  the  regiment  rejoining  the 
division  at  Clinton,  returning,  victorious,  from  Jackson.  The  next  day, 
the  rebels  were  sorely  defeated  at  Champion  Hills,  but  the  troops  of  the 
Fifteenth  Corps  did  not  take  part  in  the  engagement.  Pushing  on  rapidly, 
they  crossed  the  Black  River  at  Messenger's  Ferry,  on  the  night  after 
the  battle  at  the  railroad  bridge,  where  Colonel  Kinsman  fell,  and  his  and 
the  Twenty-first  Iowa  regiments  won  the  brightest  laurels  of  that  hard 
fight.  Pushing  on  rapidly  again,  they  opened  up  the  communications  by 
the  Yazoo  River,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  18th,  began  the  investment  of 
Vicksburg. 

The  next  day  the  investment  was  completed,  and  the  siege  of  the  strong 
hold  fully  instituted.  In  the  memorable  asssault  of  the  22d,  in  the  dim- 
cult,  wearing  labors  of  the  siege,  from  whose  enervating  influences  it  was 
impossible  for  even  the  strictest  discipline  and  utmost  skill  to  relieve  the 
troops,  the  regiment  well  performed  its  part,  and  patiently  bore  its  hard 
ships.  In  the  assault,  the  command  lost  about  thirty,  killed  and  wounded, 
among  the  latter  being  Captain  James  D.  Spearman,  seriously  hurt.  The 
loss  of  the  regiment  during  the  entire  siege,  was  about  fifteen  slain  and 
four  times  as  many  wounded.  It  is  well  known  that  General  Steele' s  Divi 
sion  was  on  the  right  of  the  investment.  Of  his  division,  Colonel  Stone's 
regiment  held  the  right,  and  was  therefore  on  the  extreme  right  of  the 
army.  It  is  proper  to  observe  that  Colonel  Stone  speaks  in  the  highest 
terms  of  the  conduct  of  officers  and  men  during  the  siege,  and  especially 


TWENTY-FIFTH     INFANTKY.  519 

notes  a  daring  exploit  by  Private  Isaac  Mickey  performed  on  the  trying 
day  of  the  assault. 

The  regiment  joined  in  the  movement  against  Jackson,  by  which  General 
Sherman  followed  up  the  surrender  of  Vicksburg,  and  in  that  its  last  cam 
paign  in  Mississippi  lost  one  man  slain  and  a  few  slightly  wounded.  Re 
turning  it  went  into  encampment  on  the  banks  of  Black  River,  where,  in 
quiet,  the  command  spent  several  weeks,  and  measurably  recovered  from 
the  effects  of  the  long  confinement  in  the  trenches  about  Vicksburg.  Nev 
ertheless,  not  a  few  of  the  men  died  from  the  effects  of  that  confinement. 

The  Twenty-fifth,  being  a  part  of  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps,  moved  from 
its  encampment  near  the  Black  River  Bridge  in  September,  and  taking 
transport  at  Vicksburg  for  Memphis,  thence  entered  upon  the  march  across 
Tennessee  to  the  relief  of  Chattanooga,  which  brought  to  General  Sherman 
and  his  command  so  much  renown.  Near  Cherokee  Station,  Alabama,  the 
regiment  participated  in  the  sharp  fight,  in  which  Osterhaus  defeated  the 
rebels  under  Lee  and  Roddy,  and  in  which  Colonel  Torrence,  Thirtieth 
Iowa,  was  slain,  whilst  bravely  leading  his  gallant  command  against  the 
enemy. 

Having  covered  the  army,  crossing  the  Tennessee  at  Chickasaw,  and  East- 
port,  Osterhaus  returned  from  Tuscumbia,  and  also  crossing  the  river  at  Chick 
asaw,  joined  the  grand  forward  march  to  the  relief  of  imperilled  comrades. 
On  the  morning  the  Twenty-fifth  Iowa  reached  Lookout  Mountain,  it  pro 
ceeded  at  once  into  battle,  General  Osterhaus'  Division  being  temporarily  at 
tached  to  the  forces  under  Fighting  Joe  Hooker.  In  the  battle  above  the 
clouds,  the  regiment  was  in  support  of  a  battery  of  New  York  artillery,  and 
suffered  no  loss.  The  next  morning  the  battle  of  Missionary  Ridge  was  seen 
grandly  raging  from  the  regiment's  position  on  Lookout  Mountain.  The 
Twenty-fifth  hastened  across  the  valley  to  Rossville  Gap,  and  was  there  en 
gaged  in  picking  up  prisoners  rather  than  taking  an  active  part  in  the  en 
gagement.  Hence  the  command  here,  as  at  the  battle  of  Lookout  Mountain, 
had  no  casualties  to  report.  But  at  the  battle  of  Ringgold,  or  Taylor's 
Ridge,  fought  on  the  27th,  the  regiment  was  heavily  engaged.  Colonel 
Stone  reports  a  loss  of  twenty-nine  wounded,  and  states  that  of  twenty-one 
officers  in  the  fight,  seven  were  hit  by  the  enemy's  missiles. 

The  day  following  the  battle  of  Ringgold  orders  were  issued  reorganizing 
the  division,  whereby  Colonel  Stone  came  in  command  of  the  brigade,  and 
that  of  the  regiment  devolved  on  Lieutenant-Colonel  Palmer,  one  of  the 
most  meritorious  of  Iowa  officers.  The  command  moved  back  to  Chatta 
nooga,  and  in  a  few  days  to  Bridgeport,  Alabama.  Encamping  here  until 
the  23d  of  December,  the  whole  division  moved  to  Woodville,  on  the  Mem 
phis  and  Charleston  Railroad,  and  went  into  winter  quarters.  The  Third 
Brigade,  Colonel  Stone,  made  several  expeditions,  one  of  which  was  of 


520  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

considerable  importance.  This  was  a  march  to  the  town  of  Lebanon,  a 
small  place  near  Sand  Mountain.  That  part  of  Alabama  about  Lebanon 
contained  many  inhabitants  who  had  remained  true  to  the  Union.  Many 
of  them  joined  Colonel  Stone's  column,  and  were  organized  into  companies 
and  armed.  They  afterwards  did  good  service  for  their  country.  Return 
ing  from  Lebanon  to  Woodville,  Colonel  Stone  was  ordered  to  Cleveland, 
East  Tennessee.  Garrisoning  that  post  till  early  in  March,  1864,  the  com 
mand  returned  to  Woodville,  where  it  remained  until  it  joined  the  forces 
under  General  Sherman,  about  to  begin  the  campaign  of  Atlanta. 

The  1st  of  May,  the  regiment  broke  camp  at  Woodville  and  commenced 
the  memorable  ' '  march  to  the  sea. ' '  It  had  meantime  been  assigned  to 
the  Second  Brigade,  which  was  composed  entirely  of  Iowa  troops,  namely, 
the  Fourth,  Ninth,  Twenty-fifth,  and  Thirty-first  regiments  of  Infantry. 
It  gained  the  name  of  the  "Iowa  Brigade  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps."  It 
was  commanded  by  Colonel  James  A.  Williamson,  of  the  Fourth,  a  brave 
and  terribly  energetic  officer,  who  had  long  commanded  a  brigade  with  the 
utmost  success,  and  who  had  been  warmly  recommended  by  General  Sher 
man  in  the  most  public  manner,  for  promotion  to  the  rank  which  he  actually 
filled.  It  was  a  blameworthy  omission  on  the  part  of  the  authorities  that 
his  promotion  was  so  long  neglected.  There  was  no  brigade  of  the  Fifteenth 
Corps  which  performed  more  eminent  services  in  the  grand  campaign  of 
Atlanta  than  Williamson's  Iowa  Brigade.  It  first  met  the  enemy  at  Resaca 
on  the  llth  of  May,  and  from  that  time  until  the  5th  of  September,  at 
Lovejoy  Station,  two  marches  beyond  Atlanta,  it  was  nearly  every  hour  of 
the  time  within  sound  of  the  enemy's  guns  or  under  his  fire.  It  met  the 
foe  in  heavy  skirmish  and  in  battle  on  all  the  last  five  days  of  May,  at 
Dallas.  On  the  28th,  when  the  division  on  its  right  was  about  giving  way 
before  overwhelming  numbers,  it  was  Williamson's  Iowa  Brigade  that 
saved  that  division  and  the  day  by  a  daring  charge.  It  was  engaged  in  the 
movements  and  heavy  fighting  which  preceded  the  assault  on  Kenesaw 
Mountain  and  the  evacuation  of  that  strong  position  by  the  rebels.  It  was 
again  most  conspicuous  in  the  corps  at  the  great  battle  of  Atlanta,  on  the 
22d  of  July.  Here  again  did  Williamson's  Iowa  Brigade  make  a  bold 
charge,  under  the  eye  of  General  Sherman  himself,  restored  the  line  of  the 
Fifteenth  Corps  which  had  been  broken,  drove  the  enemy  from  our  works, 
actually  kicking  some  rebels  out  of  the  way,  and  recaptured  the  guns  which 
had  been  taken  from  us.  Again  at  the  battle  of  Ezra  Church,  it  fought 
finely  and  suffered  heavily.  So  also  at  Jonesboro,  and  at  Lovejoy.  Every 
where  and  at  all  times — on  the  march  by  day  or  by  night,  in  the  trenches 
of  a  besieging  army,  or  in  battle,  it  faithfully,  bravely,  yea,  nobly,  did  its 
part  in  that  remarkable  campaign. 

The  regiments  which  composed  the  brigade  all  did  so  well  throughout 


TWENTY-FIFTH     INFANTRY.  521 

th;it  it  would  be  impossible  to  decide  that  one  was,  upon  the  whole,  more 
meritorious  than  another.  The  Twenty-fifth  was  in  all  the  engagements 
which  have  been  mentioned,  and  engaged  with  about  equal  prominence  with 
the  other  regiments,  except  at  the  battle  of  Dallas,  where  its  position  was 
such  that  it  did  not  fully  take  part  in  the  charge.  It  was  engaged,  of 
course,  in  many  skirmishes,  which  were  all  the  time  taking  place  with  less 
or  more  loss  on  both  sides,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  cam 
paign.  It  may  be  well  to  state,  also,  that  when  the  town  of  Marietta  fell 
into  our  possession,  Colonel  Stone  was  made  commandant  of  that  beautiful 
place,  and  his  regiment  detailed  as  Provost  Guard.  It  rejoined  the  brigade 
and  division  on  the  Chattahoochee,  after  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  moved 
from  the  right  to  the  left  flank  of  General  Sherman's  power,  and  took  posi 
tion  near  Roswell.  The  losses  of  the  regiment  during  the  campaign  were 
considerable,  but  have  never  been  fully  reported  in  official  form.2 

The  8th  of  September  the  regiment  went  into  fortified  camp  at  East 
Point,  where  it  did  not  have  quite  a  month's  rest,  for  on  the  4th  of  the 
following  month,  marching  orders  came.  It  joined  forthwith  in  the  rapid 
pursuit  of  Hood,  marching  by  night  as  well  as  by  day.  On  the  7th  passed 
through  Allatoona  Pass,  forever  memorable  as  the  scene  of  Corse's  gallant 
battle,  and  Redfield's  heroic  death.  The  llth,  the  regiment  was  at  Resaca» 
and  on  the  16th  encamped  on  the  banks  of  Little  River,  Alabama,  in  sight 
of  the  grand  heights  of  Lookout  Mountains.  Four  days  afterwards  the 
command  took  part  in  a  brisk  skirmish  with  Wheeler's  Cavalry  in  Turkey- 

«  But  J.  P.  Wightman,  regimental  clerk,  furnished  the  following  list  to  the  Daily  Hawk-Eye, 
•which  is  probably,  making  due  allowance  for  typographical  errors,  correct : 

May  13th — Kitted,  John  Laux,  Cornelius  A.  Story,  Isaac  P.  Mathews.  Wounded,  Sergeants  Charles 
E.  Barker,  William  A.  Boyles,  John  Parent ;  Corporal  John  W.  McPherron ;  Thomas  F.  Cochran, 
George  W.  Baker,  James  H.  Scarff,  Leroy  Dorman,  Hiram  Rutt,  Archibald  H.  Gabbert,  Ivan  P.  Lee, 
William  R.  Miller. 

May  1-lth — Wounded,  Lieutenant  John  A.  Young. 

May  21th — Wounded,  Thomas  Murphy.    Missing,  George  W.  Gidley,  E.  P.  Perry. 

May  28th— Wounded,  Corporal  Henry  M.  Sears;  William  P.  Gibbon,  S.  Clark,  (mortally). 

June  <Uh  to  July  2d— Killed,  George  Calp.  Wounded,  Clark  Sittler,  George  W.  Riley.  Missing, 
Sergeant  Edward  Hay ;  Isaac  N.  Train. 

July  22d — Killed,  Calvin  Robertson.  Wounded,  Sergeants  Charles  W.  Payne,  Ed.  A.  Baldwin;  Cor 
porals  Christian  Hershey,  Harry  Cade  (mortally);  Privates  Oscar  A.  Stout,  James  Groves,  Legrand 
Kincaid,  Walter  Steingraber. 

July  28th—  Wounded,  Lieutenant  John  C.  Smith ;  Francis  M.  Crawford,  George  W.  Baker. 

August  6th  to  21st — Killed,  William  Mickey.  Wounded,  Adjutant  Samuel  W.  Snow ;  Sergeant 
John  J.  McClellan,  James  M.  Duncan,  William  Hall,  James  W.  Baker,  Alexander  Seeber,  Charles  F. 
Lee,  John  Paxson,  Henry  Granneman,  Francis  I.  Jeffrey. 

August  31st—  Wounded,  Lieutenant  Adam  Kimple ;  Jasper  Spencer,  William  F.  Baily,  Isaac  House- 
worth,  Thomas  Craig;  Sergeant  James  W.  M.  Allen. 

September  1st  to  1th— Killed,  Sergeant  John  J.  McClellan ;  Corporal  Lawrence  M.  Wilson.  Wounded, 
George  Porter,  Henry  L.  Young,  Henry  Rausher,  Nelson  Bundy,  Albert  Lucky,  Thomas  Murphy. 
Captured  by  the  enemy,  James  N.  Barlow,  Francis  M.  Lucas.  Total  loss  during  the  campaign,  sixty- 
eeven. 

66 


522  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

town  Valley.    The  26th,  it  began  the  countermarch,  and  on  the  12th  of 
November  encamped  near  Atlanta. 

Three  days  afterwards,  with  its  fine  new  colors,  the  gift  of  the  Ladies' 
Loyal  Leagues  of  Burlington  and  Mount  Pleasant,  unfurled  to  the  breeze, 
the  Twenty-fifth  departed  from  Atlanta,  joining  in  the  march  to  Savannah. 
In  the  labors  and  pleasantries  of  this  campaign  the  regiment  had  its  fair 
share.  It  was  not  called  upon  to  fight  much,  but  at  Wright's  Bridge,  on 
the  Ogeechee,  two  companies  of  the  command  whipped  a  regiment  of  rebel 
cavalry  on  December  6th,  the  companies  not  losing  a  man,  the  enemy  two 
killed  and  a  number  wounded.  The  regiment  entered  the  city  of  Savannah 
with  the  army  on  the  21st,  and  went  into  camp. 

There  was  considerable  ' '  renovation' '  at  Savannah,  where  the  command 
remained  some  time.  Colonel  Williamson"  here  commanded  the  division 
for  a  short  period,  as  he  also  gave  up  the  command  of  the  Iowa  Brigade  of 
the  Fifteenth  Corps,  at  Savannah,  and  sailed  for  New  York  on  the  Steamship 
' '  Arago. ' '  Colonel  Stone,  Twenty-fifth  Iowa,  took  command  of  the  brigade, 
consisting  of  his  own  regiment,  and  the  Fourth,  Ninth,  Thirtieth,  and 
Thirty-first  regiments  of  Iowa  Infantry.  It  was  now  called  "Stone's  Iowa 
Brigade."  Lieutenant-Colonel  Palmer  was  in  command  of  the  Twenty- 
fifth,  and  bravely,  skilfully  led  it  during  the  remainder  of  its  history. 

The  Campaign  of  the  Carolinas,  so  far  as  Colonel  Stone's  command  is 
concerned,  began  near  Savannah  on  the  10th  of  January,  1865,  and  closed 
on  the  26th  of  March — two  months  and  a-half  of  hard  marching,  great 
labor,  and  considerable  fighting.  The  command  fought  in  four  general 
engagements — at  Little  Congaree  Creek,  February  15th,  at  the  city  of 
Columbia,  two  days  afterwards,  at  Cox's  Bridge,  March  20th,  and  at  the 
Battle  of  Bentonsville,  the  next  day.  The  Twenty-fifth  took  part  in  all 
these  engagements,  but  the  scene  of  the  brigade's  principal  achievement 
was  at  Columbia,  the  capital  of  South  Carolina,  which  was  first  occupied  by 
Iowa  troops. 

TBE   CAPTURE   OF   COLUMBIA. 

This  achievement  is  fully  described  by  Colonel  Stone  in  his  official  report, 
of  which  I  quote  the  main  portions : 

"Early  in  the  evening  of  February  16th,  I  had  orders  from  Brevet  Major- 
General  Wood,  commanding  the  Division,  to  be  in  readiness  to  cross  Broad 
River  during  the  night  in  pontoon  boats,  at  a  point  to  be  designated  by 
Colonel  Freedale,  of  the  Engineers,  and  so  soon  as  crossed,  to  move  on  the 
city.  The  point  determined  upon  was  about  one  mile  above  the  wreck  of 
the  bridge,  and  two  miles  above  the  city.  It  was  expected  to  have  effected 
a  crossing  by  midnight,  but  the  current  of  the  river  was  so  very  strong,  the 


TWENTY-FIFTH     INFANTRY.  523 

engineer  did  not  succeed  in  getting  a  line  across  till  three  o'clock  of  the 
morning  of  the  17th  instant. 

"  At  ten  minutes  before  four  o'clock,  I  sent  over  two  boat-loads  of  sharp 
shooters,  under  Captain  Bowman  of  my  staff,  with  instructions  to  have  them 
placed  as  skirmishers.  He  had  particular  instructions  to  keep  his  men 
quiet,  and  not  to  reply  to  any  firing  from  the  enemy  unless  satisfied  they 
meant  an  attack  before  the  column  could  cross.  I  went  over  with  the 
advance  of  the  first  regiment — the  Thirty-first  Iowa,  and  made  a  personal 
reconnoissance  of  the  ground.  It  was  discovered  we  had  landed  on  a  small 
island,  crescent-shaped,  about  two  hundred  yards  in  length,  and  say  twenty- 
five  yards  in  width  at  the  widest  place.  By  the  time  four  regiments  had 
erected  a  line  of  works  completely  covering  the  island,  day  was  just  dawn 
ing,  and  the  enemy  but  one  hundred  yards  distant,  discovering  our  proxi 
mity,  became  very  active,  and  opened  a  very  annoying  fire  from  their  sharp 
shooters.  From  a  movement  of  troops  towards  his  right,  I  was  satisfied  the 
enemy  were  making  preparations  to  reenforce  his  line,  and  that  to  insure 
success  with  slight  loss,  I  ought  at  once  to  attack  without  waiting  for  the 
remainder  of  the  brigade — part  of  the  Fourth  Iowa. 

"  I  accordingly  made  the  following  disposition  of  the  different  regiments 
for  the  attack :  The  Thirty-first  Iowa,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Jenkins,  was  moved 
across  the  island  towards  the  mouth,  nearly  parallel  to  the  river,  until  I 
found  his  left  opposite  the  enemy's  right ;  Major  Abernethy,  commanding 
the  Ninth  Iowa,  was  placed  on  Lieutenant-Colonel  Jenkins'  left. 

"These  dispositions  being  made  to  my  satisfaction,  I  returned  to  the 
Island,  and  ordered  Lieutenant-Colonel  Roberts,  Thirtieth  Iowa,  to  assault 
immediately  in  front  of  it;  the  Twenty-fifth  Iowa,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Palmer,  to  follow  as  a  reserve,  and  sent  word  to  Lieutenant-Colonel  Nichols, 
commanding  the  Fourth  Iowa,  to  join  Colonel  Palmer  as  fast  as  his  men 


"  Everything  now  in  readiness  the  signal  was  given  and  the  assault  made 
by  all  the  regiments  at  the  same  time.  The  result  proved  no  mistake  either 
in  planning  or  the  execution.  Before  the  enemy  was  hardly  aware  of  it, 
we  were  right  into  the  skirmish  pits  and  scattering  them  in  every  direction. 
The  Thirtieth  Iowa  here  captured  twenty-three  prisoners.  I  accompanied 
this  regiment  in  the  charge,  and  can  by  personal  observation  testify  to  the 
gallant  manner  in  which  they  made  it.  In  front  of  the  Island  are  a  num 
ber  of  small  bayous  running  parallel  to  the  river,  about  twenty  feet  wide 
and  waist  deep ;  few  stopped  to  find  logs  on  which  to  cross,  but  plunged  in, 
holding  guns  and  cartridge-boxes  above  the  water.  The  enemy  seeing  his 
skirmish  line  destroyed,  and  the  eagerness  with  which  our  success  was  being 
followed  up,  became  confused  and  soon  broke,  leaving  our  way  open  to 
the  city.  From  the  prisoners  I  learned  the  crossing  had  been  disputed 


524  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

by  Colonel  Palmer's  Brigade  of  Infantry  and  a  regiment  of  Wheeler's 
Cavalry. 

"When  within  a  mile  of  the  city  a  carriage  was  discovered  approaching, 
flying  a  flag  of  truce.  It  proved  to  contain  Mr.  Goodwin,  Mayor  of  Colum 
bia,  and  the  City  Aldermen,  who  came  to  offer  terms  of  capitulation. 
After  some  words  had  passed,  they  unconditionally  surrendered  to  me  the 
city  of  Columbia. 

"  I  joined  the  party  in  the  carriage,  accompanied  by  Major  Anderson  of 
the  Fourth  Iowa,  and  Captain  Pratt  of  General  Logan's  staff,  leaving  the 
Brigade  under  the  temporary  charge  of  Lieutenant- Colonel  Jenkins,  and 
preceded  the  column  about  half  a  mile.  Proceeding  to  the  State  House 
with  Captain  Pratt,  I  planted  the  first  United  States  flag  on  that  building. 
During  the  night  the  city  was  fired  in  a  number  of  places  by  some  of  our 
released  prisoners  and  negroes.  A  high  wind  was  prevailing  at  the  time, 
and  although  every  thing  was  done  that  could  be  to  prevent  it,  at  least  one- 
third  of  the  city  was  destroyed. 

"I  cannot  at  this  writing  give  you  an  official  invoice  of  the  capture  of 
this  place,  but  it  will  consist  in  part  as  follows :  five  thousand  stand  of  small 
arms  ;  forty  pieces  of  artillery ;  two  hundred  prisoners  (including  those  in 
hospital) ;  forty  Federal  officers  released  ;  artillery  and  small  arm  ammuni 
tion  in  immense  quantities,  etc. 

' '  To  Iowa  alone  is  credit  to  be  given  for  capturing  the  Capital  of  the 
State  that  has  been  disloyal  since  the  days  of  John  C.  Calhoun,  and  the 
contemplated  Capital  of  the  Confederacy,  as  none  but  Iowa  troops  were 
engaged. 

"During  the  engagement  the  regimental  officers  did  their  duty  well — 
Major  Abernethy  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Jenkins  on  the  left  and  centre, 
and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Roberts  on  the  right.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Palmer 
with  the  Twenty-fifth  Iowa;  followed  up  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Nichols 
of  the  Fourth  Iowa,  supported  the  assault  in  a  handsome  manner.  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Roberts,  of  the  Thirtieth  Iowa,  with  his  Adjutant,  First 
Lieutenant  James  M.  Smith,  deserve  notice  for  the  gallant  manner  in  which 
they  pushed  their  line  forward.  My  thanks  are  due  all  my  Staff  officers, 
Captains  John  N.  Bell,  A.  Bowman,  Acting  Assistant  Adjutant-General 
Samuel  W.  Snow,  and  Lieutenant  Baron  H.  Crane,  for  doing  their  duty 
well." 

It  seems  there  were  two  Capitol  buildings  at  Columbia,  the  old  and  new. 
We  have  already  seen,  in  our  history  of  the  Thirteenth  regiment,  that 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Kennedy  of  that  command,  with  Lieutenants  Goodrell 
and  Me  Arthur,  of  General  Belkhap's  Staff,  first  entered  Columbia,  and 
planted  the  flag  on  the  Capitol.  General  Sherman's  official  report  of  the 
campaign  also  speaks  of  that  exploit.  But  it  is  certain,  that  though  Lieu- 


TWENTY-FIFTH      INFANTRY.  525 

tenant- Colonel  Kennedy's  small  command  was  fired  upon  by  the  enemy, 
the  Capital  of  South  Carolina  was  surrendered  to  Colonel  George  A. 
Stone,  Twenty-fifth  Iowa,  commanding  the  Iowa  Brigade  of  the  Fifteenth 
Corps,  whose  gallant  troops  did  the  main  fighting,  and  suffered  all  the 
casualties  of  the  occasion.  It  makes  no  difference,  therefore,  whether  the 
one  party  or  the  other,  first  raised  the  flag  on  the  Capitol.  It  was  an  Iowa 
triumph  in  either  event,  and  there  probably  would  never  have  been  any 
dispute  about  it  at  all,  had  there  not  been  two  Capitol  Buildings. 

From  Columbia,  in  melancholy  ruins,  the  army  soon  recommenced  its 
conquering  march.  Our  regiment  distinguished  itself  in  the  subsequent 
engagements  of  the  campaign — Cox's  Bridge  and  Bentonsville — different 
parts,  in  reality  of  the  same  general  battle,  the  former  fought  on  the  20th, 
the  latter  on  the  21st  of  March.  In  the  engagement  of  the  20th,  the 
Twenty-fifth  had  a  desperate  fight,  and  maintained  its  reputation  with 
most  admirable  success.  It  had  between  twenty  and  thirty  killed  and 
wounded  in  a  short  time,  among  the  latter  being  Captain  William  G. 
Allen,  acting  Major,  who  lost  his  right  leg.  "The  officers  and  men  of  the 
Twenty-fifth  Iowa  behaved  handsomely,  and  fought  desperately,**  says 
Colonel  Stone.  "Lieutenant-Colonel  Palmer,  commanding  the  regiment, 
and  Captain  Allen,  acting  Major,  deserve  notice  for  exposing  themselves 
freely,  and  for  the  gallant  manner  in  which  they  cheered  their  men  for 
ward.  ' '  The  brigade  more  generally  participated  in  the  battle  of  the  next 
day,  the  last  ever  fought  by  Sherman's  grand  army.  It  is  almost  needless 
to  add  that  the  brigade  received  the  commendations  of  superior  officers  for 
its  meritorious  conduct.  The  command,  forming  the  rear  of  the  army, 
reached  Goldsboro  on  the  26th. 

"During  the  campaign  just  closed,"  says  Colonel  Stone,  "this  brigade 
has  been  in  four  engagements  with  the  following  loss:  Killed,  seven; 
wounded,  sixty-four ;  missing,  twelve.  We  have  captured  and  turned  over 
to  the  Provost  Marshal,  one  hundred  and  forty-five  prisoners  of  war.  In 
taking  Columbia,  South  Carolina,  we  captured  forty-three  pieces  of  artil 
lery,  about  five  thousand  stand  of  arms,  immense  quantities  of  ammunition 
and  ordnance  stores,  and  released  forty  officers  confined  there.  We  have 
marched  four  hundred  and  eighty-five  miles,  built  fifteen  thousand  and 
thirty-seven  yards  of  corduroy  roads,  and  destroyed  three  miles  of  railroad. 
The  brigade  is  in  excellent  health  and  spirits,  but  very  ragged. 

"  My  thanks  are  due  all  my  staff  officers,  Captain  John  N.  Bell,  Twenty- 
fifth  Iowa,  Acting  Assistant  Quartermaster-General ;  Lieutenant  Samuel 
W.  Snow,  Twenty-fifth  Iowa,  Acting  Assisting  Adjutant-General ;  Captain 
A.  Bowman,  Ninth  Iowa;  Lieutenant  Baron  H.  Crane,  Twenty-Fifth 
Iowa ;  Lieutenant  D.  Rorick,  Thirty-first  Iowa — now  in  the  hands  of  the 
enemy — and  J.  W.  Gilman,  Thirty-first  Iowa,  Acting  Assistant  Quarter- 


526  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

master,  for  the  zeal  and  earnestness  with  which  they  have  discharged  their 
whole  duty  in  the  campaign. ' ' 

From  Goldsboro  it  moved  with  the  army  to  Raleigh,  and  thence,  after 
the  surrender  of  Johnston,  to  Washington  City,  by  Richmond.  The  whole 
division  stopped  at  Mount  Vernon,  and  made  a  respectful  visit  to  the  tomb 
of  the  Father  of  his  country.  In  the  grand  review  of  the  23d  and  24th  of 
May,  the  Twenty-fifth  regiment  took  part  on  the  latter  day.  Among  all 
those  troops  which  participated  in  that  sublime  pageant,  no  single  brigade 
surpassed  Stone's  Iowa  Brigade  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  at  the  time  com 
posed  of  his  own  regiment,  the  Fourth,  Ninth,  Twenty-sixth,  Thirtieth, 
and  Thirty-first  Iowa  Volunteers. 

The  command  went  into  camp  near  Crystal  Springs,  and  the  Twenty-fifth 
at  once  began  preparations  for  muster-out,  Colonel  Stone  about  this  time  re 
ceiving  the  commission  of  a  Brevet-Brigadier  General.  The  officers  of  the 
regiment,  besides  him,  now  were :  Lieutenant-Colonel  David  J.  Palmer ; 
Major  John  L.  Perkins:  Adjutant  Joseph  P.  Wightman;  Quartermaster  J. 
Whitfield  Garner ;  Surgeon  Charles  F.  Marsh ;  Chaplain  Abraham  Hol- 
lems.  Company  A — Captain  John  A.  Young ;  First  Lieutenant  Marion  B. 
Anderson.  Company  B — Captain  Jacob  B.  Ritner ;  First  Lieutenant  Samuel 
L.  Steele ;  Second  Lieutenant  Baron  H.  Crane.  Company  C — Captain  Rob 
ert  E.  Stevens ;  First  Lieutenant  Robert  Davidson.  Company  D— Captain 
Albert  A.  Perkins ;  First  Lieutenant  John  B.  Fidlar.  Company  E — Cap 
tain  John  N.  Bell ;  First  Lieutenant  John  W.  Shafer ;  Second  Lieutenant 
John  G.  Davidson.  Company  F — Captain  "William  G.  Allen ;  First  Lieu 
tenant  John  C.  Smith  ;  Second  Lieutenant  William  P.  Miller.  Company 
G — Captain  Joseph  Utter;  First  Lieutenant  William  J.  Tizzard.  Com 
pany  H — Captain  William  A.  Simons ;  First  Lieutenant  Charles  E.  Barker. 
Company  I — Captain  James  W.  Harper ;  First  Lieutenant  Thomas  Y.  Wil 
liams.  Company  K — Captain  William  F.  Conrad ;  First  Lieutenant  James 
M.  Tibbetts ;  Second  Lieutenant  George  H.  Bell. 

The  regiment  moved  to  Davenport  in  the  early  part  of  June,  and  was 
there  disbanded  after  short  delay.  Thence  three  of  the  companies  moved 
by  rail  to  homes  in  Washington  and  Louisa  counties,  where  they  were  joy 
fully  received.  The  other  seven  companies  moved  to  Burlington  on  the 
steamer  Keithsburg,  reaching  the  hospitable  city  late  at  night  of  the  15th. 
There  was  such  a  reception  as  the  Hawk-Eye  City  knows  so  well  how  to  give. 
Cannons  fired  till  half  the  windows  in  the  city  were  smashed ;  drums  beat ; 
flags  waved ;  men  hurrahed ;  women  dittoed  and  waved  handkerchiefs  be 
sides.  "  No  pen  can  describe  the  scene,"  says  the  Hawk-Eye  newspaper — 
"the  cheering,  the  greetings,  the  shaking  of  hands,  the  beaming  of  faces 
of  those  too  full  for  utterance."  Moreover,  there  was  a  grand  supper  at 
Market  Hall.  In  fine,  Burlington  did  its  best  for  the  Twenty-fifth,  and  no 


TWENTY-FIFTH     INFANTRY.  527 

more  can  be  said.  The  four  companies  from  Henry  county,  also  had  a 
grand  reception  at  Mount  Pleasant,  the  next  day.  And  it  was  most  fitting 
that  officers  and  men  of  this  gallant  command,  who  had  constantly  been  in 
the  field  for  nearly  three  years,  should  be  so  received  that  they  themselves 
might  know  their  good  and  valiant  deeds  had  been  clearly  impressed  upon 
the  hearts  and  minds  of  their  countrymen,  never  to  be  effaced  therefrom. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

TWENTY-SIXTH    INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZED  AT  CLINTON— MOVE  TO  ST,  LOUIS  — TO  HELENA-CAMPAIGNING  IN 
ARKANSAS  AND  MISSISSIPPI— THE  BATTLE  OP  CHICKASAW  BAYOU—  THE 
CAPTURE  OF  ARKANSAS  POST— THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  TICKSBURG— OF 
JACKSON  — MARCH  UNDER  SHERMAN  TO  THE  RELIEF  OF  CHATTANOOGA- 
AFFAIR  OF  CHEROKEE— ENGAGED  IN  THE  BATTLES  OF  LOOKOUT  MOUNTAIN, 
MISSIONARY  RIDGE,  AND  RINGGOLD— WINTER  IN  ALABAMA— CAMPAIGN  OF 
ATLANTA— MARCH  TO  SAVANNAH— THROUGH  THE  CAROLINAS— CAPTURE  OF 
COLUMBIA— MARCH  TO  WASHINGTON  CITY— CONCLUSION. 

THE  Twenty-sixth  Regiment  of  Iowa  Volunteers,  Colonel  Milo  Smith, 
was  organized  at  "Camp  Kirkwood,"  near  the  beautiful  and  flourishing 
town  of  Clinton,  on  the  30th  of  September,  1862,  eight  of  the  ten  com 
panies  being  then  and  there  mustered  into  the  service  by  Captain  H.  B. 
Hendershott,  of  the  regular  army,  one  having  been  previously  mustered, 
and  one  being  mustered  the  next  day.  The  regiment  has  been  called  by 
correspondents  the  "Clinton  Regiment,"  because  all  the  companies  were 
enrolled  in  the  magnificent  county  of  that  name,  celebrated  for  its  many 
thriving  towns,  the  beauty  of  its  scenery,  the  intelligence  and  generosity 
of  its  people.  It  is,  moreover,  celebrated  as  the  home  of  "Nat.  Baker," 
Ex-Governor  of  the  Old  Granite  State,  Adjutant-General  of  Iowa,  and 
of  the  eloquent  Magill,  with  a  voice  like  Jupiter  Tonans.  However, 
though  the  companies  are  all  stated  in  the  Adjutant-General's  Report  to 
have  been  enrolled  in  Clinton,  it  is  but  just  to  state  that  Jackson  and  Jones 
counties  were  liberally  represented  in  this  noted  command.  Several  other 
counties  also  contributed  of  their  patriotic  citizens  to  the  "  Clinton  Regi 
ment." 

Its  roster  of  officers  was  as  follows:  Colonel  Milo  Smith;  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Samuel  G.  Magill;  Major  Samuel  Clark;  Adjutant  Thomas  G. 
Ferreby ;  Quartermaster  Joseph  H.  Flint ;  Surgeon  A.  T.  Hudson ;  Assist 
ant  Surgeons  William  Mac  Quigg,  George  F.  Weatherell ;  Chaplain  Rev 
erend  John  M.  Leish,  Jr. ;  Captains  Sherman  R.  Williams,  John  W. 
Eckles,  George  W.  Johnson,  N.  A.  Merrell,  John  Lubbers,  Joel  B. 

528 


TWENTY-SIXTH      INFANTRY.  529 

Bishop,  James  H.  Heavy,  Charles  M.  Nye,  Edwin  A.  Wemple,  Nelson  C. 
Roe ;  First  Lieutenants  Asa  Franklin,  Alva  Wilson,  Peter  L.  Hyde,  James 
H.  llunyon,  Edward  Svendsen,  William  R.  Ward,  John  Quinn,  James  S. 
Patterson,  John  L.  Steele,  Nathan  I).  Hubberd;  Second  Lieutenants 
A.  D.  Gaston,  Thomas  B.  Harrison,  James  McDill,  John  F.  Gilmore. 
Preben  Hansen,  Silas  Freeman,  Philip  McCahill,  John  Barrett,  E.  W. 
Bennett,  Lucius  Pomeroy.  The  regiment  was  about  nine  hundred  strong, 
officers  and  privates. 

Having  had  but  little  time  for  drill  and  discipline,  the  regiment  was 
ordered  to  St.  Louis,  where  it  arrived  on  the  25th  of  October,  but  under 
orders  from  Major-General  Curtis  proceeded  to  Helena,  arriving  on  the 
28th.  The  command  was  here  temporarily  attached  to  the  First  Brigade, 
Fourth  Division,  Army  of  the  Southwest.  It  went  into  encampment  near 
Helena,  whence  it  joined  General  Hovey's  forces  on  the  White  River  expe 
dition,  and  the  march  subsequently  made  into  Mississippi,  in  support  of 
Grant,  whose  well  known  unsuccessful  attempt  to  take  Vicksburg  in  rear 
occurred  about  this  time. 

The  regiment,  after  the  Mississippi  expedition,  was  assigned  *o  the 
Third  Brigade,  First  Division,  Fifteenth  Army  Corps.  In  this  organiza 
tion  it  took  part  in  the  first  of  its  campaigns  accompanied  by  battle.  This 
was  the  campaign  which  closed  with  the  defeat  of  the  Union  army  under 
General  Sherman  on  the  field  of  Chickasaw  Bayou,  made  forever  memo 
rable  in  Iowa  by  the  unequalled  gallantry  and  sad  losses  of  the  Fourth 
Infantry,  Colonel  James  A.  Williamson.  In  this  battle,  the  Twenty-sixth, 
was  under  fire,  but  was  not  called  into  engagement,  strictly  so  considered. 
It  suffered  no  loss. 

The  2d  of  January,  1863,  the  regiment  embarked  on  transport  "Te- 
cumseh, ' '  and  moved  down  to  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo  River,  where  a  halt 
was  made,  and  where  General  John  A.  McClernand,  the  most  voluminous 
commander  who  ever  handled  a  sword  or  a  goose-quill,  took  command  of 
the  army,  thereby  making  General  W.  T.  Sherman  his  subordinate.  The 
fleet  bore  the  army  up  to  the  mouth  of  White  River,  where  a  disembarka 
tion  was  made  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Mississippi.  Here  the  troops  quietly 
remained  until  the  8th,  when,  the  commanding  general  having  fully  in 
formed  himself  of  General  Sherman's  preconceived  plan  of  attack  on  the 
Post  of  Arkansas,  put  his  troops  again  aboard  transports  to  move  against 
the  enemy's  works.  The  glorious  result  was 

THE  CAPTURE  OF  ARKANSAS  POST. 

Post  Arkansas  is  a  small  village  on  the  left  bank,  and  about  fifty  miles 
from  its  mouth,  of  the  principal  river  of  the  State  of  Arkansas.  At  the 
time  of  which  we  write  it  was  defended  by  considerable  field  works,  and  a 

67 


530  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

strong,  full-bastioned  fort.  It  was,  in  truth,  the  key  to  central  Arkansas, 
and  was  garrisoned  by  a  force  of  well  disciplined  troops,  chiefly  Texans, 
numbering  about  seven  thousand,  under  command  of  Brigadier-General 
Churchill.  The  works  had  a  fine  armament  of  heavy  artillery — Parrott 
guns  and  columbiads. 

General  McClernand  moved  against  this  stronghold,  transporting  his 
army  up  the  White  River,  by  a  bayou  called  the  "  Cut  Off"  to  the  Arkan 
sas,  and  thence  to  Notrib's  Farm,  a  few  miles  below  the  Post,  where  the 
transports  ' '  tied  up  "  on  the  evening  of  the  9th.  The  voyage  had  been  one 
of  great  gloom.  This  part  of  Arkansas  is  by  nature  uninteresting,  and 
has  been  sparingly  improved  by  the  hand  of  man.  The  Arkansas  River  was 
found  to  be  finely  navigable,  but  its  course  ran  through  forests  and  swamps, 
with  here  and  there  only  small  patches  of  cultivation.  It  was  decidedly 
the  land  of  corn-dodgers  and  of  fiddlers.  The  story  of  Tosso,  the  only  man 
who  ever  lived  that  could  make  a  violin  talk,  was  found  to  be  true.  His 
Arkansas  Traveler  was  a  veritable  reality,  as  was  by  this  voyage  fully  dis 
covered.  A  few  cabins  relieved  the  dull  monotony,  and  from  nearly  every 
one  was  heard  the  sound  of  rude  music.  Chickasaw  Bayou  could  not  be 
forgotten,  in  such  a  country,  with  such  burlesques  on  divine  melody. 

So  the  troops  gloomily  disembarked ;  but  the  prospect  of  battle  and  of 
victory  gave  them  renewed  hope,  and  by  noon  of  the  10th  the  army  may 
truthfully  be  said  to  have  been  aga^n  enthusiastic.  Its  confidence  was 
sublime.  John  A.  McClernand  was  its  leader,  and  it  confided  in  him.  By 
this  time,  too,  the  disembarkation  had  been  made,  and  an  army  on  land, 
after  a  voyage  on  transports,  is  apt  to  be  joyful.  Dispositions  for  attack 
were  immediately  made.  McClernand's  army  consisted  of  two  divisions 
of  the  Thirteenth,  and  two  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  General  Morgan  com 
manding  the  former,  Sherman  the  latter.  Sherman  moved  into  position  on 
the  right  of  the  line,  Morgan  on  the  left.  On  account  of  swamps,  and 
bayous,  and  other  obstructions,  the  investment  was  some  time  in  being 
made  complete,  especially  on  our  right.  But  it  was  at  length  effected. 
General  Steele's  Division  was  on  the  extreme  right,  of  this  command, 
Hovey's  Brigade  being  next  to  the  river,  Thayer's  next,  and  Blair's  on  the  left 
of  the  division.  Then  came  Stuart's  Division  of  the  same  corps.  The  posi 
tion  on  the  left  was  easily  gained.  Colonel  Lindsay,  commanding  a  brigade 
of  General  Morgan's  Corps,  had  landed  some  distance  below  the  post,  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  river,  and  before  the  army  was  in  position  on  the  left 
bank,  had  been  well  posted  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  stream  so  as  to  both 
annoy  the  enemy  and  to  prevent  his  escape  in  that  direction.  Admiral 
David  D.  Porter,  with  a  considerable  fleet  of  gun-boats,  was  in  cooperation 
with  the  army. 

In  the  manoeuvres  whereby  the  army  gained  its  position  around  Arkansas 


TWENTY-SIXTH     INFANTRY.  531 

Post,  from  the  river  above  to  the  river  below,  there  were  many  difficulties 
of  inarch  overcome,  and  there  was  much  fighting  with  the  enemy,  who 
kept  up  a  constant  fire  of  artillery  from  Fort  Hindman,  and  of  musketry 
from  rifle-pits  and  breastworks.  Not  long  before  sunset,  the  fleet  began  a 
bombardment  of  the  enemy's  main  work,  which  was  continued  with  great 
vigor  and  considerable  effect  until  after  nightfall. 

The  troops  passed  a  cold  night  in  swampy  bivouac,  without  fires,  but  on 
the  morning  of  the  llth,  the  sun  came  up  grandly  in  a  cloudless  sky. 
About  ten  o'clock  both  corps  were  in  position  and  ready  to  commence  (he 
attack.  But  it  was  not  commenced  until  three  hours  later.  Then  the 
gun-boats  opened  fire,  which  was  immediately  followed  by  the  fire  of 
artillery  from  Sherman's  Corps  on  the  right,  with  which  the  artillery  of  the 
Thirteenth  Corps  soon  joined,  the  whole  making  a  sublime  cannnonade, 
under  cover  of  which  the  infantry  moved  against  the  enemy.  Within 
thirty  minutes  after  the  cannonading  began,  the  brigades  of  Hovey,  Thayer, 
Giles  A.  Smith,  and  T.  K.  Smith  on  the  right,  had  crossed  in  double- 
quick  time  a  narrow  space  of  clear  ground  in  their  front,  and  gained  posi 
tion  in  a  belt  of  woods  which  extended  quite  to  the  enemy's  rifle-pits. 
But,  meeting  with  a  terrible  fire  of  musketry  and  artillery,  these  brave 
troops  were  checked  for  a  time.  Presently,  they  boldly  resumed  the  advance, 
and  passing  under  a  severe  fire,  approached,  supported  by  Blair's  Brigade, 
within  short  musket-range  of  the  rebel  works,  and  found  shelter  from  the 
enemy's  missiles  in  some  ravines  lined  by  underbrush  and  fallen  timber. 

Meantime,  our  artillery  all  along  the  lines  continued  its  fire,  damaging 
the  enemy's  works.  The  infantry  of  Morgan's  Corps  also  advanced,  and 
gained  position  close  to  the  enemy's  defences.  The  battle  continued  to 
rage  with  great  fury.  The  enemy  defended  his  position  with  the  utmost 
bravery.  The  rebel  Lieutenant-General  Holmes,  promising  reinforcements, 
had  ordered  Churchill  to  hold  the  post  until  the  last  man  was  dead,  and 
the  garrison,  inspired  by  the  specious  eloquence  of  traitors,  fought  with  a 
valor  which  would  have  done  men  honor  in  an  honest  cause.  Though  the 
guns  of  Fort  Hindman  had  been  silenced  by  the  artillery  of  the  navy  and 
army,  the  rebels  continued  the  fight  with  desperate  courage.  It  became 
evident  that  if  Arkansas  Post  were  to  be  taken  quickly,  it  must  be  carried 
by  storm.  General  McClernand  ordered  an  assault. 

The  brigade  of  General  S.  G.  Burbridge,  a  former  citizen  of  Iowa,  of 
General  A.  J.  Smith's  Division  on  our  left,  and  Colonel  Sheldon's  Brigade 
of  Osterhaus'  Division,  dashed  forward  under  a  deadly  fire  to  the  enemy's 
works,  and  regiments  from  these  commands  were  the  first  to  enter  the 
intrenchments.  About  the  same  time  Sherman's  command  stormed  the 
rebel  works  in  his  front,  in  an  equally  brilliant  and  effective  manner.  The 
rebels  forgot  their  promises  to  die  to  the  last  man,  and  exhibited  white 


532  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

flags  along  the  ramparts.  The  victorious  Unionists  rushed  in  with  loud 
huzzas,  the  gun-boats  thundered  a  joyful  salute,  and  before  five  o'clock  the 
flag  of  the  Union  floated  in  triumph  from  the  citadel  of  Fort  Hindman. 

The  fruits  of  this  victory  were  five  thousand  prisoners  of  war,  including 
one  general  and  many  field  and  line  officers ;  seventeen  pieces  of  artillery ; 
several  thousand  stands  of  small  arms,  with  nearly  fifty  thousand  rounds 
of  ammunition  therefor,  and  much  ammunition  for  artillery ;  nearly  six 
hundred  horses  and  mules,  and  considerable  quantities  of  commissary  and 
quartermaster  stores,  besides  a  number  of  wagons  and  other  articles  of 
property  destroyed  for  want  of  means  to  carry  them  away.  The  moral 
fruits  of  the  triumph  were  of  even  more  value.  Arkansas  Post  wiped  out 
Chickasaw  Bayou.  The  country  was  gratified,  the  army  was  reassured  of 
its  power.  Even  the  grandiloquence  of  McClernand  was  valuable,  and  the 
inevitable  victory,  a  perfect  military  necessity,  figured  before  the  people  in 
the  gorgeous  coloring  of  a  splendid  stroke  of  military  genius.  So  McCler 
nand  rested  on  his  honors,  and  poor  Sherman,  just  at  this  time  in  one  of 
his  lunatic  fits,  passed  under  a  cloud !  History  has  already  lifted  that 
cloud. 

Still,  Arkansas  Post  must  be  accounted  a  fine  victory.  The  fighting  of 
the  troops  was  gallant  in  the  extreme.  Those  of  Iowa  were  in  the  thickest 
of  the  fight.  Our  regiments,  there  engaged,  were  all  in  General  Steele'  s 
First  Division  of  Sherman's  Corps.  The  Twenty-fifth  and  Thirty-first 
regiments  were  in  General  C.  E.  Hovey's  Second  Brigade.  They  both 
fought  well  and  suffered  heavily.  The  Twenty -Fifth  here  lost  Adjutant 
Kirkwood  Clarke,  mortally  wounded,  and  many  other  officers  and  men,  hors- 
de-combat  General  Hovey,  in  his  official  report  of  the  engagement,  passes 
a  hearty  eulogium  upon  Colonel  Stone,  and  his  regiment  generally.  He 
also  speaks  kindly  of  the  Thirty-First,  Colonel  William  Smyth.  Thayer's 
Third  Brigade  of  Steele' s  Division,  consisted  entirely  of  Iowa  troops — the 
Fourth,  Ninth,  Twenty-sixth,  Thirtieth,  and  Thirty-fourth  regiments  of 
infantry.  The  Fourth,  which  had  won  immortal  honors  at  Pea  Ridge,  and 
the  first  laurels  of  Chickasaw  Bayou,  did  not  fail  in  duty  at  Arkansas  Post. 
Nor  was  its  comrade  regiment,  the  Ninth,  forgetful  of  former  renown  or 
present  duty.  The  Thirtieth,  here  for  the  first  time  heavily  engaged,  gave 
promise  of  that  daring  which  was  afterwards  universally  conceded  to  it, 
and  which  sadly  but  gloriously  lost  one  Colonel,  Abbott,  at  Vicksburg,  and 
another,  Torrence,  at  Cherokee,  Alabama.  The  Thirty-fourth  had  also 
fought  at  Chickasaw  Bayou,  but  not  as  here,  in  the  thickest  of  the  contest. 
It  was  on  this  field  that  the  chivalric,  accomplished  Captain  Daniel  H. 
Lyons  fell,  mortally  wounded,  whilst  bravely  leading  his  command  to  the 
charge.  The  ' '  star  regiment, ' '  as  the  Thirty-fourth  was  called  because  its 


TWENTY-SIXTH     INFANTRY.  533 

number  agreed  with  the  number  of  stars  on  the  flag  of  the  Union,  was 
behind  none  of  its  comrade  regiments  at  the  Post  of  Arkansas. 

I  suppose  there  was  no  regiment  in  all  the  Army  of  the  Mississippi  which 
fought  better,  or  suffered  more  than  the  Twenty-sixth  Iowa.  The  regiment 
afterwards  passed  through  many  severe  ordeals — the  campaigns  of  Vicks- 
burg,  and  of  Jackson,  of  Chattanooga,  and  of  Atlanta — fighting  in  the 
hottest  of  several  battles,  and  engaging  in  so  many  before  closing  its  career 
that  their  names  could  scarcely  be  printed  on  its  colors,  and  in  all  with 
credit,  yet  it  nowhere  behaved  more  meritoriously  than  at  Arkansas  Post, 
where  it  was  for  the  first  time  actively  engaged  with  the  enemy.  The 
official  reports  of  superior  officers,  the  narratives  of  intelligent  correspond 
ents,  are  full  of  commendations  of  the  Iowa  regiments  here  engaged,  and 
none  receive  more  just  encomiums  than  Colonel  Milo  Smith's  Twenty-sixth 
Iowa  Infantry.  Colonel  Smith  was  wounded.  Lieutenants  Peter  L.  Hyde, 
and  James  S.  Patterson  were  slain.  Lieutenant  James  McDill  received  a 
mortal  wound.  Adjutant  Thomas  Gr.  Ferreby,  Captain  N.  A.  Merrill, 
Lieutenant  Edward  Svendsen  were  wounded.  The  total  number  of  casual 
ties  in  the  regiment  was  about  one  hundred  and  twenty.1 

1  The  following  is  the  list  of  casualties : 

Wounded,  Colonel  Milo  Smith ;  Adjutant  Thomas  G.  Ferreby. 

Company  A — Wounded,  Private  John  Sinkey,  since  died. 

Company  B — Wounded,  Sergeant  Hugh  Snodgrass;  Privates  William  E.  Whiteside,  George  E. 
Fisher,  John  Kilrain,  James  Linn,  Rudolph  Hierschie. 

Company  C— Killed,  First  Lieutenant  Peter  L.  Hyde ;  Corporal  Henry  L.  Shaffer;  Private  Michael 
Real.  Wounded,  Second  Lieutenant  James  McDill ;  Private  Charles  A.  Thomas,  since  dead ;  Color 
Sergeant,  Herbert  D.  Sage;  Privates  Absalom  Lacock,  John  C.  Symonds,  Adolphus  Cone,  George 
A.  McDowell,  Jesse  Hedges,  Joseph  A.  Savits,  Peter  Cunningham,  August  W.  Schroder,  Milton 
Jackson,  Benjamin  H.  Greenlee,  Oliver  T.  Bowen,  John  Dougherty,  Charles  Johnston,  George  N. 
Day. 

Company  D— Killed,  Privates  Joel  Arthur,  [?  Austin],  Matthew  Costello.  Wounded,  Corporal  Burt 
Harrington ;  Privates  William  Maher,  John  McDonnel,  William  Stewart,  [?  Stnach],  since  died ; 
Captain  N.  A.  Merrill;  Privates  Jacob  D.  Vanhorn,  Michael  Cavanaugh,  Charles  Corbin,  Job 
Walrod. 

Company  E— Killed,  Corporal  Louis  Pankow ;  Privates  Heninrich  Krumwiede,  Wilhelm  Nyrop. 
Wounded,  Lieutenant  Edward  Svendsen;  Sergeant  Jurgen  Unrau;  Privates  August  T.  Hoffman, 
Paul  A.  Martensen,  Anton  Meier,  Frederick  Reisch,  Paul  Schmutz,  Johann  H.  Schultz,  George 
Steinhilbert,  Detlef  Schnack.- 

Company  F— Kitted,  Corporal  Albert  J.  Delong;  Privates  Daniel  J.  Campbell,  Christian  Bellinger, 
Omar  H.  Stanley.  Wounded,  First  Lieutenant  William  R.  Ward;  Sergeants  Louis  Rider,  Sylvester 
Markland ;  Corporal  Ahira  P.  Stevens ;  Privates  Alonzo  D.  Cady,  Daniel  Correll.  Rufus  M.  Hudson, 
David  Mahar,  Edwin  W.  Preston,  John  W.  Loof  born,  Myron  J.  Mullett. 

Company  G— Killed,  Private  William  Farrel.  Wounded,  Sergeant  Cornelius  Cahill;  Corporal 
John  Gange;  Privates  Charles  Beety,  Fletcher  Cheney,  John  Collins,  Samuel  McCauley,  John 
McDonnell,  John  Owens,  John  Welsh. 

Company  H — Killed,  First  Lieutenant  James  S.  Patterson ;  Corporal  John  E.  Stearns ;  Privates 
Sylvester  Ilumeston,  Peter  Bockholt,  John  Henderson,  Sydenham  W.  Morgan,  William  Marks. 
Wounded,  Corporal  Job  Trites,  Archibald  McAlister;  Privates  Charles  H.  Bloom,  James  Barnes, 
Moses  Jenkins,  since  died;  Sergeant  William  H.  Hall;  Privates  Thomas  Kyle,  George  Kinney, 
Marcus  Yake,  Amos  R.  Tuttle,  Robert  M.  Howig,  Samuel  N.  English,  Byron  Bunnell,  Alanson 
McLaughlin,  William  H.  Hide,  Hollis  Johnson,  Thomas  J.  Leeper,  Charles  H.  Ankeiiy,  Horace  S. 
Humeston,  Edward  P.  Thomas,  Naaman  Barnes. 


534  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

The  works  of  Arkansas  Post  having  been  destroyed,  the  army  em 
barked  on  transports  again,  and  moved  down  the  river.  The  Twenty- 
sixth  remained  two  days  at  Napoleon,  but  without  debarking.  The 
transport  then  moved  on  down  the  river  to  a  point  four  miles  above 
Vicksburg,  where  the  command  left  the  vessel  and,  marching  across 
the  peninsula  to  the  river  four  miles  below  Vicksburg,  went  into  encamp 
ment.  It  remained  encamped  on  the  peninsula  opposite  Vicksburg,  but 
not  in  the  same  camp,  about  two  months4  and  a  half,  most  of  the  time  fur 
nishing  heavy  details  for  work  on  the  canal — work  valuable,  no  doubt,  as 
giving  the  troops  exercise,  and  to  some  extent  withdrawing  their  minds 
from  contemplation  of  the  general  sickness  prevailing  in  the  army,  but  en 
tirely  without  result  in  changing  the  course  of  the  mighty  river. 

April  2d,  the  command  left  this  scene  of  many  sufferings,  and  with  Gen 
eral  Steele's  Division  moved  to  Greenville,  Mississippi,  and  took  part  in  that 
expedition  under  his  command,  the  principal  events  of  which  have  already 
been  noted  in  this  work.  The  regiment  met  the  enemy  in  skirmish  on 
Deer  Creek,  on  the  7th,  and  again,  two  days  afterwards,  on  Black  Bayou, 
but  without  loss.  While  the  division  was  returning  to  Greenville,  laden 
with  rich  spoils,  a  sergeant  and  four  privates  of  the  Twenty-sixth  were  cap 
tured  by  the  enemy,  while  foraging.  They  were,  however,  soon  afterwards 
exchanged.  The  regiment  went  into  camp  at  Greenville  on  the  10th,  and 
remained  there  in  quiet  till  the  26th,  when  it  embarked  and  moved  to 
Young's  Point,  thence  up  the  river  to  Milliken's  Bend,  and  went  into 
camp. 

But  on  the  1st  of  May  the  command  was  again  in  motion.  Marching  by 
Richmond,  Perkins'  Plantation  and  Hard  Times,  Colonel  Smith  crossed 
the  river  into  Mississippi  at  Grand  Gulf,  and  having  there  made  a  short 
halt,  marched  by  Cayuga,  Raymond  and  Mississippi  Springs,  to  Jackson, 
there  joining  the  corps  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  capture  of  the  Capital 
on  the  14th.  The  16th,  the  Twenty-sixth  joined  in  the  march  on  Vicks 
burg,  and  two  days  afterwards  was  skirmishing  with  the  enemy  on  Walnut 
Hills,  directly  in  rear  of  the  stronghold,  to  gain  position  around  which 
General  Grant  had  already  fought  and  gained  five  great  battles. 

In  the  investment  of  Vicksburg,  the  Twenty- sixth  had  position  on  the 
left  of  General  Thayer's  Brigade  of  Steele's  Division.  It  took  part  in  the 
partial  assault  of  the  19th,  in  the  general  assault  of  the  22d,  in  the  long 
siege.  In  the  assaults  and  the  siege  the  regiment,  at  this  time  numbering 

Company  I— Wounded,  George  E.  Jenkins,  since  died;  Levi  Benedict,  James  M.  Riley. 

Company  K — Killed,  Private  James  B.  Ray.  Wounded,  Corporal  Henry  J.  Beck ;  Privates  James 
P.  Douglas,  Richard  Shields,  William  Blakely,  since  died;  Sergeant  C.  J.  Henle;  Privates  James  Q. 
Moyses,  Benjamin  F.  Baker,  Francis  Pomeroy,  Langdon  Morse,  Ranson  Hurlburt  f?  Ransomo 
Haubut]. 


TWENTY-SIXTH     INFANTRY.  535 

scarcely  two  hundred  officers  and  men  present  on  duty,  lost  nearly  one-fourth 
its  effective  force  in  killed  and  wounded.  Colonel  Milo  Smith  was  here 
again  wounded.2 

Vicksburg  in  our  possession,  the  Twenty-sixth  regiment  at  once  took  up 
line  of  march  against  Jackson  with  the  expeditionary  army.  Colonel  Smith 
on  this  campaign  was  in  command  of  the  brigade,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Fer- 
reby  commanding  the  regiment.  This  officer,  it  will  be  recollected,  was 
severely  wounded,  then  Adjutant,  at  Arkansas  Post.  He  had  returned  to 
duty  during  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  with  the  rank  of  Lieutenant-Colonel, 
the  original  Lieutenant-Colonel  and  Major  having  both  been  mustered  out 
of  the  service  in  the  latter  part  of  1862.  He  led  the  regiment  through  the 
campaign  of  Jackson,  successfully.  It  took  part  in  the  siege,  followed  the 
enemy  as  far  as  Brandon,  where  there  was  a  brisk  skirmish,  and  returned 
to  the  Black  River  Railroad  bridge  in  the  latter  part  of  July,  without 
having  suffered  mentionable  casualty  during  the  whole  campaign,  which 
was,  indeed,  one  rather  of  labor  and  of  results  than  of  fighting.  On 
the  bank  of  the  Black  River  the  regiment  rested  about  two  months.  A 
number  of  the  officers  and  men  had  the  Mississippi  ague,  but  it  was  a  period 
in  which  the  command,  as  a  whole,  gained  greatly  in  health  and  strength. 

In  the  latter  part  of  September,  the  command  broke  camp,  and  march 
ing  to  Vicksburg,  took  transports  for  Memphis.  It  thence  moved  by  rail 
to  Corinth,  Mississippi,  where  a  halt  was  made.  The  troops  of  General 
Osterhaus'  Division  performed  much  hard  work  in  the  way  of  repairing 
the  Memphis  and  Charleston  Railroad  east  of  Corinth,  having  done  which 
they  moved  on  to  Cherokee,  Alabama,  and  between  that  place  and  Tus- 
cumbia,  had  considerable  heavy  skirmishing  with  rebel  troopers  during  the 
last  week  of  October. 

General  Sherman  having  crossed  the  river  at  Chickasaw  about  the  1st  of 
November,  Osterhaus  brought  up  the  rear  of  the  column  on  the  4th,  and 
pushed  on  toward  Chattanooga.  The  regiment  with  which  we  now  have  to 
do  arrived  at  the  base  of  Lookout  Mountain  on  the  evening  before  the 
battle  of  that  name.  Colonel  Smith  and  his  gallant  men,  always  in  readi 
ness  to  fight,  took  part  in  the  engagement.  It  is  well  known  that  though 
the  enemy  maintained  a  furious  fire,  both  of  artillery  and  musketry,  the 

2  The  following  is  the  official  list  of  casualties  reported  during  the  Siege  of  Vicksburg : 

Colonel  Milo  Smith,  wounded. 

Kitted,  Sergeant  Charles  M.  Butler ;  Johann  H.  Schultz,  John  Clever,  Loring  Stearns,  William 
Demuth,  William  H.  Wilcox. 

Wounded,  Captain  A.  D.  Gaston  ;  Lieutenants  John  W.  Mason,  Louis  Rider,  William  M.  Magdcn, 
N.  W.  Wood;  Sergeants  Rosseau  Barrows,  Walter  B.  Goodrich,  Fritz  Horn,  William  H.  Hall, Horace 
F.  Dean,  William  Nickel,  William  Holmes;  Corporals  John  L.  Haskell,  George  Day,  Patrick  M. 
Cornwall,  Daniel  L.  Wilson ;  Privates  Joseph  Drey,  Philip  Burger,  Mortimer  M.  Curtis,  John  W. 
Loofboro,  James  McDermont,  Isaac  Baird,  John  Monahan,  John  Butinghagan,  James  Bulger,  War 
ren  Calder,  George  Stapleton,  Oliver  B.  Ray,  Ambrose  Cline,  Henry  Weed,  Luke  Weatherson, 
Matthew  Caraher. 


536  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

losses  of  our  troops,  even  of  those  engaged  in  the  hottest  of  the  conflict, 
were  remarkably  small.  The  Twenty-sixth  had  only  four  wounded,  but 
among  them  was  the  gallant  Lieutenant-Colonel  Ferreby,  who  was  for  the 
second  time  seriously  hurt.  The  regiment  was  also  engaged  in  the  second 
day's  contest  of  the  great  Battle  of  Chattanooga,  fought  on  Missionary 
Ridge.  But,  with  the  Twenty-Fifth  Iowa,  Colonel  George  A.  Stone,  it 
was  sent  to  the  left  of  Rossville  Gap,  to  observe  the  movements  of  the 
enemy's  cavalry,  and  was  not  relieved  from  that  position  in  time  to  take 
active  part  in  the  battle.  Hooker,  with  whom  Osterhaus'  Division  of  the 
Fifteenth  Corps  was  still  serving,  followed  the  enemy  to  Ringgold,  Georgia, 
near  which  place,  on  Taylor's  Ridge,  he  gave  him  the  final  defeat  of  the 
campaign  on  the  27th.  In  this  sharp  battle,  at  one  time  nearly  a  defeat  by 
reason  of  panic  and  flight  on  the  part  of  some  of  Hooker's  own  army,  the 
Twenty-sixth  was  heavily  engaged,  at  times  fighting  with  that  fine  audacity, 
and  at  times  with  that  fine  obstinacy  which  had  characterized  its  conduct  at 
Arkansas  Post.  Happily,  its  losses  were  comparatively  light,  but  Captain 
John  L.  Steele  fell  mortally  wounded,  and  Lieutenants  Nathan  D.  Hubbard 
and  William  Nickel  were  severely  wounded.3 

Having  encamped  a  few  days  on  the  Little  Chickamauga,  near  Ringgold, 
the  regiment  marched  thence  with  the  division  by  Chattanooga  to  Bridge 
port,  Alabama,  arriving  on  the  5th  or  6th  of  December.  During  the 
month  it  had  marched  about  three  hundred  miles  over  a  mountainous 
country,  much  of  the  time  without  tents,  because  moving  more  rapidly  than 
the  trains,  and  had  been  engaged  in  three  battles.  It  was  certainly  entitled 
to  rest.  But  before  the  year  closed,  it  again  moved,  and  marching  by 
Stevenson,  Bellefonte,  and  Larkinsville,  arrived  at  Woodville  the  day  after 
Christmas  and  went  into  winter  quarters.  Colonel  Smith  being  in  com 
mand  of  the  Brigade — the  First  of  the  First  Division,  Fifteenth  Corps — 
Captain  N.  C.  Roe  had  command  of  the  regiment.  By  the  casualties  of 
battle,  and  the  wear  and  tear  of  its  active  service,  it  had  been  reduced  to 
about  half  its  original  strength. 

The  regiment  remained  in  camp  at  Woodville  till  the  9th  of  March,  1864. 
A  detachment  thereof,  with  other  troops,  Colonel  Smith  commanding, 
made  a  reconnoissance  of  the  river  below  Woodville,  during  the  winter, 
and,  having  driven  off  the  enemy  returned  in  safety.  At  the  date  last 
mentioned,  the  regiment  marched  to  Vienna,  fourteen  miles  southwest  of 

3  The  casualties  of  the  regiment,  since  leaving  luka,  Mississippi,  were :  At  Cherokee— Killed, 
Johannes  Moller.  Wounded,  Robert  Ralston.  Lookout  Mountain — Lieutenant-Colonel  Thomas  G. 
Ferreby;  Corporal  J.  A.  Mills;  Privates  William  R.  Oaks,  Thomas  Williams.  Hinggold— Killed, 
Privates  William  McDonnell,  Cornelius  Beddoon,  John  Phillips.  Wounded,  Captain  John  L.  Steele, 
(mortally);  First  Lieutenant  Nathan  D.  Hubbard  ;  Second  Lieutenant  William  Nickel;  Sergeant 
Fritz  Horn  ;  Corporal  James  Farr ;  Privates  Charles  H.  Van  Epps,  Charles  Hill,  David  G.  Cranston, 
Norman  P.  Russell. 


TWENTY-SIXTH     INFANTRY.  537 

Woodville,  and  established  an  outpost.  The  regiment  had  a  constant 
patrol  along  the  Tennessee,  between  the  mouths  of  Flint  and  Paint  Rock 
Rivers.  On  the  21st  of  April,  eight  men  of  the  command  were  captured 
while  on  patrol.  The  30th,  the  regiment  returned  to  Woodville,  and  on 
the  next  day  commenced  the  march  to  Chattanooga,  arriving  May  6th. 

There  joining  General  Sherman's  grand  army  about  moving  on  the  cam 
paign  against  Johnston,  the  history  of  the  regiment  during  the  next  four 
months  is  a  record  of  constant  labors,  marches,  skirmishes,  battles,  sieges. 
It  belonged  to  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  each  man  of  whom  carried  his  "car 
tridge-box  and  forty  rounds,  bejabers,  and  sixty  in  his  pockets,  sure,"  and 
knew  well  how  to  replenish  the  ample  stock  when  that  should  be  exhausted, 
as  indeed,  it  very  frequently  was.  Belonging  to  a  fighting  brigade,  of  a 
fighting  division,  of  a  fighting  corps,  of  the  unsurpassed  fighting  Army  of  the 
Tennessee — the  pupils  of  Grant,  of  Sherman,  and  of  McPherson — the 
"Clinton  Regiment"  did  great  honor  to  itself,  the  State,  and  the  service, 
throughout  this  long  campaign.  At  Resaca,  at  Dallas,  at  Kenesaw,  in  the 
engagements  before  Atlanta,  near  the  left  of  our  lines  on  the  22d,  and  near 
the  right  on  the  28th,  during  the  siege,  at  Jonesboro,  and  at  Lovejoy — in 
all  these  battles  and  operations  and  the  grand  manoeuvres  accompanying, 
the  Twenty-sixth  Iowa  was  behind  no  other  regiment  in  duty  and  valor. 
It  lost  about  eighty  of  its  members,  including  several  officers  slain  and 
wounded,  during  the  campaign.  From  Resaca  to  Lovejoy  in  Georgia,  the 
dead  of  the  gallant  Clinton  Regiment  lie  buried ;  from  Resaca  to  Lovejoy 
the  blood  of  its  wounded  officers  and  men  was  spilled. 

The  marches,  the  battles,  the  wounding  and  the  dying,  of  the  great  cam 
paign  being  over,  the  regiment  had  nearly  a  month's  repose  at  East  Point. 
It  joined  in  the  march  northward,  in  pursuit  of  Hood,  early  in  October, 
and  on  the  16th  lost  one  man  killed  and  four  wounded  in  an  engagement  on 
Taylor's  Ridge.  Returning,  the  regiment  reached  Atlanta  on  the  13th  of 
November.  Having  halted  there  two  days,  it  began  the  march  to  Savannah. 
It  was  not  engaged  with  the  enemy  during  this  campaign.  When  the  army 
entered  Savannah,  the  regiment  was  on  a  foraging  expedition,  forty  miles 
in  the  interior.  It  returned  to  the  army  on  the  23d  of  December,  and 
found  it  encamped  in  the  beautiful  city.4 

The  regiment  left  Savannah  in  January,  1865,  with  the  army  on  the 


*  The  author  visited  Savannah  about  this  time,  being  temporarily  attached  to  the  staff  of  Gov 
ernor  Stone,  who  braved  the  dangers  of  the  deep,  and,  what  is  more,  sea-sickness,  to  look  after  the 
interests  of  Iowa  troops  in  General  Sherman's  Army.  I  remember  that  Colonel  Milo  Smith,  of  the 
Twenty-sixth,  was  in  command  of  a  brigade,  as  he  had  been  for  some  time,  and  that  Major  John 
Lubbers  was  in  command  of  the  regiment,  which  had  a  fine  encampment  in  the  suburbs  of  the 
Forest  City.  Colonel  Smith  soon  afterwards  resigned  his  commission,  to  the  great  regret  of  hie 
brother  officers,  both  superior  and  inferior  in  rank.  A  man  of  a  fine  head  and  warm  heart,  he  was 
respected  and  beloved  by  all  who  knew  him  well.  During  this  visit  to  the  army  I  met  many  dis- 
68 


538  IOWA    AND     THE     HEBELLION. 

march  through  the  Carolinas.  It  took  part  in  the  great  labors,  and  had  its 
proportion  of  the  hardships  of  that  long  march,  but  had  a  considerable 
engagement  with  the  enemy,  besides  that  at  the  capture  of  Columbia,  only 
at  Bentonsville,  where  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  for  the  last  time  met 
the  rebels  whom  it  had  driven  over  half  a  continent.  On  the  field  of  that 
victoiy  the  military  career  of  the  Clinton  Regiment  ended.  Its  movements 
afterwards  were  like  the  closing  of  a  brilliant  volume  and  the  reflections 
which  follow. 

It  marched  to  Goldsboro,  to  Raleigh,  to  Washington  City ;  it  was  honor 
ably  discharged  the  service ;  was  received  by  the  thousands  of  swarming 
Clinton  county  with  the  earnest  expression — well  done,  good  and  faithful 
servants.  The  flag  of  the  regiment — inscribed  in  golden  colors  with  ' '  Chicka- 
saw  Bayou,  Arkansas  Post,  Jackson,  Assaults  on  Vicksburg,  May  19th 
and  22d,  Siege  of  Yicksburg,  Siege  of  Jackson,  Cherokee,  Tuscumbia, 
Lookout  Mountain,  Missionary  Ridge,  Ringgold,  Resaca,  Dallas,  Big 
Shanty,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Atlanta,  July  22d,  Ezra  Church,  Siege  of 
Atlanta,  Jonesboro,  Lovejoy,  Savannah,  Columbia,  Bentonsville" — the 
banner,  thus  inscribed  with  words  telling  of  all  the  glorious  victories  of  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee,  was  deposited  with  the  State  archives,  where  it 
should  forever  be  preserved,  the  priceless  memento  of  the  memorable 
"  Clinton  County  Regiment." 

tinguished  officers,  and  but  few  who  impressed  me  as  having  better  military  talents  than  Colonel 
Smith.  The  officers  of  the  regiment  at  this  time  were  : 

Milo  Smith,  Colonel ;  Thomas  Q.  Ferreby,  Lieutenant-Colonel ;  John  Lubbers,  Major;  Dennis  G. 
Butterfield,  Adjutant;  Abijah  T.  Hudson,  Surgeon ;  George  F.  Weatherell.  Assistant ;  Joseph  H. 
Flint,  Quartermaster.  Captains — A.  D.  Gaston,  Joseph  D.  Fegan,  James  G.  Crozer,  Wm.  M.  Magden, 
Edward  Svendsen,  Sylvester  Markland,  John  Quinn,  William  H.  Hall,  William  Nickel,  Nathan  D. 
Hubbard.  First  Lieutenants,  Leander  B.  Sutton,  Edward  P.  Sargent,  William  F.  Bounds,  Fritz 
Horn,  Edson  S.  Bishop,  Philip  McCahill,  William  R.  English,  Robert  Cummings,  Edwin  P.  Watson, 
being  thus  set  forth  in  the  order  of  the  companies,  skipping  Company  B,  which  had  no  lieutenant. 
Only  Companies  C  and  G  had  second  lieutenants— Herbert  D.  Sage,  John  Kane. 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

TWENTY-SEVENTH    INFANTRY. 

THE  REGIMENT  RECRUITED  IN  THE  THIRD  CONGRESSIONAL  DISTRICT— RENDEZVOUS 
AT  DUBUQUE— CAMPAIGN  AMONG  INDIANS  IN  MINNESOTA— FROM  MILLS  LAC  TO 
MEMPHIS— THE  CAMPAIGN  UNDER  GENERAL  GRANT  INTO  MISSISSIPPI— NEW 
YEAR'S  DAY  CHASE  OF  FORREST— A  WINTER  OF  SUFFERING— GUARDING  LINES 
OF  COMMUNICATION— JOIN  THE  ARMY  OF  ARKANSAS  UNDER  GENERAL  STEELE 
—THE  LITTLE  ROCK  CAMPAIGN— RETURN  TO  MEMPHIS— THE  EXPEDITION  TO 
MERIDIAN,  MISSISSIPPI,  UNDER  GENERAL  SHERMAN— GENERAL  BANKS'  RED 
RIVER  EXPEDITION— BATTLE  OF  PLEASANT  HILL— RETREAT— BATTLE  OF  YEL 
LOW  BAYOU— RETURN  TO  MEMPHIS  BY  LAKE  CHICOT,  ARKANSAS— GENERAL  A. 
J.  SMITH'S  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  FORREST— BATTLES  OF  TUPELO  AND  OLD  TOWN 
CREEK  — MARCH  TO  OXFORD— AGAIN  AT  MEMPHIS— JOIN  THE  ARMY  UNDER 
GENERAL  THOMAS  —  BATTLE  OF  NASHVILLE  —  GENERAL  CANBY'S  CAMPAIGN 
AGAINST  MOBILE— HOME  AGAIN. 

THE  Twenty-seventh  Iowa  Volunteers  had  nearly  as  varied  an  experience 
in  the  matter  of  climate,  as  the  distinguished  explorer  after  the  remains  of 
Sir  John  Franklin,  who  received  his  orders  to  proceed  to  the  Polar  regions 
whilst  bathing  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  Twenty-seventh  performed  its 
first  active  service  in  northern  Minnesota,  about  on  the  latitude  of  Quebec, 
and  before  it  closed  its  career  of  usefulness  and  honor  its  hardy  troops  had 
made  a  voyage  on  the  gulf,  from  the  Balize  to  Mobile  Bay.  They  had  seen 
the  Mississippi  River  where  it  looked  like  an  insignificant  stream,  and 
where,  having  received  the  waters  of  a  continent  for  the  liberties  of  whose 
mighty  people  they  had  taken  up  arms,  it  swept  by  many  channels  into 
"  the  far-resounding  sea." 

The  regiment  which  had  the  latitudinous  experience  here  noted  was 
recruited  in  the  northern  part  of  Iowa,  for  the  most  part  in  the  counties  of 
Alamakee,  Clayton,  Delaware,  Chickasaw,  Floyd,  Mitchell,  and  Buchanan, 
all  in  the  Third  Congressional  District.  The  different  companies  were 
ordered  to  rendezvous  at  Dubuque,  and  thither  they  all  went  in  the  latter 
part  of  August,  1862.  They  immediately  went  into  camp  of  instruction  at 
•  539 


540  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

"  Camp  Franklin "  near  the  city,  where  they  were  engaged  in  taking  the 
usual  lessons  in  the  military  art  till  the  3d  of  October,  when  they  were 
mustered  into  the  service  of  the  United  States  as  the  Twenty-Seventh  Iowa 
Volunteer  Infantry,  the  rolls  at  this  time  bearing  nine  hundred  and  fifty- 
two  enlisted  men  and  forty  officers,  making  the  aggregate  of  the  regiment 
nearly  one  thousand.1 

The  command  thus  fully  organized  and  in  the  service,  immediately  com 
menced  battalion  drill,  and  thorough  discipline  was  at  once  inaugurated, 
but  the  time  for  preliminary  training  did  not  long  continue.  Within  a 
week  after  entering  the  service  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  report  to  Major- 
General  Pope,  commanding  the  Department  of  the  Northwest,  to  take 
part  in  the  campaign  against  hostile  tribes  of  Indians,  who  were  at  that 
time  threatening  the  frontier  generally,  and  were  especially  waging  their 
savage  warfare,  indiscriminately  murdering  men,  women  and  children  in 
Minnesota.  Whether  their  hostility  had  been  brought  about  by  the 
cupidity  and  villainy  of  traders,  or  of  agents  of  the  government;  or 
whether  it  was  the  result  of  fire-water,  or  of  mere  savage  nature,  or  of 
Southern  intrigue,  it  is  certain  that  its  effects  had  already  been  devastating 
and  cruel,  and  that  General  Pope  had  a  heavy  job  to  suppress  the  outbreak. 
The  Twenty-seventh  regiment  hastened  to  his  assistance,  moving  by  trans 
ports  to  St.  Paul,  and  going  into  quarters  at  Fort  Snelling,  near  that 
capital.  Shortly  afterwards  Colonel  Gilbert  was  ordered  to  Mille  Lac,  a 
village  on  the  lake  of  that  name,  an  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  north 
of  St.  Paul,  there  to  superintend  a  payment  of  annuity  to  certain  Indians. 
Taking  six  companies  of  his  regiment,  Colonel  Gilbert  marched  rapidly 
thitherward,  performed  the  duties  assigned  him,  and  returned  to  St.  Paul 
on  the  4th  of  November. 

Colonel,  soon  afterwards  Brigadier-General  Sibley,  had  defeated  the  In- 

1  ROSTER  OF  THE  REGIMENT:  Field  and  Staff. — James  I.  Gilbert,  Colonel;  Jed.  Lake,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel;  George  W.  Howard,  Major;  Charles  A.  Comstock,  Adjutant;  Solon  M.  Langworthy,  Quar 
termaster;  John  E.  Sanborn,  Surgeon ;  Albert  Boomer,  David  C.  Hastings,  Assistants;  Daniel  N. 
Bordwell,  Chaplain. 

Line  Officers. — Company  A — Captain  Amos  M.  Haslip;  Lieutenants  J.  W.  Granger,  James  A. 
Lyons.  Company  B — Captain  Samuel  W.  Hemenway ;  Lieutenants  Theodore  Groesinger,  Samuel 
0.  Smith.  Company  C—  Captain  Joseph  D.  Noble;  Lieutenants  Henry  F.  Sill,  Herman  C.  Hemen 
way.  Company  D — Captain  Daniel  E.  Meyer ;  Lieutenants  Pilae  Garber,  John  Andrick.  Company 
E—  Captain  Thomas  G.  Drips ;  Lieutenants  T.  A.  Olmsted,  Samuel  Benjamin.  Company  .F— Captain 
William  W.  Bickford ;  Lieutenants  Joseph  M.  Holbrook,  William  N.  Boynton.  Company  G — Cap 
tain  Charles  A.  Slocum ;  Lieutenants  Albert  C.  Ruper,  Edward  A.  Reiniger.  Company  H—  Captain 
Jacob  M.  Miller;  Lieutenants  Otis  Whitney,  William  G.  Donnan.  Company  /—Captain  George  R. 
Miller  ;  Lieutenants  Edwin  A.  Sherburn,  John  E.  Peck.  Company  K—  Captain  Charles  T.  Granger; 
Lieutenants  Frank  A.  Brush,  Samuel  M.  Elliott. 

To  make  a  statement  of  the  localities  in  which  the  companies  were  recruited  more  particular 
than  that  of  the  text,  it  may  be  said  that  Companies  A  and  B  were  from  Alamakee  county;  E  and 
I  from  Alamakee  and  Clay  ton ;  Gaud  H  from  Buchanan;  D  from  Clayton;  F  from  Delaware;  G 
from  Chickasaw  and  Floyd,  and  K  from  Mitchell  county.  There  were  a  few  men  in  two  or  three 
of  the  companies  from  Winneshiek  and  Dubuque. 


TWENTY-SEVENTH     INFANTRY.  541 

dians,  who  were  now  reported  peaceable  and  quiet.  While  Colonel  Gilbert 
was  absent  on  the  march  to  Mille  Lac,  Major  Howard,  commanding  the 
four  companies  which  had  been  left  at  Fort  Snelling,  received  orders  to  re 
port  with  his  detachment  at  Cairo,  Illinois.  Upon  returning  to  St.  Paul, 
Colonel  Gilbert  received  similar  orders,  and  immediately  proceeded  to 
Cairo,  going  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  Wisconsin,  by  river,  and  thence  by  cars 
by  the  way  of  Chicago.  The  united  command  remained  but  a  few  days  at 
Cairo.  Embarking  on  transports,  it  proceeded  down  the  river  to  Memphis, 
where  it  reported  to  General  Sherman,  and  on  the  22d  of  November  went 
into  temporary  camp  in  rear  of  the  city. 

The  regiment  had  been  encamped  but  a  short  time,  when  orders  were  re 
ceived  to  march  with  the  forces  under  General  Sherman,  about  to  move  as 
the  right  wing  of  General  Grant's  army  on  the  expedition  into  central  Mis 
sissippi  in  an  attempt  to  take  the  stronghold  of  Vicksburg  in  that  way. 
Before  our  regiment  started  on  this  march,  the  men  complained  loudly  of 
the  quality  of  their  arms,  which  were  old  Prussian  muskets,  poor  at  best, 
and  many  of  the  pieces  absolutely  unserviceable.  They  had  been  promised 
better  arms,  and,  as  they  were  about  entering  upon  a  campaign  which  they 
had  a  right  to  suppose  would  be  both  active  and  dangerous,  they  thought 
it  high  time  that  the  promises  should  be  fulfilled.  Colonel  Gilbert  had  the 
tact  and  nerve  to  satisfactorily  silence  all  complaint,  so  that  when  the 
march  began  every  officer  and  man  able  to  go  was  in  his  place.  In  this 
campaign  the  regiment  marched  to  the  Tallahatchee  River,  and  was  as 
signed  the  duty  of  guarding  the  Mississippi  Central  Railway  between  that 
stream  and  the  town  of  Waterford.  Small  bands  of  rebel  cavalry  were  ho 
vering  near  the  railroad,  and  on  the  20th  of  December  one  of  them  made  a 
chivalrous  dash  on  the  regimental  hospital  of  the  Twenty-seventh,  and, 
having  captured  eleven  men,  hurried  them  off  on  the  double-quick,  some 
fifteen  miles,  and  then  seeing  they  were  entirely  unable  to  proceed  fur 
ther,  paroled  them.  When  news  of  the  capture  of  Holly  Springs  was  re 
ceived,  six  companies  of  the  regiment,  with  other  forces,  marched  on  that 
place.  They  returned  almost  immediately  to  the  vicinity  of  the  Talla 
hatchee,  and  soon  afterwards  joined  the  army  on  its  march  back  to  Ten 
nessee. 

The  regiment  went  to  Jackson,  and  on  the  last  day  of  the  year,  being 
a  part  of  the  brigade  under  command  of  Colonel  Lawler,  marched  in  great 
haste  eastward  to  reenforce  General  Sullivan,  then  fighting  the  rebel  For 
rest  beyond  Lexington.  The  reenforcement  marched  rapidly  through  the 
cold  and  mud  till  midnight,  and  then  bivouacked  without  shelter  of  any 
sort,  or  protection  from  the  bitter  weather.  On  the  morning  of  the  new 
year,  the  command  was  aroused  by  an  early  reveille,  and,  without  even  a 
hasty  plate  of  soup  for  breakfast,  started  on  the  chase  after  the  rebel 


542  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

troopers  who  had  been  whipped  the  day  before  by  Sullivan,  and  were  now 
beating  a  retreat  in  the  direction  of  Clifton,  a  town  on  the  Tennessee  River, 
about  twenty-five  miles  south  of  west  from  Lexington.  To  that  point  the 
Union  troops  were  moved  in  hot  pursuit,  but  arrived  too  late  to  prevent 
the  passage  of  the  rebels.  They  then  returned  to  Jackson  by  Bethel.  The 
roads  over  which  our  regiment  marched  were  horrible,  the  men  were  en 
tirely  without  tents,  and  many  of  them  without  blankets.  The  weather 
was  most  inclement.  The  command  was  without  rations,  except  such  as 
Quartermaster  Sherburn  procured,  by  buying  corn  of  the  inhabitants,  and 
grinding  it  into  meal  at  the  mills,  near  the  line  of  march.  Thus  the  men 
were  enabled  to  get  a  meal  of  "  corn-dodger"  a  day,  faring  almost  as  mise 
rably,  notwithstanding  the  best  exertions  of  the  staff  in  their  behalf,  as  our 
prisoners  at  Libby,  in  Richmond.  The  consequences  of  this  march  of  only 
about  one  hundred  miles  were  suffering,  sickness,  and  death.  Our  regi 
ment  remained  during  the  rest  of  the  winter,  and  till  beyond  the  middle  of 
April,  1863,  at  Jackson.  Until  spring  fairly  opened,  the  camp  was  a  scene 
of  constant  suffering  and  almost  daily  deaths.  The  surgeon's  call  was  at 
tended  much  of  the  time  by  more  men  than  that  for  dress  parade.  Every 
company  lost  men  by  the  score,  and  several  officers  were  compelled  to  resign 
in  order  to  save  their  lives.  In  fine,  the  consequence  of  the  march  from 
Jackson  to  Clifton  and  return,  of  the  exposures  to  which  the  men  were 
compelled  to  submit,  may  truthfully  be  said  to  have  been  a  greater  loss  to 
the  regiment  than  the  loss  which  it  sustained  in  any  one  engagement  with 
the  enemy,  not  even  excepting  the  bloody  field  of  Pleasant  Hill,  where  the 
command  was  among  those  "immortal  few"  regiments  which  formed  the 
shield  for  the  army  under  Banks,  and  saved  it  from  inglorious  defeat  and 
destruction. 

About  the  18th  of  April  the  command  moved  from  Jackson  to  Corinth, 
and  held  that  post  during  the  temporary  absence  of  General  Dodge's  forces 
till  the  close  of  the  month,  when  it  returned  to  Jackson.  The  campaign 
against  Vicksburg  under  General  Grant  was  now  fully  inaugurated.  Whilst 
many  Iowa  regiments  were  acquiring  renown  in  the  active  operations  of 
that  campaign,  others  were  performing  less  brilliant  but  valuable  and 
important  seryices,  in  guarding  our  lines  of  communications  and  in  prevent 
ing  a  rebel  incursion  across  the  frontier  into  the  territory  which  had  been 
wrenched  from  rebel  authority  by  the  victories  of  1862.  Among  these 
latter  was  the  TwentjT-seventh.  The  regiment  was  posted  in  detachments 
at  various  places  on  the  railway  not  far  from  Jackson,  Colonel  Gilbert  being 
in  command  of  that  post.  The  colonel  here  won  the  high  compliments  of 
General  Oglesby,  commanding  left  wing  of  the  Sixteenth  Corps,  for  his 
wise  and  energetic  administration,  which  was  specially  commendable  on 
account  of  the  unrelenting  system  whereby  rich  rebel  inhabitants  were  com- 


TWENTY-SEVENTH     INFANTRY.  543 

pelled  to  contribute  to  the  support  of  indigent  Union  people  who  had  been 
driven  from  their  homes  and  sought  protection  within  our  lines. 

On  the  4th  of  June,  the  regiment  moved  by  cars  to  La  Grange,  and  thence 
by  inarch  to  Moscow,  where  and  near  by,  it  remained  for  two  months  in 
the  performance  of  duties  similar  to  those  which  had  been  performed  near 
Jackson.  The  monotony  of  camp  life  was  frequently  interrupted  by  the 
attacks  of  guerrilla-men,  but  upon  the  whole  the  period  was  one  of  general 
and  uninteresting  quiet.  Officers  and  men  all  the  while  longed  for  more 
active  life  and  earnestly  wished  to  be  taken  directly  against  the  enemy. 

It  was  not  till  the  20th  of  August  that  their  wishes  were  gratified.  At 
this  time  marching  orders  were  received,  when  the  regiment  joyously 
broke  camp  and  marched  to  Memphis,  forming  a  part  of  Colonel  True's 
detached  brigade,  which  went  to  the  support  of  General  Steele,  then  mov 
ing  on  Little  Rock,  Arkansas.  The  command  went  by  transports  from 
Memphis  to  Helena,  whence  it  marched  by  Clarendon  to  Duvall's  Bluff, 
where  it  joined  the  army  under  Steele,  and  with  it  took  part  in  the  cam 
paign  which  resulted  in  the  capture  of  Little  Rock  on  the  10th  of  Sep 
tember.  The  campaign  was  highly  creditable  to  General  Steele  and  the 
troops  under  his  command,  but  sandwiched  in  between  that  against  Yicks- 
burg,  and  that  which  drove  the  rebels  whirling  out  of  Tennessee,  it  did  not 
receive  the  eclat  which  otherwise  it  would  have  received.  In  the  capture 
of  Little  Rock,  our  regiment,  like  most  regiments  of  infantry,  did  not  take 
an  active  part,  the  fighting  of  the  occasion  being  principally  done  by  cavalry 
and  artillery.  The  regiment  remained  opposite  the  city  about  two  months, 
on  guard  and  picket  duty,  Colonel  Gilbert  the  most  of  the  time  being  in 
command  of  the  brigade.  On  the  15th  of  November  he  moved  his  com 
mand  by  rail  to  Duvall's  Bluff,  and  going  thence  by  steamers  down  the 
White  and  up  the  Mississippi  River,  reported  to  General  Hurlbut,  com 
manding  Sixteenth  Corps,  at  Memphis,  near  which  city  our  regiment  went 
into  quarters  and  there  remained  till  near  the  close  of  January,  1864. 

It  may  be  stated  that,  though  the  regiment  did  not  actively  take  part  in 
any  battle  during  the  year  1863,  its  losses  were  considerable,  the  great 
majority  taking  place  during  that  period  of  suffering  at  the  commencement 
of  the  year,  of  which  I  have  already  spoken.  By  death,  discharge,  and 
transfer  to  the  Invalid  Corps,  since  called  the  Veteran  Reserve  Corps,  the 
command  lost  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight  men  during  the  year.  Before 
it  left  its  quarters  in  Memphis,  which  was  before  its  term  of  service  was 
half  expired,  it  had  ceased  to  bear  upon  its  rolls  the  names  of  two  hundred 
and  seventy  officers  and  men  which  were  on  them  at  the  organization  of 
the  regiment.  Of  these,  sixty-four  had  died  during  the  year  1863,  one 
hundred  and  eight  had  been  discharged  for  disability,  and  sixteen  trans 
ferred  to  the  Invalid  Corps. 


544  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

On  the  26th  of  January,  1864,  the  regiment  went  aboard  of  transports 
and  moved  down  the  river  to  Vicbsburg.  Here,  with  the  Fourteenth  and 
Thirty-second  Iowa,  Twenty-fourth  Missouri,  and  Third  Indiana  Battery, 
it  formed  the  Second  Brigade,  Third  Division,  Sixteenth  Corps,  Colonel 
W.  T.  Shaw,  Fourteenth  Iowa,  commanding  brigade.  In  this  organization 
it  took  part  in  General  Sherman's  grand  raid  across  the  State  of  Mississippi 
to  Meridian,  often  skirmishing  with  the  enemy,  never  having  an  opportunity 
to  fairly  fight  him,  and  returned  to  Vicksburg  on  the  4th  of  March. 

The  regiment  halted  a  few  days  at  Vicksburg  for  much  needed  rest,  and 
then  moved  by  transport  with  General  A.  J.  Smith's  detachment  of  the 
Sixteenth  Corps  to  take  part  in  the  Red  River  expedition  under  Major- 
General  Banks.  In  many  of  the  skirmishes  and  general  engagements  of 
this  unfortunate  campaign,  the  regiment  took  part.  In  the  battle  of  Pleasant 
Hill,  in  especial,  where  a  brigade  composed  almost  exclusively  of  Iowa  troops 
rolled  back  the  tide  of  disaster  which  might  otherwise  have  engulfed  the 
whole  army,  the  regiment  was  long  and  heavily  engaged.  "In  looking 
at  that  battle  from  the  stand-point  of  actual  observation,"  says  a  corres 
pondent,  "it  would  seem  that  General  Banks,  alarmed  at  the  disaster  of 
the  preceding  day,  had  concluded  that  some  portion  of  -the  army  must  be 
sacrificed  for  the  preservation  of  the  remainder,  and  as  though  the  grim 
old  Shaw  with  his  Iowa  brigade  (for  it  was  composed  of  Iowa  troops  except 
the  Twenty-fourth  Missouri,  which  was  partly  made  up  of  Iowa  men)  was 
selected  as  the  victims.  The  old  hero,  with  a  command  of  less  than  one- 
tenth  of  the  forces  in  the  field,  met  with  fully  one-half  the  entire  loss  of 
the  day,  losing  nearly  one-third  in  killed  and  wounded  of  his  whole  com 
mand,  but  saved  the  army,  and  covered  its  retreat  that  night  and  next  day 
to  Grand  Ecore.  Colonel  Gilbert  was  wounded  in  the  hand  during  the 
afternoon,  but  remained  on  the  field  throughout  the  engagement.  Lieute 
nants  Frank  A.  Brush  and  S.  0.  Smith  were  severely  wounded  and  taken 
prisoners.  Lieutenant  Granger  was  also  wounded.  Captain  J.  M.  Hoi- 
brook,  though  twice  severely  wounded,  led  his  men  with  great  gallantry. 
He  lost  an  arm  from  one  of  the  wounds,  but  he  will  never  lose  the  admira 
tion  of  his  men  and  fellow-officers  who  fought  with  him  on  that  day  of 
carnage."3 

8  The  casualties  are  officially  stated  as  numbering  eighty-eight— four  killed,  seventy  wounded, 
fourteen  missing,  namely : 

Company  A— Killed,  Privates  Alonzo  Thornton.  Company  D— John  Tavis.  Company  F—  Curtis 
C.  Peers.  Company  /—William  J.  Pardee. 

Wounded,  Colonel  James  I.  Gilbert;  Captain  Joseph  M.  Holbrook;  Lieutenants  Jedediah  W. 
Granger,  Samuel  0.  Smith  (mortally),  Frank  A.  Brush ;  Sergeants  George  W.  Griswold,  William  M. 
Allyn,  Charles  0.  Torry,  Robert  Beck,  George  C.  Wood;  Corporals  Andrew  J.  Patterson,  Lucius 
Dickens,  Charles  D.  Kitcherer,  John  T.  Benson,  Harrison  H.  Love,  Hans  Johnson ;  Privates  James 
Y.  Hawthorn,  Milton  D.  Miller,  Caleb  J.  Bishop,  Lemuel  Pratt,  William  J.  Miller,  James  Osborn, 
Emil  Roese,  Richard  Griffin,  George  B.  Goble,  William  G.  Coppenoll,  Richard  Roese,  Calvin  R.  Dodds, 
Matthias  Martte,  John  Sires,  Frank  Backman,  John  B.  Henerts,  Thomas  Gordon,  Henry  Kuhlmann, 


TWENTY-SEVENTH     INFANTRY.  545 

On  the  retreat  from  Grand  Ecore  to  Alexandria,  the  Twenty- seventh 
Iowa,  as  a  part  of  the  forces  under  General  Smith,  covered  the  retreat  of 
Banks  all  the  way,  during  which  time  it  had  several  brisk  engagements 
with  the  enemy.  On  the  last  of  April  it  moved  to  the  rear  of  Alexandria, 
near  Governor  Moore's  plantation,  and  was  there  engaged  in  continuous 
skirmishing  with  the  enemy  for  some  ten  consecutive  days.  Alexandria 
was  burned  and  evacuated  on  the  13th  of  May.  The  enemy  constantly 
annoyed  the  retreating  column,  and  at  Marksville  a  sharp  engagement, 
lasting  two  or  three  hours,  took  place,  in  which  the  Twenty-seventh  was 
under  fire,  but  suffered  no  loss.  The  battle  of  Bayou  de  Glaize,  or  Yellow 
Bayou,  as  it  is  more  commonly  called,  was  fought  on  the  18th  of  May. 
The  engagement,  which  the  rebels  admitted  resulted  in  the  most  severe 
defeat,  for  the  numbers  engaged,  which  had  befallen  them  west  of  the 
Mississippi,  continued  nearly  five  hours,  during  the  whole  of  which  our 
regiment  was  actively  engaged,  and  suffered  a  loss  of  four  killed  and  thirteen 
wounded.4 

With  the  day  after  this  combat  closed  a  campaign  as  remarkable  for  its 
ill  success  as  any  of  the  war,  but  which  exhibited  the  courage  and  indomi 
table  obstinacy  of  our  troops,  fighting  by  detachments — "on  their  own 
hook,"  without  a  general  capable  of  manceuvering  the  whole  army — in  the 
highest  possible  degree.  On  this  day,  our  regiment  fired  its  farewell  volley 
at  a  few  rebels  hovering  near  the  scene  of  the  previous  day's  fight,  and. 
crossing  the  Atchafalaya,  moved  to  the  mouth  of  the  Red  River.  The 
command  here  embarked  on  steamers,  went  up  the  river  to  Vicksburg,  and 
there  went  into  camp,  where  it  halted  for  rest  and  recuperation.  The  stay 
was  only  about  ten  days.  Above  and  below  Greenville,  about  one-third  of 
the  way  between  Vicksburg  and  Memphis,  the  rebel  Marmaduke  was  now 
blockading  the  Mississippi.  The  situation  of  Greenville  is  not  unlike  that 
of  Yicksburg,  being  opposite  a  narrow  peninsula  formed  by  a  bend  of  the 

Frederick  Sass,  John  Schimek,  Frederick  Winch,  Fritz  Duwe,  Charles  Hennrich,  Frederick  Schuor- 
man,  Lorenzo  W.  Stevenson,  George  Storck,  John  Henry  Schroeder,  Silas  W.  Angier,  Charles  W. 
Budd,  Edward  F.  Cram,  William  M.  Horn,  John  W.  Lelacheur,  Edward  A.  Minkler,  Charles  L. 
Utley,  Malon  H.  Scarbrough,  William  J.  Mulvany,  Harrison  W.  Perry,  James  Welsh,  William  C. 
Decker,  March  Olmsted,  Stacey  J.  Purdy,  James  Noble,  John  Wright,  Sylvester  Bement,  Edward  E. 
Mulick,  J.  II.  Booth,  Alfred  Cordcll,  Michael  Harrigan,  James  C.  Haskins,  James  H.  Coffman,  Oscar 
Teman,  Peter  Crisper,  Francis  C.  Coop,  Carolus  H.  Davis. 

Missing,  Privates  John  E.  Randall,  Hugh  W.  Andrews,  John  Boss,  John  P.  Burr,  Henry  Heiller, 
William  Heine,  John  F.  Seimer,  Gottfrkd  Seeman,  Adam  Fisher,  Herman  Colvin,  Seymour  L. 
Barnes,  Rollin  Lewis,  Samuel  Craig,  Arthur  Slack. 

*  LIST  OF  CASUALTIES  :  Company  A— Killed,  Private  William  S.  Connor.  Wounded,  Corporal 
Thomas  B.  McLennon;  Leonard  M.  Shriber,  William  J.  Savoy.  Company  B— Wounded,  Corporal 
S.  W.  Bates;  Privates  Nicholas  Betsinger,  Harrison  Boteford.  Company  E—  Wounded,  Privates  Henry 
A.  Bender,  Charles  W.  Budd,  D.  A.  Neli^s.  Company  F—  Wounded,  Private  Alpheus  A.  Morse  (mor 
tally),  Van  Buren  N.  Sargent.  Company  G— Wounded,  Captain  Charles  A.  Slocum.  Company  H-— 
Killed,  Private  Charles  Conlon,  Charles  Hoover  (wounded).  Company  K— Killed,  Robert  M.  Childs, 
Timothy  G.  Adams  (wounded). 
69 


546  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

river.  This  peninsula  is  called  Point  Chicot,  and  it  gave  Marmaduke  the 
power  of  blockading  the  river  at  two  different  points  close  to  each  other  by 
land,  but  many  times  as  far  apart  by  the  course  of  the  stream.  He  could 
thus  attack  a  fleet  passing  up  or  down  the  river  twice  from  nearly  the  same 
line,  fronting  in  different  directions.  He  was  doing  much  damage.  General 
A.  J.  Smith  left  Vicksburg  on  the  4th  of  June  to  dislodge  the  troublesome 
intruder.  Disembarking  his  forces  at  Sunnyside  Landing,  on  the  Arkansas 
shore,  on  the  6th,  he  marched  through  a  drenching  rain  and  attacked  Mar 
maduke,  delivering  his  attack  so  suddenly  and  energetically  that  the  noted 
trooper  was  soon  routed,  and  the  blockade  of  the  river  raised.  In  this 
spirited  affair,  in  which  the  losses  were  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
on  each  side,  Colonel  Gilbert  commanded  the  brigade.  His  regiment, 
being  on  the  left  of  the  line,  where  there  was  but  little  firing,  met  with  no 
loss.  After  the  battle,  General  Smith  went  up  the  river  to  Memphis, 
where  the  regiment  went  into  camp  and  there  remained  a  fortnight. 

The  latter  part  of  June,  the  command  moved  from  Memphis,  joining  in 
the  Campaign  of  Tupelo,  throughout  which  Colonel  Gilbert  commanded  a 
brigade,  and  the  regiment  bore  its  full  share  of  the  labors,  skirmishes, 
battles,  and  hard  marches  of  the  expedition.  In  the  battle  of  Tupelo, 
fought  from  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  till  about  noon  of  July  14th — a  con 
test  remarkable  among  the  battles  of  the  war  for  the  disparity  of  losses  to 
the  contending  forces,  the  Unionists  suffering  comparatively  little  whilst 
inflicting  immense  loss  upon  the  enemy — the  Twenty-seventh  was  heavily 
engaged,  as  it  was  also  at  the  Battle  of  Old  Town  Creek,  the  next  day. 
The  loss  of  the  regiment  in  both  engagements  was  one  slain  and  twenty-five 
wounded.5 

Returning  from  this  successful  expedition,  the  regiment  marched  by  La 
Grange  to  Colliersville,  and  moved  thence  by  car  to  Memphis.  Resting 
here  not  quite  a  fortnight,  it  joined  in  the  Oxford  Expedition  under  Gene 
ral  A.  J.  Smith,  therein  having  some  skirmishes  but  no  battle  with  the 
enemy.  It  returned  to  Memphis  near  the  end  of  August. 

Early  in  the  following  month,  the  command  moved  with  General  Smith's 
army  to  Cairo,  whence,  after  a  short  stay,  it  moved  to  Jefferson  Barracks, 
Missouri.  The  25th,  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  Mineral  Point,  to  meet 
the  rebels  under  Price.  There,  after  a  slight  skirmish,  it  was  ordered  to 
De  Soto,  toward  St.  Louis,  and  soon  afterwards  to  Jefferson  Barracks. 

6 BATTLE  OF  TUPELO. — Wounded,  Lieutenant  William  S.  Sims;  Corporals  Franklin  B.  Russell, 
Charles  P.  Tripp;  Privates  James  Osborn,  Leonard  M.  Shriber,  Edward  Conner,  Mahlon  H.  Scar- 
brough,  John  W.  Pratt,  Nelson  W.  Eddy,  James  Conlon. 

BATTLE  OF  OLD  TOWN  CREEK.— Killed,  Private  Henry  L.  Lewis.  Wounded,  Privates  William  S. 
Merrian,  (mortally),  D.  S.  Gardner,  Charles  Cole,  Elijah  Shaff,  Gilbert  R.  Parish,  Peter  Wendell, 
Herman  II.  Mollering ;  Sergeant  John  Everall ;  Privates  Daniel  E.  Fox,  William  H.  Clark,  Steward 
McKeney,  William  T.  Rich,  Charles  Sweeny ;  Corporal  Peter  Fritcher ;  Private  Peter  Cyphers. 


TWENTY-SEVENTH      INFANTRY.  547 

Thence  it  marched,  with  other  forces  in  pursuit  of  Price,  starting  October 
2d.  Marching  rapidly,  it  passed  through  Kirkwood,  Union,  Jefferson  City, 
Otterville,  Sedalia,  Lexington,  Independence,  striking  the  Arkansas  line  at 
Little  Santa  Fe'.  General  Grant  has  characterized  the  campaign,  in  so  far 
as  it  was  conducted  by  General  Rosecrans,  as  a  noteworthy  illustration  of 
how  little  can  be  done  by  many  troops,  if  ill-disposed.  Major-General 
Curtis,  of  our  own  State,  was  the  commander  who  really  defeated  and 
demolished  Price.  Those  who  remember  Rosecrans'  unjust  treatment  of 
the  Seventeenth  Iowa,  Colonel  John  W.  Rankin,  at  luka,  will  not  fail  to 
observe  the  poetic  justice  eliminated  by  this  result.  The  Twenty-seventh 
returned  by  a  different  route  to  St.  Louis,  arriving  on  November  18th, 
having  marched  nearly  seven  hundred  miles  in  forty-seven  days.  It  was  a 
campaign  of  forced  marches. 

The  25th,  the  regiment  moved  again  with  General  Smith's  forces  by 
transports  to  Cairo,  and  thence  to  Nashville,  Tennessee,  where  the  com 
mand  disembarked  on  the  first  day  of  December,  and  was  ordered  to  the 
front,  three  miles  from  the  city,  to  oppose  the  rebels  under  Hood,  defiantly 
moving  against  the  capital.  General  Smith  held  the  right  of  General 
Thomas'  power,  and  the  Twenty-seventh  was  on  the  extreme  left  of  Smith's 
forces.  There  was  heavy  skirmishing  along  the  lines,  but  the  rebels  not 
delivering  attack  in  force,  our  troops  strengthened  their  position  by  field 
works.  The  rebels,  it  is  well  known,  also  constructed  strong  works,  but 
declined  to  sally  and  attack  General  Thomas'  Army.  The  15th,  he  moved 
from  behind  his  works,  and  attacked  the  enemy  in  his  chosen,  fortified 
position,  bringing  on  the  Battle  of  Nashville,  which,  continuing  two  days, 
was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and  glorious  victories  which  ever  crowned 
the  American  arms.  In  this  engagement,  the  Twenty-seventh,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Jed.  Lake  commanding,  Colonel  Gilbert  being  in  command  of  the 
brigade,  took  a  prominent  part,  entering  the  rebel  works  as  soon  as  any 
troops  on  their  part  of  the  line,  capturing  guns  and  prisoners,  and  doing  its 
whole  duty  with  a  bravery  and  efficiency  unsurpassed.  The  regiment  was 
the  pivot  of  General  Smith's  Army,  which,  making  a  grand  left  wheel, 
swung  round  the  enemy's  left  flank,  fighting  splendidly  all  the  way,  captur 
ing  every  fortification  in  its  front,  several  lines  of  works,  and  large  numbers 
of  prisoners. 

Colonel  Gilbert's  Brigade  was  composed  of  his  own  regiment,  the  Thirty- 
second  Iowa,  Lieutenant-Colonel  G.  A.  Eberhart,  the  Fifty-eighth  Illinois, 
Major  R.  W.  Healy,  the  Tenth  Kansas,  Captain  W.  C.  Jones,  and  the 
Third  Indiana  Battery,  Lieutenant  T.  J.  Gierre,  numbering  in  all,  one 
thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty-four  infantry  and  artillery.  The  colonel 
commanding,  and  his  troops  won  great  eclat  for  their  conduct  on  this  field, 


548  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

and  it  was  not  long  afterwards  that  Colonel  Gilbert  was  promoted,  without 
a  particle  of  political  influence,  to  the  rank  of  brigadier-general. 

The  losses  of  the  Twenty-seventh  at  the  battle  of  Nashville  were  very 
light,  in  comparison  of  the  losses  which  it  inflicted  upon  the  enemy. 
Colonel  Gilbert's  Brigade  met  with  casualties  numbering  only  sixty-one,  a 
most  honorable  and  gratifying  fact,  which  may  be  accounted  for  by  the 
wild  firing  of  the  rebels,  whose  missiles  for  the  most  part  passed  harmlessly 
over  the  heads  of  the  Unionists.  This  was  the  fact  on  all  parts  of  the  line, 
the  rebels  everywhere,  though  the  party  assailed,  suffering  more  heavily 
than  the  attacking  party.  They  seem  to  have  lost  their  presence  of  mind, 
on  account,  perhaps,  of  the  unexpected  success  of  the  assault,  and  the  sub 
lime  tenacity  with  which  it  was  followed  up. 

The  regiment  joined  in  the  pursuit  of  Hood  on  the  morning  of  the  17th, 
and  marched  southward  as  far  as  Pulaski.  Thence  it  marched  by  Law- 
renceburg  to  Clifton,  on  the  Tennessee,  arriving  on  the  2d  day  of  January, 
1865.  During  the  year  just  closed  there  had  been  many  changes  in  the  regi 
ment.  A  number  of  officers  had  resigned,  whilst  the  command  had  lost 
by  death,  discharge,  and  transfer,  more  than  eighty  of  its  members.  It 
had  also  received  quite  a  large  number  of  recruits,  so  that  it  had  on  its 
rolls  the  names  of  about  eight  hundred  officers  and  men. 

Halting  but  two  or  three  days  at  Clifton,  the  Twenty-seventh  embarked 
on  steamer  and  moved  up  the  river  to  Eastport,  where  it  debarked  and 
went  into  encampment.  During  the  stay  of  the  regimental  encampment  at 
Eastport  nothing  of  noteworthy  importance  occurred,  save  a  march,  on 
reconnoissance,  to  luka  and  return.  The  9th  of  February,  tents  were  again 
struck,  and  the  troops  embarked  for  New  Orleans,  the  Thirty-second  Iowa 
keeping  company  with  the  Twenty-seventh  on  the  voyage.  Moving  down 
the  Tennessee,  the  Ohio,  and  the  Mississippi,  the  command  disembarked 
at  Chalniette,  a  short  distance  below  the  Crescent  City,  on  the  21st. 
Having  remained  in  camp  a  fortnight,  it  again  embarked,  and  sailing  down 
the  river,  and  across  part  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  Dauphin  Island,  Ala 
bama,  on  the  sands  of  which  it  went  into  encampment,  March  8th,  to  await 
the  concentration  of  troops,  and  other  preparations  for  the  campaign  against 
Mobile  under  Major-General  Canby. 

On  the  20th,  the  regiment  moved  by  transport  across  Mobile  Bay,  and 
ascending  a  river,  flowing  in  from  the  east,  some  twenty-five  miles,  made  a 
disembarkation.  On  the  25th,  it  was  marching  northward,  with  the  troops 
composing  the  Thirteenth  and  Sixteenth  Corps  moving  against  Mobile. 
The  march  was  all  the  while  enlivened  by  skirmishes,  and  made  laborious 
by  what  General  Sherman  would  call  villainous  roads.  Reaching  Sibley's 
Mills,  the  regiment  remained,  guarding  the  flank  of  our  army  investing 
Forts  Alexis  and  Spanish,  till  the  2d  of  April,  when  it  was  sent  out  with 


TWENTY-SEVENTH     INFANTRY.  549 

the  brigade,  General  Gilbert  commanding,  on  a  reconnoissance,  with  the 
object  also  of  opening  communication  with  Major-General  Steele,  about  to 
invest  the  works  of  Blakely.  It  was  on  this  march  that  General  Gilbert 
narrowly  escaped  death  from  a  torpedo,  buried  in  the  road,  and  which  was 
exploded  by  his  horse  tramping  over  it.  The  incident  is  thus  related  by 
the  correspondent  of  the  Cincinnati  Gazette. 

"  I  had  just  crossed  the  brook,  when  a  loud  explosion  on  the  opposite 
eminence  and  at  the  head  of  the  column,  attracted  my  attention.  I  sup 
posed  the  enemy  had  opened  on  us  with  artillery,  and  that  Captain  Rice 
would  soon  have  an  opportunity  to  try  the  range  of  his  guns.  Pushing  for 
ward  to  the  point  where  the  explosion  had  taken  place,  I  saw  a  group  of 
excited  officers  and  men  collected  around  General  Gilbert.  Several  mem 
bers  of  his  staff  were  there,  with  faces  scorched  by  heat  and  partially 
blackened  with  powder.  Their  hats  and  uniforms  were  covered  with  sand. 
One  horse  lay  dead  beside  the  road,  his  belly  torn  open,  and  his  bowels 
frightfully  protruding  ;  another  standing  by  had  one  leg  broken  and  mangled, 
and  was  quivering  in  agony  ;  two  or  three  other  animals  were  more  or  less  in 
jured.  Immediately  in  the  road  close  by  a  pine  stump,  was  a  huge  hole,  from 
which  had  been  scooped  apparently  a  couple  of  bushels  of  sand.  The  cause 
of  the  noise  I  had  heard  was  now  evident.  A  torpedo  had  exploded  in  the 
very  midst  of  the  group  composed  of  the  General  and  his  staff,  just  as  they 
had  commenced  to  move  forward  after  the  temporary  halt  upon  the  hill. 
The  general's  own  animal  had  exploded  the  infernal  machine  with  his  hind 
foot.  A  stunning  report  followed;  and  the  whole  party  were  at  once 
shocked,  confused,  confounded,  and  enveloped  in  a  cloud  of  dust.  The 
horse  upon  which  Lieutenant  L.  G.  Stevenson,  Fifty-eighth  Illinois,  was 
riding,  was  almost  instantly  killed,  and  the  Lieutenant  extricated  himself 
with  some  difficulty  from  beneath  the  dying  animal.  Lieutenant  Eisenhart, 
Twenty-seventh  Iowa,  A.  D.  C.  to  General  Gilbert,  had  his  horse's  leg 
broken,  and  was  himself  hurt  and  disfigured  by  sand  and  powder  driven 
into  his  face.  The  horse  of  Lieutenant  George  Childs,  Thirty-second  Iowa, 
A.  A.  Q.  M.,  was  badly  injured,  and  himself  scorched  and  stunned. 
Others  were  slightly  hurt,  and  others  still  (among  whom  your  correspondent 
was  conspicuous,  although  at  a  considerable  distance  when  the  explosion 
took  place)  were  badly  scared.  General  Gilbert,  I  am  glad  to  say,  was  en 
tirely  uninjured,  although  the  sand  was  driven  with  such  force  against  his 
horse  as  to  start  the  blood  all  along  his  sides !  You  may  be  certain  that  in 
our  further  movements  that  day,  there  was  an  air  of  caution  and  circum 
spection  not  frequently  observed. ' ' 

General  Gilbert  moved  with  General  Garrard's  division  to  the  left  of 
General  Steele,  now  besieging  Blakely.  The  regiment  did  excellent  service 
during  the  siege— skirmishing  by  day,  extending  the  parallels  by  night,  all 


550  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

the  while  under  the  fire  of  the  enemy.  These  operations  lasted  until  April 
9th ,  when,  with  one  company  on  the  skirmish  line,  the  others  in  the  main 
line  of  assault,  the  regiment,  Major  Howard  commanding,  joined  in  the 
charge  before  whose  impetuous  onset  the  rebel  works  and  garrison  fell  into 
our  hands,  and  the  great  rebellion  crumbled  into  irretrievable  ruins.  In  this 
fine  success,  General  Gilbert's  Brigade  captured  eight  pieces  of  artillery, 
and  six  hundred  prisoners,  with  a  loss  to  itself  of  less  than  thirty  men, 
killed  and  wounded.  General  Gilbert  gives  high  praise  to  all  the  officers  and 
men  of  his  command,  and  specially  mentions  Company  B,  of  the  Twenty- 
seventh,  engaged  on  the  line  of  skirmishers.  He  also  states  that  Major 
Hutchinson,  Thirty-second  Iowa,  distinguished  himself  both  in  the  assault 
and  in  the  capture  of  prisoners.  It  is  proper  for  me  to  add  that  General 
Gilbert,  for  his  gallant,  skilful  conduct  in  this  brilliant  operation  was  again 
recommended  for  promotion,  which,  no  doubt,  he  would  have  at  once  re 
ceived  but  for  the  cessation  of  hostilities.  He  was  brevetted  a  Major-Gen 
eral  soon  afterwards. 

His  brigade  was  assigned  the  duty  of  garrisoning  the  fort,  and  entered 
upon  that  service  the  day  after  the  capture.  In  a  few  days,  however,  it  was 
relieved,  and  joined  the  Sixteenth  Corps,  marching  on  Montgomery.  This 
march,  a  distance  of  nearly  two  hundred  miles,  was  rapidly  performed,  and 
the  regiment  went  into  camp  at  the  old  rebel  capital  on  the  27th. 

Here  the  command  remained,  awaiting  orders  for  muster-out.  The  field 
and  staff  officers  at  this  time  were  :  Lieutenant-Colonel  Jed.  Lake ;  Major 
George  W.  Howard ;  Adjutant  Charles  H.  Lewis;  Surgeon  John  E.  Sanborn, 
Assistant  David  C.  Hastings ;  Quartermaster  George  P.  Smith ;  Chaplain 
Reverend  F.  P.  Kiner.5  The  regiment  remained  at  Montgomery  more 
than  two  months.  The  23d  of  June,  General  Gilbert  issued  an  elo 
quent  farewell  order  to  his  troops  and  departed  for  the  North,  bearing  with 
him  the  benedictions  of  all  his  old  comrades  in  arms.  The  regiment,  having 
meanwhile  transferred  its  recruits  to  the  veteran  Iowa  Twelfth,  departed  on 
the  16th  of  July,  and  moving  by  Selma,  Meridian,  and  Jackson,  to  Vicks- 
burg,  there  took  steamer,  homeward  bound.  It  was  disbanded  at  Clinton, 
Iowa,  in  the  early  part  of  August,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Lake's  farewell  ad 
dress  being  dated  the  8th,  as  the  members  of  the  Twenty-seventh  were 

5  The  line  officers  were  :  Company  A — Captain  Amos  M.  Haslip ;  Lieutenants  J.  W.  Granger,  John 
W.  Pratt.  Company  B — Captain  John  W.  Hemenway;  Lieutenants  Samuel  0.  Smith,  William  S. 
Sims.  Company  C—  Captain  Henry  F.  Sill;  Lieutenants  James  A.  Poor,  Herman  C.  Hemenway. 
Company  D — Captain  Silas  Garber;  Lieutenants  Alexander  Bliedung,  Charles  Sydow.  Co~npany  E — 
Captain  T.  A.  Olmstead;  Lieutenants  G.  C.  Williams,  D.  II.  Hutchings.  Cr/mpany  F—  Captain  James 
M.  Holbrook;  Lieutenants  William  N.  Boynton,  Jacob  S.  Eisenhart.  Company  G — Lieutenant  John 
E.  Butler,  commanding.  Company  H—  Captain  Otis  N.  Whitney;  Lieutenants  William  G.  Donnan, 
George  W.  Smyser.  Company  /—Captain  Edwin  A.  Sherburn ;  Lieutenants  John  E.  Peek,  F.  H. 
Bobbins.  Company  K — Captain  Charles  T.  Granger;  Lieutenants  George  C.  Babcock,  Jesse  P. 
Hatch. 


TWENTY-SEVENTH      INFANTRY.  551 

about  to  separate,  after  journeys  and  marches  of  more  than  twelve  thousand 
miles,  guarding  their  ever  unfurled  colors  through  sunshine,  and  storm,  and 
battle,  never  once  furling  the  honored  emblem  of  our  nationality,  till  the 
power  of  that  nationality  had  been  everywhere  restored  by  means  of  the  valor 
and  endurance  of  the  patriot  volunteers,  such  as  composed  this  command. 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 

TWENTY-EIGHTH  INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZATION— RENDEZVOUS  AT  IOWA  CITY-FIRST  ENCAMPMENT,  NEAR  HELENA, 
ARKANSAS— A  HARD  MARCH  —  EXPEDITION  TO  DUVALL'S  BLUFF  — REMOVING 
OBSTRUCTIONS  FROM  THE  YAZOO  PASS-THE  VICKSBURG  CAMPAIGN— BATTLE 
OF  PORT  GIBSON— CHAMPION  HILLS— SIEGE  DUTIES-JACKSON,  MISSISSIPPI- 
TRANSFER  TO  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  GULF— RED  RIVER  EXPEDITION— 
AN  OCEAN  VOYAGE— SHERIDAN'S  SHENANDOAH  VALLEY  CAMPAIGN— BATTLE 
OF  CEDAR  CREEK—  ANOTHER  SEA  VOYAGE,  TO  SAVANNAH,  GEORGIA- 
DISBANDED. 

THE  Twenty-eighth  Iowa  Infantry,  composed  of  Company  A,  Captain  W. 
C.  Gaston,  Benton  county ;  Company  B,  of  Iowa  and  Tama  counties,  Captain 
B.  W.  Wilson;  Company  C,  Captain  J.  W.  Carr,  Poweshiek  county; 
Company  D,  Captain  S.  P.  Yannatta,  Benton ;  Company  E,  Captain  David 
Stewart,  Johnson  county ;  Company  F,  Captain  John  A.  Staley,  Tama ; 
Company  G,  Captain  Thomas  Dillin,  Iowa  county ;  Company  H,  Captain 
Aaron  Wilson,  Poweshiek;  Company  I,  Captain  John  B.  Kerr,  Iowa 
county ;  Company  K,  Captain  John  Meyer,  Jasper,  was  organized  during 
the  autumn  of  1862.  William  E.  Miller,  of  Iowa  City,  was  Colonel,  John 
Connell,  of  Toledo,  Lieutenant-Colonel,  and  H.  B.  Lynch,  of  Millersburg, 
Major.  James  E.  Pritchard,  of  Iowa  City,  was  chosen  Adjutant,  Thomas 
Hughes,  Quartermaster,  and  the  irrepressible  Doctor  John  W.  H.  Vest,  of 
Montezuma,  Surgeon.  The  Reverend  J.  T.  Simmons,  of  Marengo,  a  good 
man  and  an  abolitionist,  was  appointed  Chaplain.  The  rendezvous  of  the 
regiment  was  at  Iowa  City,  where  it  had  some  weeks  of  drill  and  discipline. 
On  the  10th  of  October,  then  numbering,  rank  and  file,  nine  hundred  and 
fifty-six  men,  it  passed  from  the  control  of  the  State  to  the  control  of  the 
general  government,  being  mustered  into  the  service  by  Captain  H.  B. 
Hendershott,  of  the  regular  army.1 

1  At  the  time  of  organization  the  following  were  the  names  of  the  first  lieutenants:  James  H. 
Shutts,  James  T.  Sargent,  Daniel  S.  Dean,  John  H.  Thompson,  Daniel  A.  Shafer,  Theodore  Schaffer, 
Nathan  C.  Martin,  George  Phillips,  Benjamin  F.  Kirby,  Merritt  W.  Atwood ;  second  lieutenants, 
552 


TWENTY-EIGHTH     INFANTRY.  553 

The  command  remained  at  Iowa  City  till  November  2d,  when  it  received 
orders  to  move  to  the  theatre  of  war.  Reaching  Davenport,  it  there 
remained  a  week,  awaiting  transportation.  The  stay  was  neither  long  nor 
agreeable.  Mumps  and  measles  had  their  usual  effect  upon  the  faces  and 
temper  of  the  men.  However,  transportation  soon  came,  and  on  the  20th, 
the  regiment  found  itself  at  Helena,  Arkansas,  and  immediately  went  into 
its  first  encampment  of  tents.  In  just  a  week,  a  detachment  numbering 
three  hundred  men,  under  Major  Lynch,  joined  the  command  of  General 
Hovey  and  marched  toward  Oakland,  Mississippi,  to  aid  General  Grant, 
then  attempting  to  take  Vicksburg  in  rear  by  Holly  Springs,  Grenada,  and 
Jackson.  The  detachment  was  out  some  twelve  days,  marching  rapidly  all 
the  time,  through  tempestuous  weather,  and  being  heavily  laden  with 
ammunition,  rations,  etc.  William  M.  Hall,  a  private  of  Company  C,  was 
killed  by  guerrillas — the  only  casualty  which  occurred  during  this  toilsome, 
most  disagreeable  march.  The  weather  at  Helena,  meantime,  was  no 
better.  The  camp  was  little  better  than  a  swamp,  more  suited  to  alligators 
than  to  men.  A  less  watery  locality  was  chosen  about  the  middle  of 
December,  but  not  till  after  disease  in  complicated  forms  had  taken  liold 
of  the  men,  making  the  encampment  a  hospital.  It  was  intended  that  the 
regiment  should  take  part  in  the  movement  against  Vicksburg  under  Gen 
eral  Sherman,  ordered,  with  the  practical  wisdom  which  has  always  char 
acterized  that  theoretical  warrior,  by  Major-General  Halleck,  but  in  addition 
to  the  ailments  by  which  the  command  had  hitherto  been  afflicted,  small 
pox  now  broke  out  in  camp,  and  kept  it  in  the  mud  of  Helena.  Shortly 
after  the  commencement  of  the  year  1863,  however,  this  fearful  disease 
abated,  and  the  physical  condition  of  the  command  rapidly  improved.  *  On 
the  llth  of  January,  it  embarked  on  steamer,  and  formed  a  part  of  Gen 
eral  Gorman's  Expedition  which  proceeded  up  White  River  as  far  as 
Duvall's  Bluff.  Whilst  the  fleet  was  going  from  the  mouth  of  this  river  to 
Clarendon,  the  weather  was  excessively  and  painfully  stormy.  First,  it 
rained  for  many  hours  in  succession;  then  there  came  a  blinding,  driving 
storm  of  snow  which  covered  the  ground  to  the  depth  of  a  foot ;  then  the 
wind  chopped  round  to  the  northwest,  and  blew  great  guns.  The  cold  was 
piercing.  The  decks  of  the  boats  were  covered  with  ice,  and  crowded  with 
troops.  The  cold  came  so  suddenly  after  the  rain  and  snow  that  the 
clothing  of  the  men  was  covered  with  ice,  the  nor 'wester,  with  an  edge  as 
sharp  as  a  razor,  cutting  away  bodily  heat  as  fast  as  it  was  generated.  The 
army  was  benumbed,  nearly  frozen.  It  suffered  like  the  French  army  in 
Russia.  General  Gorman  appeared  to  know  very  little  of  what  he  was 

John  E.  Palmer,  Joseph  B.  Wilson,  James  H.  Tilton,  James  R.  Kennedy,  (soon  succeeded  by  Henry 
M.  Wilson),  Scott  Houseworth,  Joseph  Myers,  John  P.  Driver,  John  Buchanan,  Henry  W.  Sailer, 
Mahlon  C.  Dean. 
70 


554  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

about.  Part  of  the  troops  were  ordered  to  disembark  at  St.  Charles.  The 
boats  had  hardly  been  unloaded  when  they  were  ordered  to  reembark.  In 
this  labor  they  spent  many  weary  hours,  over  shoe-top  in  water,  and  in  a 
storm  from  which  wild  beasts  would  have  sought  shelter.  The  fruits  of 
this  horrible  expedition  were  two  abandoned  siege  guns,  the  capture  of  a 
squad  of  prisoners,  and  the  burning  of  an  unfinished  depot !  Even  the 
cotton  got  away.  Many  men  died  of  sheer  exposure  during  the  expedi 
tion,  many  more  afterwards  died  from  the  effects  of  it.  Our  regiment 
returned  to  Helena  on  the  23d,  reaching  the  former  camp  long  after  dark, 
and  instead  of  tents,  finding  nothing  but  the  black  night,  cold,  and  mud. 
The  canvas  had  somehow  been  spirited  away,  but  the  men  sank  into 
bivouac  with  more  sang  froid  than  they  could  have  mustered  before  their 
experience  on  White  River — an  experience  to  which  they  cannot  recur,  to 
this  day,  without  shivering. 

Rude  winter  quarters  were  now  built  by  the  men,  in  which  they  endured 
a  gloomy,  sickly  existence,  rather  than  lived.  All  imaginable  forms  of 
fever  prevailed,  the  ravages  of  which  the  medical  staff,  though  doing  all  that 
was  within  the  power  of  man,  were  unable  to  stay.  Daily,  from  the  quar 
ters  of  every  regiment  at  Helena,  muffled  drums  were  beating  funeral 
marches  to  the  grave.  The  winds  seemed  to  moan  solemn  requiems 
through  the  huts,  in  almost  all  which  lay  the  sick,  attended  by  comrades 
sick  at  heart.  There  were  many  scenes  which,  if  drawn  by  the  pencil  of 
Mayer,  would  call  forth  the  grief  of  man  and  the  tears  of  woman.  Misfor 
tune  attended  our  arms;  the  troops  were  unpaid;  their  bodies  were 
covered  with  rags,  and  their  feet  not  covered  at  all ;  they  wrote  complain 
ing  letters  home,  and  received  indignant  responses.  What  with  poor  tents 
at  first,  what  with  the  White  River  expedition,  what  with  disease  and 
death  afterwards,  what  with  the  general  want  of  comforts,  it  is  not  sur 
prising  that  the  troops  who  passed  this  winter  at  Helena  never  even  yet 
speak  of  that  town  without  angry  curses. 

On  the  14th  of  February  General  Washburne  left  Helena  with  a  consid 
erable  army  for  the  purpose  of  removing  obstructions  from  the  Yazoo  Pass, 
preparatory  to  the  movement  soon  afterwards  made  by  this  meandering 
route  upon  Fort  Pemberton.  Great  trees  had  been  felled  into  and  across 
the  Pass.  These  were  removed  by  the  troops  dragging  them  from  the 
Pass  with  cables.  By  incredible  labor  a  navigable  channel  was  secured. 
In  this  hard  work  the  Twenty-eighth  participated,  the  men  making  of 
themselves  amphibious  animals  for  a  week.  Soon  after  their  return  to 
camp,  Colonel  Miller  resigned,  and  was  succeeded  by  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Connell.  Captain  B.  W.  Wilson  was  soon  commissioned  Lieutenant-Colonel. 

On  the  llth  of  April,  the  Twenty-eighth,  forming,  with  the  Twenty- 
fourth  Iowa,  Forty-seventh  Indiana,  Fifty-sixth  Ohio,  and  two  batteries  of 


TWENTY-EIGHTH     INFANTRY.  555 

artillery,  the  Second  Brigade,  Colonel  Slack,  Forty-seventh  Indiana,  com 
manding,  of  the  Twelfth  Division,  Thirteenth  Army  Corps,  started  on  the 
campaign  which  in  a  little  less  than  three  months  resulted  in  the  capitula 
tion  of  Vicksburg.  In  this  laborious  and  glorious  campaign  our  regiment 
participated,  cheerfully  performing  its  share  of  the  labors,  and  acquiring  its 
share  of  the  honors,  in  a  brigade,  and  division,  and  corps,  which  lagged 
behind  none  either  in  hard  work  or  hard  fighting.  The  command  was  first 
under  fire  at  the  battle  of  Port  Gibson,  May  1st.  Colonel  Connell,  in  his 
official  report,  says,  ' '  With  regard  to  the  conduct  o.f  the  officers  and  men 
during  the  action,  I  can  truly  speak  in  terms  of  highest  commendation. 
Although  they  had  marched  all  the  day  and  night  previous  to  the  engage 
ment,  carrying  three  days'  rations  and  one  hundred  rounds  of  cartridge  to 
the  man,  and  had  never  been  under  fire  before,  they  fought  with  that  fear 
less  spirit  and  determination  which  has  always  characterized  the  American 
soldier."  The  loss  of  the  regiment  was  one  killed  and  sixteen  wounded.2 
From  this  time  till  the  battle  of  Champion  Hills,  on  the  16th,  the  Thir 
teenth  Corps  was  constantly  marching,  maneuvering,  or  skirmishing  with 
the  enemy,  deceiving  him,  holding  him  in  check,  and  in  every  possible 
way  rendering  aid  to  Sherman  and  McPherson  moving  on  Jackson,  in  all 
which  movements  the  Twenty-eighth,  of  course,  joined.  In  the  battle 
which  took  place  on  the  16th,  for  some  hours  with  varying  success,  but  at 
last  resulting  in  a  signal  victory,  the  officers  and  men  of  the  regiment 
fought  like  veterans.  General  Hovey  says,  "Of  the  Twenty-fourth  and 
Twenty-eighth  Iowa,  in  what  language  shall  I  speak  !  Scarcely  more  than 
six  months  in  the  service,  and  yet  no  troops  ever  showed  more  bravery,  or 
fought  with  more  valor.  Of  them  and  their  commanders,  the  State  of 
Iowa  may  well  be  proud. ' '  The  truth  may  pardon  the  tautology.  It  is 
certain  that  in  this  fierce  contest,  all  the  Union  troops  fought  with  courage 
and  tenacity,  and  that  the  troops  of  Iowa  were  among  those  most  highly 
distinguished.  The  Twenty-eighth  here  lost  one  hundred,  in  killed, 
wounded,  and  missing — twenty-two  killed,  sixty-five  wounded,  and  thirteen 
missing.3  Four  companies  came  out  of  the  fight  without  a  commissioned 

2  Killed,  Jacob  Sowerwine.  Wounded,  Corporals  Peter  Fitzgerald,  George  M.  Walker,  A.  M. 
Hinsdale;  Privates  James  B.  Harris,  John  C.  Dine,  E.  B.  Felker,  John  H.  Brannan,  P.  C.  Dillon,  J. 
Hibler,  Philip  H.  Mason,  John  Myers,  Joseph  L.  Fitzgerald,  Charles  A.  Drake,  Wesley  Tinker,  Wil 
liam  M.  Wallace,  John  Fobert. 

8  Company  A — Killed,  Lieutenant  John  J.  Legan ;  Privates  Amos  N.  Brewster,  Francis  H.  Moss- 
man,  James  B.  Jimmerson.  Wounded,  Corporals  William  L.  Parmeter,  Samuel  Taggart;  Privates 
B.  H.  Beller,  William  H.  Bowen,  William  N.  Coder,  Benjamin  F.  Ellis,  Henry  M.  Worth,  A.  G.  Lloyd, 
(missing),  John  II.  Boyden. 

Company  B— Wmmded,  Corporal  Nathan  W.  Cook;  Privates  Henry  Cronk,  George  T.  Jainea, 
Abraham  Felter,  Hugh  M.  Dean. 

Company  C— Killed,  Privates  Benjamin  F.  Cassiday,  Augustus  Skeels.  Wounded,  Sergeant  James 
B.  Roach;  Privates  Thomas  Neal,  A.  J.  Myers,  John  D.  Evans,  James  M.  Johnson,  Benjamin  F. 
Swangle,  David  J.  Diffendaffer. 


556  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

officer.  The  regiment  remained  at  Edwards'  Station  till  the  20th,  when  it 
moved  to  the  Big  Black  River,  remaining  there  in  guard  of  the  bridge  un 
til  the  24th,  when  it  marched  for  Vicksburg.  On  the  25th  it  took  position 
near  the  centre  of  the  left  wing  of  the  investing  army,  where  it  remained, 
in  the  performance  of  the  heavy  duties  of  the  siege  till  the  capitulation. 
Here  several  were  killed,  and  many  wounded.  Much  sickness  prevailed, 
and  a  number  died. 

On  the  very  day  of  the  capitulation  the  regiment  received  orders  to  march 
with  three  days'  rations.  On  the  morning  of  July  5th,  it  moved  toward 
Jackson,  marching  that  day  to  the  Big  Black  River.  Death,  wounds  and 
sickness  had  so  reduced  the  command  that  only  two  hundred  and  fifty  men 
were  able  to  join  in  the  march.  Major  Lynch  had  resigned  on  account  of 
ill  health,  and  had  been  succeeded  by  Captain  John  Meyer,  a  gallant  and 
intelligent  officer.  Reduced  in  numbers,  but  not  damaged  in  spirit,  the 
command  marched  on  Jackson,  skirmishing  once  or  twice  with  the  enemy, 
till  it  reached  its  position  in  front  of  the  works  defending  that  capital. 
The  army  remained  here  laying  irregular  siege  to  Jackson,  till  the  rebels 
evacuated  the  city,  and  our  troops  took  possession  of  their  works.  On  the 
morning  of  the  25th,  our  regiment  took  up  its  line  of  march  for  Vicksburg, 
and  by  a  rapid,  severe  movement  in  broiling  hot  weather  reached  that  place 
on  the  evening  of  the  27th. 

The  regiment  was  soon  afterwards  transferred  to  the  Department  of  the 
Gulf.  It  remained  in  Vicksburg  two  or  three  days,  and  then  moved  by 
steamer  to  Natchez.  Here  and  near  by  it  remained  a  few  days,  and,  again 
embarking,  passed  down  to  Carrollton,  a  place  but  a  short  distance  from 
New  Orleans.  Here  it  went  into  camp  in  a  pleasant  location,  and  remained 

Company  J)— Killed,  Private  William  II.  Summers.  Wounded,  Privates  Samuel  A.  Crawford, 
James  H.  Wilford,  William  H.  St.  Clair,  G.  W.  Ferguson,  David  C.  Williams,  Jacob  Ilite,  James 
Maxson,  Levi  E.  Weaver,  Joseph  K.  Shughart.  Missing,  Sergeant  W.  S.  McDuff;  Private  Benjamin 
Honeywell. 

Company  E— Killed,  Privates  John  W.  Stonebraker,  Hugh  Bowman.  Wounded,  Privates  John 
Weno,  Daniel  P.  Roberts.  Missing,  Private  John  Omalia. 

Company  F— Killed,  Privates  David  Shelton,  John  A.  Snapf,  George  Williams,  B.  W.  Russell, 
Thomas  Southern,  Samuel  W.  Hammett.  Wounded,  Corporals  John  W.  Iliatt,  William  Nixon,  John 
Myers;  Privates  Samuel  W.  Arbuthnot,  Charles  Godfrey,  Henry  M.  Miller,  John  E.  Rockenfield, 
George  A.  Moss.  Missing,  Captain  John  A.  Staley;  Privates  B.  T.  Brannon,  John  Blair,  Charles  W. 
Lounsberry,  John  Wilson,  Joseph  Chess. 

Company  G — Killed,  Drummer  Robert  Tester.  Wounded,  Privates  D.  A.  Wood,  John  Gilroy, 
Amos  Tullis.  Missing,  Private  Rowland  Davis. 

Company  H—  Killed,  Private  Patrick  Ilogan.  Wounded.  Lieutenant  John  Buchanan ;  Privates  L. 
Pflauin,  A.  P.  Pflaum,  Samuel  P.  Kent.  Francis  Murphy,  L.  P.  Martin. 

Company  I— Killed,  Captain  Benjamin  F.  Kirby;  Private  Moses  Osborn.  Wounded,  Corporal 
Clark  Mahannah;  Privates  Peter  Noel,  John  McLaughlin,  S.  C.  Branton,  H.  J.  Strong,  Patrick 
Lovell,  C.  W.  Statler.  Wounded  and  Missing,  Privates  William  M.  Wallace,  William  T.  Thomas, 
Ellet  Bolin. 

Company  K— Killed,  Privates  J.  P.  Haskett,  A.  P.  Callison,  George  Hutchinson.  Wounded,  Cor 
porals  Charles  Bodley,  John  C.  Wilson ;  Privates  Henry  Effnor,  James  S.  Wilson,  David  A.  Post,  E. 
B.  Moffit,  Martin  V.  Saunders,  J.  F.  W.  Andreas. 


TWENTY-EIGHTH     INFANTRY.  557 

nearly  a  month,  the  men  gaining  health  and  strength,  and  much  needed 
clothing. 

The  13th  of  September,  the  Twenty-eighth  joined  a  considerable  force 
under  General  Franklin,  and  moved  into  Western  Louisiana,  on  an  expe 
dition  which  lasted  until  near  the  close  of  the  year.  After  sundry  halts  the 
army  encamped  near  Opelousas,  and  without  having  accomplished  any 
beneficial  results,  visible  to  the  naked  eye,  began  a  retrograde  movement 
about  the  1st  of  November.  The  countermarch  had  scarcely  begun,  when 
the  enemy  commenced  to  harass  our  lines,  so  that  there  was  considerable 
skirmishing.  The  Unionists  turned  on  their  pursuers  once  or  twice,  mak 
ing  considerable  marches  westward,  but  the  whole  expedition  may  be  dis 
missed  with  the  remark  that  it  was  of  no  value  to  our  arms.  Colonel 
Council's  regiment,  returning  to  New  Orleans  under  orders  to  embark  for 
Texas,  arrived  at  Algiers  on  the  evening  of  Christmas  day. 

Awaiting  transportation,  the  troops  of  the  Twenty-eighth  had  a  fine 
opportunity  to  make  themselves  miserable  in  the  mud.  Transportation 
not  being  forthcoming,  the  order  for  their  movement  to  Texas  was  counter 
manded  about  the  middle  of  January,  1864.  They  moved  across  Lake 
Pontchartrain,  and  went  into  encampment  not  far  from  its  northern  shore  at 
Madisonville.  Here  several  weeks  of  pleasant  weather,  in  bright  contrast 
to  that  which  they  had  encountered  in  the  Bayou  Teche  country,  were 
heartily  enjoyed,  whilst  the  labors  on  fortifications  rather  gave  wholesome 
exercise  than  disliked  drudgery  to  the  troops.  The  command  remained  at 
Madisonville  till  the  latter  part  of  February,  during  which  period  it  was 
considerably  strengthened  by  recruits  and  a  number  of  men  returning  to 
duty  from  the  hospital.  "We  began  to  feel,"  says  Chaplain  Simmons, 
' '  that  we  were  a  regiment  again. ' ' 

Colonel  Connell  arrived  in  New  Orleans  with  his  command  on  the  1st  of 
March,  and,  crossing  the  Mississippi,  went  into  encampment  at  Algiers. 
A  few  days  thereafter  he  moved  by  train  to  Brashier,  and  crossing  the  bay 
of  that  name,  encamped  on  its  western  shore,  to  await  the  arrival  of  the 
other  troops  who  were  to  march  by  the  same  route  on  the  Red  River  expe 
dition.  The  regiment  now  numbered  five  hundred  and  fifty  men  on  duty, 
was  in  the  finest  spirits,  and  under  the  best  discipline.  Anticipating  a 
successful  campaign,  the  troops  cheerfully  left  their  encampments  on  the 
12th,  and  marched  up  Bayou  Teche.  Passing  through  a  beautiful  country, 
by  Franklin,  Opelousas  and  Washington,  the  column  reached  Alexandria 
on  the  Red  River,  where  it  was  joined  by  General  A.  J.  Smith,  with 
detachments  of  the  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  Corps,  and  Admiral  David 
D.  Porter,  with  a  considerable  fleet. 

The  difficulties  of  navigation  delaying  the  fleet,  caused  a  halt  of  the 
forces  under  General  Banks  at  Alexandria.  Nor  is  it  any  more  than  simple 


558  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

justice  to  General  Banks  to  state  that  much  of  the  disaster  of  the  campaign 
was  attributable  to  Admiral  Porter,  who,  nevertheless,  was  constantly  ful 
minating  reports — the  most  magnificent  lies  of  which  history  hath  any 
record — but  had  to  depend,  after  all,  for  the  safety  of  his  fleet,  upon  the 
energy  and  genius  of  a  northwestern  backwoods-man.  Certain  drunken 
generals  did  the  rest  of  the  business  of  bringing  the  expedition  to  its  sad 
results.  But  this  is  to  anticipate.  The  latter  part  of  March  the  army  left 
Alexandria.  The  division  to  which  the  Twenty-eighth  was  attached 
marched  to  Natchitoches,  a  distance  of  eighty-five  miles,  in  less  than  four 
days.  Here  Quartermaster  Thomas  Hughes,  an  old  printer,  began  the 
publication  of  a  "live"  daily  journal  from  an  office  confiscated  by  our 
troops.  It  was  continued  for  several  days  with  great  success. 

When  General  Banks'  advance  was  attacked  by  the  enemy  in  the  vicinity 
of  Mansfield,  our  regiment  was  many  miles  in  rear.  It  pressed  on  with 
other  troops  of  the  Thirteenth  Corps  to  the  front,  and  took  part  in  the 
Battle  of  Sabine  Cross  Roads,  losing  in  that  engagement  about  eighty  offi 
cers  and  men,  killed,  wounded,  and  missing.  Colonel  Conncll  was  himself 
severely  wounded,  and  captured  by  the  enemy,  and,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Wilson  and  Major  Meyer  being  absent  on  recruiting  service,  the  command 
of  the  regiment  devolved  upon  Captain  Thomas  Dillin.  It  was  in  this 
action  also  that  Quartermaster  Hughes  was  captured.  Adjutant  J.  G. 
Strong,  Lieutenants  H.  Weaver,  and  0.  F.  Dorrence  were  among  the 
wounded.  The  battle  was  a  repulse,  turned  into  a  defeat  by  bad  general 
ship  on  theUnion  side.  The  troops  fell  back  toward  Pleasant  Hill,  leaving 
their  dead  and  many  of  their  wounded  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  A 
retreat  of  a  few  miles  brought  them  to  the  Nineteenth  Corps,  which  checked 
the  rebels,  and,  with  the  help  of  the  troops  retreating,  ought  to  have  gained 
a  decisive  victory. 

General  A.  J.  Smith  reenforcing  Banks  with  a  part  of  his  command,  the 
Battle  of  Pleasant  Hill  was  fought  the  next  day,  wherein  the  brigade  of 
Colonel  Shaw,  Fourteenth  Iowa,  and  that  of  Colonel  Hill  of  the  Thirty- 
fifth,  were  conspicuous,  the  non-veterans  of  the  Twelfth,  the  Fourteenth, 
the  Twenty-seventh,  the  Thirty-second,  and  the  Thirty-fifth  regiments  from 
our  State  suffering  much  more  heavily  than  any  other  equal  number  of 
troops  engaged.  But  in  this  bloody  battle,  made  a  victory  by  the  valor  of 
the  troops,  in  spite  of  inebriated,  and  incompetent  generals,  neither  the 
Twenty-fourth  nor  the  Twenty-eighth  Iowa  took  part.  They  were  marching 
toward  Grand  Ecore  in  guard  of  trains,  General  Banks  having  really  put 
his  army  in  retreat,  as  though  he  had  accepted  Sabine  Cross  Roads  as  an 
irretrievable  disaster.  Our  dead  and  wounded  were,  therefore,  left  upon  a 
field  which  they  and  their  comrades  had  fairly  won,  and  from  which  the 
enemy  retreated  in  disorder  to  and  beyond  the  field  of  Mansfield.  The 


TWENTY-EIGHTH     INFANTRY.  559 

victorious  Unionists,  in  sullen  obedience  to  orders,  retreated  to  Grand 
Ecore. 

Here  the  army  halted,  and  fortified,  awaiting  the  fleet  which  was  in  trou 
ble  above.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Wilson  now  rejoined  his  regiment,  bringing 
a  number  of  recruits.  I  need  not  dwell  upon  the  details  of  the  regiment's 
further  connection  with  this  expedition.  Marching  by  Alexandria,  where 
the  army  again  halted  to  get  Porter  out  of  difficulties  by  himself  insur 
mountable — he,  of  course,  being  engaged  in  the  long-hand  reporting  busi 
ness — and  by  Marksville,  it  reached  Morganza  on  the  22d  of  May,  after  a 
retreat  of  many  hardships  and  exposures,  in  the  face  of  a  harassing  enemy. 
Through  all  the  campaign  the  regiment  maintained  its  discipline  and  its  un 
conquerable  spirit.  It  passed  from  the  command  of  Banks  to  that  of 
Canby,  reduced  indeed  in  strength  by  the  losses  it  had  sustained  on  the 
recent  expedition,  but  animated  by  the  same  manly  courage  which  had 
carried  it  proudly  through  the  victories  of  Thompson's  and  of  Champion's 
Hills.  The  greatest  praise  of  the  western  troops  who  made  the  Red  River 
Campaign  is,  that,  under  other  generals,  on  no  more  equal  fields,  they 
always  fought  well,  and  were  always  victorious. 

The  Twenty-eighth  made  a  march  to  the  Atchafalaya,  in  search  of  the 
enemy,  and  after  four  days  returned  to  Morganza,  whence  it  embarked  for 
Carrollton,  arriving  about  the  middle  of  June.  Colonel  Connell  soon  re 
joined  the  regiment,  and  was  greeted  by  his  command  with  the  most  en 
thusiastic  welcome.  There  were  many  wet  eyes  among  his  hardy  troops,  as 
he  stepped  from  the  cars,  an  armless  sleeve  hanging  by  his  side.  The  com 
mand  moved  to  Kennerville,  but  was  soon  ordered  westward  with  forces 
moving  thither  against  Dick  Taylor,  as  was  stated.  The  regiment  went  by 
cars  to  Thibodeaux,  and  encamped.  Here  the  troops  had  an  old-fashioned 
celebration  of  the  4th  of  July.  Without  having  seen  the  enemy,  they  re 
turned  to  Algiers  two  days  afterwards. 

The  22d  of  July,  the  Twenty-eighth  embarked  on  the  good  ship  "Arago," 
and  after  a  discouraging  delay  caused  by  the  vessel  running  aground,  bade 
farewell  to  Louisiana  on  the  23d,  and  on  the  2d  of  August  landed  at  Alex 
andria,  Virginia,  after  a  voyage  of  great  hardship  on  account  of  extremely 
hot  weather  and  the  crowded  condition  of  the  ship.  Moving  by  ferry  to 
Washington,  the  regiment  halted  one  night  not  far  from  the  National  Capi 
tol,  and  next  day,  marching  by  Georgetown,  went  into  beautiful  encamp 
ment  near  the  village  of  Tennallytown.  The  Twenty-eighth  had  been  pre 
ceded  in  its  arrival  at  Washington  by  the  Twenty-fourth  and  Twenty-second, 
these  three  regiments  being  all  the  Iowa  troops  which  ever  passed  through 
the  national  metropolis  till  General  Sherman's  troops  passed  through  in 
review  after  the  military  power  of  the  rebellion  had  been  crushed.  It  is 
but  to  quote  from  the  journals  of  the  city,  to  say  that  the  Iowa  regiments 


560  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

which  marched  down  Pennsylvania  Avenue  in  the  summer  of  1864,  attracted 
marked  attention  and  received  the  unmixed  admiration  of  the  immense 
crowds  of  citizens  who  saw  their  manly  appearance  and  soldierly  bearing. 

The  regiment  remained  near  Tennallytown  about  a  fortnight,  when  it 
joined  in  the  inarch  of  those  troops  who  went  thence  to  join  the  army  un 
der  General  Sheridan,  about  to  commence  the  brilliant  offensive  campaign 
of  the  Shcnandoah  Valley.  Not  dwelling  upon  the  movements  which  pre 
ceded  the  battle  of  Winchester,  or  Opequan  as  it  is  officially  known,  it  will 
suffice  here  to  state  that  in  this  engagement  the  Twenty-eighth  fought  in 
the  thickest  of  the  conflict,  and  lost  nearly  ninety  of  its  officers  and  men 
killed  and  wounded.  Captain  John  E.  Palmer  was  slain  on  the  field,  Cap 
tain  Scott  Houseworth  mortally  wounded.  Adjutant  J.  Gr.  Strong  was 
twice  wounded,  but  did  not  leave  the  field.  Captains  J.  B.  Wilson  and  J. 
W.  Carr,  and  Lieutenants  Charles  E.  Haverly,  D.  S.  Dean,  J.  C.  Summers, 
and  M.  0'IIair  were  more  or  less  severely  wounded.  "Too  much  cannot 
be  said,"  says  Lieutenant-Colonel  Wilson,  "in  praise  of  officers  and  men. 
Not  an  officer  flinched,  not  a  man  gave  way. ' ' 4 

The  victory  gained,  the  regiment  joined  in  the  pursuit  immediately  after 
the  battle,  and  slept  that  night  in  bivouac  beyond  Winchester.  It  was  a 
cold  night,  but,  thinking  of  their  comrades  lying  stark  and  stiff  on  the 
field  of  battle,  the  men  thought  not  of  their  own  discomforts.  General 

*Thc  following  is  an  official  list  of  casualties  in  the  Twenty-eighth  Iowa,  at  the  battle  of  Win 
chester  : 

Field  and  Staff— Wounded,  Adjutant  Joseph  G.  Strong. 

Company  A — Killed,  Captain  John  E.  Palmer,  Sergeant  Joseph  White.  Wounded,  Corporal  Henry 
M.  Worth ;  Private  B.  H.  Beller.  Missing,  Amos  G.  Lloyd,  J.  A.  Campbell. 

Company  B — Killed,  William  D.  Headley.  Wounded,  Captain  J.  B.  Wilson,  Lieutenant  Charles  E. 
Haverly,  Sergeant  0.  Hoffman ;  Privates  G.  W.  Parks,  D.  S.  Lanning,  Mungo  Young,  F.  M.  Connelly, 
J.  D.  Smith,  I.  II.  Mitchell.  Missing,  A.  Felter. 

Company  C—  Wounded, Captain  J.  W. Carr,  Lieutenant  D.  S.  Dean;  Privates  John  A.Myers,  James 
Hunter,  W.  N.  Bowen,  S.  T.  Farmer,  C.  C.  Craver.  Missing— G.  P.  Howard,  J.  B.  Hillhouse,  W.  B. 
Harris. 

Company  D — Wounded,  Lieutenant  J.  C.  Summers;  Privates  D.  F.  Bowe,  T.  F.  Williams,  John 
Brennen,  P.  A.  Locke,  A.  L.  Carrier,  H.  Stephens. 

Company  E—  Wounded,  Captain  Scott  Houseworth  (mortally),  Sergeant  Charles  E.  Ky  te,  Corporal 
H.  S.  Eberly;  Privates  M.  Campion,  A.  Manning,  T.  N.  Roberts,  J.  C.  Wilson.  Missing,  J.  Dicus, 
John  Andrews,  A.  Riley. 

Company  F—  Wounded,  Privates  T.  Shelton,  J.  B.  M.  Bishop,  Sergeant  John  Crawford,  Corporal 
William  Hanna.  Missing,  Privates  William  Nixon,  H.  A.  Read,  William  Grubbs,  C.  W.  Sipes,  E.  S. 
Beckley. 

Company  G— Killed,  Corporal  Thomas  Collingwood ;  Privates  Hiram  L.  Hartwell,  George  W. 
Smith,  Alfred  Macey,  William  0.  Jones.  Wounded,  Sergeant  John  Terrill,  Sergeant  Jacob  N.  Diiines. 
Corporals  Robert  Greenlee,  D.  II.  Tracy ;  Privates  J.  Hitchcock,  II.  W.  Evans,  John  H.  Zahrt, 
Missing — J.  Roberts. 

Company  H — Wounded,  Corporal  F.  Brenaman. 

Company  I— Wounded,  Lieutenant  M.  O'Hair;  Privates  A.  Holden,  JohnFabert,  William  Murphy 
Missing,  Sergeant  P.  Fitzgerald;  Privates  M.  Hughs,  H.  Faulkner. 

Company  K — Killed,  Corporal  J.  F.  W.  Andreas ;  Private  A.  T.  Beals.  Wounded,  Corporals  Wil 
Ham  T.  Patterson,  D.  Gifford;  Privates  W.  W.  Baxter,  Samuel  Friend,  J.  B.  Peer,  A.  Whitehead 
Missing,  Privates  H.  McFarland,  W.  II.  Ashley,  William  Northcut,  John  Graves. 


TWENTY-EIGHTH     INFANTRY.  561 

Sheridan  pressed  on  after  the  retreating  foe,  and  on  the  22d  gained  the 
victory  of  Fisher's  Hill.  In  this  battle,  the  Twenty-eighth  was  again  pro 
minently  engaged,  and  captured  six  of  the  enemy's  guns  in  battery,  a  large 
quantity  of  ammunition,  and  many  prisoners,  but  lost  only  four  men 
wounded.5 

After  this  battle  there  was  comparative  quiet  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley 
till  just  a  month  had  elapsed  after  the  battle  of  Winchester.  There  were, 
indeed,  reconnoissances,  and  on  the  9th  of  October  General  Ouster,  with 
his  cavalry  division  gained  a  fine  victory  by  one  of  his  dashing  exploits,  in 
which  he  drove  a  superior  force  of  troopers  many  miles  up  the  valley,  and 
captured  all  his  artillery  and  many  prisoners ;  but  both  armies  rested,  and 
the  rebels  brought  up  reinforcements,  for  the  period  mentioned.  The 
Union  army  was  posted  in  a  strong  position,  strengthened  by  works,  along 
the  hills  of  Cedar  Creek,  which  empties  into  the  north  branch  of  the 
Shenandoah  about  two  miles  below  Strasburg.  Cavalry  guarded  the  north 
branch  down  to  its  mouth,  opposite  Front  Royal.  The  line  extended  in  a 
northerly  course,  from  left  to  right,  Crook's  Eighth  Corps  on  the  left, 
Emory's  Nineteenth  in  the  centre,  and  Wright's  Sixth  on  the  right,  the 
whole  being  some  five  miles  in  length.  Custer  and  Merritt,  commanding 
cavalry  divisions,  were  in  reserve,  at  the  time  of  the  battle  we  are  about  to 
describe,  nearly  in  the  rear  of  the  right.  Powell's  cavalry  was  extended  in 
picket  from  Crook's  left  down  to  Front  Royal.  Our  line,  then,  across  the 
entire  valley,  ran  thus  :— Custer,  Merritt,  Wright,  Emory,  Crook,  Powell. 
General  Sheridan  being  absent  on  important  business  at  Washington, 
Wright  was  in  command  of  the  army,  Rickette,  of  the  Sixth  Corps.  The 
17th  of  October,  Custer  on  the  right  had  a  severe  skirmish,  and  repulsed  the 
enemy.  The  next  day,  a  reconnoissance  was  made  from  the  left  toward 
Strasburg  and  Fisher's  Hill,  but  no  signs  of  the  enemy's  approach  were 
discovered.  Dispatches  were  captured,  however,  which  made  it  cer 
tain  that  Early  had  been  reenforced  for  the  express  purpose  of  "  smashing 
up  Sheridan." 

THE  BATTLE  OF  CEDAR  CREEK. 

Early,  with  a  force  of  about  twenty-five  thousand  men,  consisting  chiefly 
of  the  divisions  of  Kershaw,  Ramseur,  Gordon,  Pegram,  and  Wharton, 
which  had  been  arranged  unperceived  behind  Fisher's  Hill,  moved  forward 
to  attack,  about  midnight  of  Tuesday,  the  18th.  In  the  foggy,  chilly  morn 
ing,  Kershaw  marched  past  Crook's  left,  and  took  position  directly  in  his 
rear.  Meanwhile,  the  rest  of  Early' s  command  had  marched  to  Cedar 
Creek  with  equal  silence  and  celerity,  and,  like  the  flanking  column,  with 
out  alarming  our  pickets  or  officers  of  the  day.  His  positions  being  gained 

•  Namely :  Sergeants  John  A.  Yarick,  L.  Loupee;  Privates  J.  Behouneck,  C.  L.  Roberts. 
71 


562  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

close  upon  our  picket  lines,  the  enemy  rushed  to  the  attack  just  before 
daybreak.  Advancing  in  columns  of  regiments,  he  fairly  trampled  down 
Crook's  pickets,  and  dashed  into  his  intrenchments,  capturing  many  pri 
soners  and  a  number  of  guns  before  the  Unionists  had  returned  a  shot. 
Crook's  whole  corps  was  soon  routed,  the  left  flank  of  the  army  turned,  and 
Powell's  cavalry  cut  off.  The  Nineteenth  Corps  was  not  so  completely  sur 
prised,  but  its  left  gave  way  before  the  impetuous  attack,  and  it  was  scarcely 
broad  daylight  before  the  enemy  occupied  the  intrenchments  both  of  the 
Eighth  and  Nineteenth  Corps,  and  had  compelled  our  whole  army  to  retreat ; 
for  the  Sixth  Corps,  fighting  at  right  angles  with  its  original  line,  was 
essentially  covering  the  retreat  of  the  other  forces.  The  rebels,  with  their 
own  artillery,  with  twenty-four  of  our  own  guns  turned  on  us,  and  with 
terrible  musketry  fire  continued  to  inflict  fearful  casualty  upon  our  forces. 
The  Sixth  Corps  checked  the  impetuous  rush  of  the  enemy,  but  did  not 
stop  his  advance.  Ricketts'  services  were  most  gallant  and  valuable,  and 
by  covering  the  retreat  as  he  did  he  enabled  the  officers  to  rally  the  troops 
who  had  become  disordered  early  in  the  day.  Nevertheless,  the  exultant 
enemy  continued  to  press  on,  with  the  seeming  inflexible  determination  of 
carrying  out  his  original  object  to  the  letter  by  actually  smashing  up  Sher 
idan.  It  was  not  long  after  nine  o'clock,  when  the  enemy  gained  Middletown, 
having  driven  our  army  five  miles  from  its  intrenchments  on  Cedar  Creek. 

Shortly  afterwards,  the  tide  of  battle  turned.  Wright  had  not  despaired 
of  the  day,  but  the  arrival  of  Sheridan,  who  had  come  from  Winchester  as 
fast  as  horse  could  carry  him,  dispelled  the  gloom  which  was  settling  upon 
the  army.  He  rode  on  his  foaming  charger  along  the  ranks,  and  was 
received  everywhere  with  cheers.  He  said  his  troops  must  sleep  that  night 
in  their  tents  on  Cedar  Creek.  The  army  became  hopeful,  then  enthu 
siastic.  The  very  vigor  of  the  enemy's  attack  and  pursuit  had  fatigued 
him,  and  there  was  a  lull  in  the  battle.  The  Union  army  meantime  was 
disposed  near  Newtown,  the  Sixth  Corps  in  the  centre,  Emory  on  the 
right,  Crook  on  the  left. 

About  one  o'clock  the  enemy  again  attacked  with  renewed  vigor.  But, 
after  a  long  and  despsrate  struggle,  he  was  repulsed.  Sheridan  then 
charged  in  turn.  A  tremendous  fire  of  artillery  and  musketry  greeted  our 
troops.  Their  lines  were  broken  and  they  fell  back  in  momentary  disorder. 
They  were  quickly  re-formed,  and  the  whole  army  again  pressed  forward  in 
a  splendid  charge,  resistless  as  the  rising  tide.  Despite  stout  resistance, 
Middletown  was  carried,  and  the  enemy  driven  in  retreat  before  our  victo 
rious  legions.  He  left  guns,  clothing,  haversacks,  and  other  debris  of  a 
routed  army,  behind  him.  He  did  not  stop  till  he  had  gained  the  line  of 
the  Cedar  Creek,  and  from  this  he  was  quickly  driven  through  Strasburg 
to  Fisher's  Hill.  Our  twenty-four  captured  guns  were  retaken,  and  as 


TWENTY-EIGHTH      INFANTRY.  563 

many  more  of  the  enemy's  fell  into  our  hands.  The  cavalry  vigorously 
pursued  the  enemy,  and  some  of  the  infantry  went  to  Strasburg,  but  the 
main  army  went  into  camp  at  nightfall  on  Cedar  Creek,  the  defeat  of  the 
morning  having  been  turned  into  a  victory,  decisive  of  the  campaign.  The 
rebels  kept  up  their  retreat  through  Woodstock  to  Mount  Jackson,  where 
they  halted,  and  intrenched  themselves. 

By  this  great  victory  immense  materiel  of  war  fell  into  our  hands,  but  it 
is  probable  the  losses  in  slain  and  wounded  were  greater  on  the  side  of  the 
Unionists  than  on  that  of  the  rebels.  We  lost  about  one  thousand  and 
three  hundred  prisoners,  whilst  the  rebels  lost  about  one  thousand  and  five 
hundred.  Our  killed  and  wounded  numbered  more  than  five  thousand. 
But  it  was  one  of  thq  most  inspiriting  victories  of  the  war,  and  most  justly 
placed  General  Philip  Sheridan  among  the  great  captains  of  the  age.  It 
was  the  magnetic  power  of  his  personal  influence  which  turned  a  great 
defeat  into  a  great  victory,  and  made  Cedar  Creek  forever  memorable  as 
the  Marengo  of  the  rebellion. 

In  this  engagement  there  were  two  regiments  besides  the  Twenty-eighth 
from  Iowa,  the  Twenty-second,  Colonel  Harvey  Graham,  and  the  Twenty- 
fourth,  Lieutenant-Colonel  J.  Q.  Wilds.  These  were  prominent  in  the 
action,  and  lost  many  officers  and  men  hors-de-combat.  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Wilds  on  this  field  received  the  wound  from  which  he  soon  afterwards  died. 
It  is  a  melancholy  fact,  that  not  long  after  his  death,  his  wife  and  children 
died  of  disease,  so  that  his  name  can  only  live  in  the  grateful  recollection 
of  his  countrymen,  who  can  never  forget  his  long  career  of  usefulness  and 
gallantry.  Major  Ed.  Wright  was  also  wounded  on  this  field,  as  were 
Captains  A.  R.  Knott,  E.  H.  Pound,  A.  M.  Loomis,  and  Lieutenant  C.  H. 
Kurtz.  The  total  loss  of  the  Twenty-fourth  was  more  than  ninety,  officers 
and  enlisted  men.  The  Twenty-second  fought  in  the  same  division  with 
the  Twenty-eighth,  and  with  its  accustomed  gallantry.  It  lost  during  the 
battle  between  seventy  and  eighty  officers  and  men,  killed,  wounded  and 
missing.  There  were  no  officers  slain,  but  Captain  Alfred  B.  Cree,  Cap 
tain  George  W.  Clark,  and  Lieutenant  Nicholas  C.  Messenger  were  severely 
wounded.  Captain  Lafayette  F.  Mullins,  Captain  Charles  Hartley,  and 
Lieutenant  Edward  J.  Dudley,  were  wounded,  and  Lieutenant  Robert  W. 
Davis  was  captured  by  the  enemy. 

The  Twenty-eighth,  fighting  in  the  Fourth  Brigade  of  Grover's  Division, 
was  engaged  early  and  late  in  this  severe  contest.  When  the  Eighth  Corps 
gave  way  at  the  very  commencement  of  the  battle,  Grover's  Division,  on 
the  left  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps,  changed  front  to  the  left,  and  the  regi 
ment  went  into  action  at  once.  By  the  failure  of  a  Maine  Regiment  to 
connect  on  its  right,  it  was  left  in  an  exposed  position,  but  it  held  it  man 
fully  till  driven  back  by  overwhelming  numbers.  Right  here  the  command 


564  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

lost  nearly  fifty  men  killed  and  wounded.  Falling  back  about  half  a  mile, 
the  regiment  was  rallied,  and  again  offered  a  stout  resistance  to  the  enemy. 
Here  Lieutenant-Colonel  Wilson  was  severely  wounded  and  borne  from  the 
field,  and  Captain  Riemenschneidcr,  slain.  The  command  devolved  upon 
Major  John  Meyer,  who  led  the  regiment  through  the  rest  of  the  battle 
with  great  skill  and  courage,  and  who  declares  in  his  official  report  that  no 
officers  or  soldiers  ever  fought  better  or  more  bravely  than  those  of  his 
command  on  the  field  of  Cedar  Creek.  As  they  had  been  among  the  last 
to  retire,  so  they  were  among  the  first  to  press  forward  in  the  charge,  and 
in  the  pursuit,  when  the  tide  of  battle  had  been  turned  in  favor  of  the 
Unionists.  The  loss  of  the  regiment  during  the  day's  contest  was  nearly 
one  hundred,  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners.6 

The  regiment  joined  in  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy,  returning  to  camp  two 
days  after  the  battle,  to  find  its  former  snug  quarters  in  a  somewhat  ruinous 
condition.  The  27th,  it  marched  to  Martinsburg  in  guard  of  a  train ;  re 
turned  to  Cedar  Creek ;  and  again  to  Martinsburg  early  in  November.  It 
moved  still  again  to  the  front  on  the  10th,  skirmishing  with  the  enemy  for 
several  days.  About  the  middle  of  the  month,  quiet  being  restored,  the 
regiment  went  into  winter  quarters  of  its  own  construction,  but  remained 
in  them  only  till  the  latter  part  of  December,  when  it  moved  to  Stephen's 
Depot,  above  Harper's  Ferry,  and  in  a  terrible  storm  again  built  quarters 

6  Field  and  Staff— Wounded,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Bartholomew  W.  Wilson,  commmanding. 

Company  A — Killed,  Privates  Tomizin  Gulp,  Clark  Elder,  Samuel  Gingery.  Wounded,  Sergeants 
William  II.  Murlin,  Samuel  Taggart ;  Corporals  Ezra  B.  Felker,  A.  H.  Doan,  H.  M.  Worth ;  Privates 
B.  H.  Beller,  James  H.  Barnett,  John  A.  Campbell,  Charles  J.  Ford,  Merritt  S.  Heath,  James  M. 
Murphy,  F.  F.  Rice. 

Company  B —  Wounded,  Corporals  T.  J.  Hindman,  John  Montgomery ;  Privates  I.  II.  Mitchell, 
Cassius  M.  C.  Bateham,  George  D.  Walton,  J.  H.  Martin,  Wright  Elliott,  Madison  Haverly,  J.Harp. 
Missing,  B.  F.  Headley. 

Company  C— Killed,  Private  C.  C.  Bernard.  Wounded,  Corporals  John  H.  Brannan,  Thomas  S. 
Applegate,  S.  N.  Cross;  Privates  George  W.  Binegar,  William  Hilhouse,  Martin  Shelly  Theodore  G. 
McCune,  George  W.  Burns,  James  A.  Bowman.  Missing,  Jacob  Mullet,  James  M.  Johnston,  George 
K.  Satchell,  Andrew  J.  Brown. 

Company  D— Killed,  Benjamin  Honeywell,  Joseph  R.  Shughart.  Wounded,  Sergeant  William  S. 
McDuff;  Corporals  II.  Stevens,  E.  M.  Evans,  W.  W.  Wilkinson,  James  R.  Mitchell;  Privates  Joseph 
Barton,  William  H.  Brown,  Jacob  Furnace,  Budd  Clark,  James  Ashbey,  W.  L.  Hollingsworth.  Missing, 
Private  Thomas  Pryor. 

Company  E —  Wounded,  Sergeant  Philip  Vanstine ;  Privates  Patrick  H.  Conroy,  Jeremiah  Wilson, 
William  J.  Huff,  Joseph  Frazee. 

Company  F—  Wounded, Sergeant  J.  A.  Davis;  Corporal  S.  W.  Myers;  Privates  Joel  Wood,  Jamea 
Young,  James  M.  Hammitt,  Henry  D.  Fuller.  Missing,  Edwin  W.  Bunco,  Joseph  Chess. 

Company  G— Wounded,  Corporals  D.  II.  Tracy,  John  Clements?  Privates  Gottlieb  Schoettke,  J.  A. 
Brown,  George  Poppino,  M.  W.  Cook,  Daniel  Murrey.  Missing,  E.  D.  Roberts. 

Company  I— Killed,  Captain  John  W.  Riemenschneider.  Wounded,  Lieutenant  Charles  P.  N. 
Barker;  Sergeant  W.  W.  Watson;  Privates  S.  A.  Stiles,  H.  J.  Strong,  Michael  Riley,  Oscar  L.  Carter, 
John  Snider.  Missing,  James  Borin. 

Company  K— Killed,  Sergeant  John  Hammock  ;  Corporal  Daniel  D.  Conner.  Wounded,  Corporal 
John  B.  Elliott ;  Privates  William  Elliott,  Augustus  L.  Cannon,  John  Lloyd,  Robert  Doak,  Sylvanua 
Oldfield,  David  C.  Work.  Missing,  Solomon  Wert. 


TWENTY-EIGHTH     INFANTKY.  565 

on  the  supposition  that  the  command  was  permanently  located  for  the  rest 
of  the  winter.  The  regiment  was  about  this  time  transferred  to  the  brigade 
of  Brevet  Brigadier-General  Mollineaux,  to  which  the  Twenty-second  had 
for  many  months  been  attached.  The  history  of  the  two  regiments  was 
thereafter  essentially  the  same,  and  both  closed  their  fighting  career  in  the 
valley  of  the  Shenandoah.  The  conclusion  of  the  history  of  the  Twenty- 
eighth  may  therefore  be  briefly  set  forth. 

In  January,  1865,  it  moved  by  sea  to  Savannah,  Georgia,  and  for  several 
weeks  formed  part  of  the  garrison  of  that  repossessed  city.  The  middle 
of  March,  the  command  moved  to  Newbem,  North  Carolina,  to  reenforce 
General  Schofield.  Here  the  regiment  was  assigned  to  the  Tenth  Corps. 
It  remained  under  General  Schofield' s  command  until  the  surrender  of 
General  Joe  Johnston,  when  Lieutenant-Colonel  Wilson  was  ordered  back 
to  Savannah.  Thence  he  moved  with  his  command  to  Augusta,  but 
returning  again  to  Savannah,  in  the  latter  part  of  June,  the  Twenty-eighth 
was  there  mustered  out  of  the  service,  on  the  last  day  of  July,  then  num 
bering  about  five  hundred,  with  the  following  roster  of  officers : 

Lieutenant-Colonel,  B.  W.  Wilson ;  Major,  John  Meyer ;  Surgeon,  W. 
A.  Daniels ;  Assistant  Surgeon,  L.  S.  Groves ;  Adjutant,  J.  W.  Wilson. 
Company  A— Captain  J.  W.  McGuire ;  Lieutenant  Samuel  Taggart,  Com 
pany  B— Captain  J.  B.  Wilson;  Lieutenants  C.  E.  Haverly,  S.  J.  Ketchum. 
Company  C— Captain  J.  W.  Carr;  Lieutenant  0.  F.  Dorrance.  Com 
pany  D— Captain  H.  M.  Wilson ;  Lieutenant  J.  C.  Summers.  Company 
E — Captain  W.  J.  Huff;  Lieutenant  John  D.  Collony.  Company  F — 

Captain  Theodore  Schaeffer ;  Lieutenant  John  H.  Davis.     Company  G 

Captain  Thomas  Dillin  ;  Lieutenant  N.  C.  Martin.  Company  H— Captain 
George  Philips ;  Lieutenant  Robert  L.  Miles.  Company  I— Captain  J.  G. 
Strong;  Lieutenant  C.  P.  N.  Barker.  Company  K— Captain  M.  W. 
Atwood ;  Lieutenants  M.  C.  Dean,  J.  R.  Zollinger. 

From  Savannah  the  regiment  proceeded  to  Davenport,  Iowa,  where  it 
was  received  by  a  large  concourse  of  citizens,  and  where  it  was  finally  dis 
banded  in  the  month  of  August.  It  had  been  engaged  in  a  dozen  battles, 
and  many  skirmishes  during  its  term  of  service ;  had  traveled  well  nigh 
the  entire  circuit  of  the  confederacy ;  had  always  done  its  duty  faithfully, 
bravely,  conscientiously.  Its  officers  and  men  were  remarkable  for  their 
independent  spirit  and  their  modesty.  They  did  not  blow  the  trumpet  of 
their  own  fame  ;  but  on  every  battle-field,  on  every  march,  on  every  cam 
paign,  they  quitted  themselves  like  men,  so  it  can  truthfully  be  said  that, 
among  all  the  volunteer  regiments  which  composed  the  grand  army  that 
vanquished  the  rebellion  and  restored  the  Union,  not  one  did  its  duty 
better  than  the  Twenty-eighth  Iowa  Infantry. 


CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

TWENTY-NINTH     INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZED  AT  COUNCIL  BLUFFS— MARCH  TO  ST.  JOSEPH,  MISSOURI— ST.  LOUIS- 
COLUMBUS,  KENTUCKY  — PROCEED  TO  HELENA,  ARKANSAS  —  ACCOMPANY  THE 
WHITE  RIVER  EXPEDITION  —  THE  YAZOO  PASS  EXPEDITION— THE  BATTLE  OF 
HELENA— MARCH  TO  LITTLE  ROCK  — CAMDEN  EXPEDITION— THE  BATTLE 
OF  TERHE  NOIR  —  RETREAT— "CITY  GUARDS  "—MOBILE  CAMPAIGN— MOVE 
TO  TEXAS— HOMEWARD  BOUND. 

THAT  part  of  Iowa  which  in  common  parlance  is  called  ' '  the  Missouri 
Slope,"  furnished  the  fighting  material  of  the  Twenty-ninth  Infantry.  It 
was  organized  in  the  latter  part  of  1862,  under  the  auspices  of  Thomas  H. 
Benton,  Jr.,  who  was  appointed  colonel  August  10th.  Long  known 
throughout  the  State  as  a  politician,  more  especially  as  an  efficient  friend 
of  popular  education,  he  had  none  of  those  dashing,  flashing  qualities 
which  were  so  universally  regarded  during  the  earlier  period  of  the  war  as 
the  essentials  of  a  successful  soldier.  He  had  no  difficulty,  however,  in 
speedily  raising  a  full  regiment  of  ten  companies,  which  were  all  mustered 
into  the  service  by  the  1st  of  December,  at  Council  Bluffs.  R  F.  Patter 
son,  adjutant  of  the  Fifth  Iowa,  was  appointed  lieutenant-colonel,  and  C. 

B.  Shoemaker,  major.     Joseph  Lyman,  a  non-commissioned  officer  of  the 
Fourth  Cavalry,  was  chosen  adjutant,  and  W.  W.  Wilson,  quartermaster. 
Doctor  W.  S.  Grimes,  assistant  surgeon,  Fourth  Iowa,  was  appointed  sur 
geon.     Reverend  John  M.  Conrad  received  the  appointment  of  chaplain.1 

l  Company  A — Pottawattamie  county,  was  commanded  by  Captain  John  P.  Williams ;  Lieuten 
ants  George  A.  Hayne,  R.  R.  Kirkpatrick.  Company  B — Mills  county,  Captain  M.  L.  Andrews; 
Lieutenants  Lewis  M.  Deupree,  Edward  T.  Sheldon.  Company  C—  Harrison  county,  Captain  Wil 
liam  W.  Fuller;  Lieutenants  George  S.  Bacon,  Joseph  H.  Smith.  Company  D — Adams  and  Adair 
counties,  Captain  Frank  M.  Davis ;  Lieutenants  John  W.  Stewart,  M.  E.  Black.  Company  E—  Fre 
mont  county,  Captain  Henry  Bowen ;  Lieutenants  James  L.  Mitchell,  Daniel  G.  Elifritz.  Company 
F— Taylor  county,  Captain  James  Brooks;  Lieutenants  Lucius  B.  Nash,  Isaac  Damewood.  Com' 
pany  G — Ringgold,  Captain  Alexander  B.  Huggins;  Lieutenants  Andrew  Johnston,  John  McFar- 
land.  Company  H—  Union  county,  Captain  James  L.  Hafer ;  Lieutenants  Lewis  K.  Myers,  Ainos 

C.  Cooper.     Company  /— Guthrie,  Captain  Joseph  Dyson ;  Lieutenants  Wells  C.  McCool,  Peter  II. 
Lenon.     Company  K — from  all  the  above  named  counties,  Captain  A.  R.  Wright;   Lieutenants 
Bonaparte  Dale,  Allen  I.  Chantry. 

The  assistant  surgeons  of  the  regiment  were  William  L.  Nicholson  and  David  F.  Eakins. 
566 


TWENTY-NINTH      INFANTRY.  567 

It  had  been  intended  that  this  regiment  should  form  a  part  of  the  com 
mand  under  General  W.  T.  Sherman,  which  made  the  fruitless  assault 
upon  Vicksburg  in  December  of  this  year.  But  before  the  regiment  had 
formally  entered  the  service  of  the  United  States,  navigation  of  the  Mis 
souri  River  was  closed,  and  this  design  had  to  be  abandoned.  Proceeding 
by  detachments  between  the  5th  and  9th  of  December,  the  command 
marched  to  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  and  reported  to  Major-General  Samuel 
R.  Curtis,  then  commanding  the  department.  From  here  it  went  by  rail 
to  St.  Louis,  and  entered  Benton  Barracks  on  the  20th,  with  over  nine 
hundred  men,  every  one  in  good  health  and  spirits.  The  next  morning  it 
marched  to  Schofield  Barracks  in  the  city  and  was  assigned  the  duty  of 
guarding  certain  prisons. 

It  had  hardly  entered  upon  the  performance  of  this  service,  however, 
when  it  was  ordered  to  repair  to  Helena,  Arkansas.  Accordingly,  under 
command  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Patterson,  the  Colonel  remaining  at  St. 
Louis  on  regimental  business,  it  embarked  for  the  South  on  Christmas  day. 
Like  all  other  regiments  about  that  time  passing  down  the  river,  it  paid 
the  tribute  of  a  halt  to  Columbus,  Kentucky,  then  daily  frightened  by 
imaginary  butternut  Forrests.  It  was  assigned  to  the  right  wing,  under 
command  of  Brigadier-General  J.  M.  Tuttle,  where  it  remained  in  camp 
till  the  8th  of  January,  1863.  On  that  anniversary  it  embarked,  under 
orders  to  proceed  to  Helena,  with  the  brigade  of  General  Fisk. 

The  brigade  did  not  disembark  at  Helena,  but  at  once  joined  an  expedi 
tion  which  had  been  organized  by  General  Gorman,  and  which  was  now 
ready  to  proceed  up  White  River.  This  expedition  was  entirely  fruitless, 
and  more  than  entirely  comfortless.  It  went  up  the  river  a  distance  of  one 
hundred  and  eighty  miles  to  Duvall's  Bluff,  and  then  returned  without  dis 
embarking  the  troops.  No  resistance  from  the  enemy  was  met,  but  the 
sufferings  of  the  men  were  intense.  During  the  voyage,  which  has  been 
described  in  the  previous  chapter,  measles  attacked  the  Twenty-ninth. 
When  it  reached  Helena  on  the  26th,  there  were  more  than  four  hundred 
men  on  the  sick  list,  and  the  command  lost  by  the  exposure  of  this  voyage 
not  less  than  three  hundred.  But  after  recovery  from  this  shock,  the 
health  of  the  regiment  was  almost  uniformly  good. 

It  formed  a  part  of  that  wonderful  expedition  through  the  Yazoo  Pass 
to  Fort  Pemberton  at  the  head  of  the  Yazoo  River.  It  left  Helena  on 
board  the  Steamer  "  Emma  No.  2,"  but  when  that  vessel  reached  the  Cold 
Water,  it  was  found  to  be  so  broken  and  smashed  up  by  the  poundings  of 
the  navigation  through  forests,  as  to  be  little  better  than  a  wreck.  The 
regiment  was  transferred  to  the  "Key  West,"  aboard  of  which  it  made 
the  voyage  to  the  fort  and  back  to  Helena.  From  this  time  until  the  Little 
Rock  Expedition,  the  command  remained  at  Helena  on  garrison  duty,  only 


568  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

leaving  the  town  to  participate  in  the  ordinary  scouts.  It  bore  a  glorious 
part  in  the  Battle  of  Helena,  on  the  national  anniversary,  whipping  an 
entire  brigade,  and  capturing  many  prisoners.2 

The  march  of  General  Steele's  Army  from  Helena  to  Little  Rock  took 
place  between  the  llth  of  August  and  10th  of  September.  The  weather 
was  excessively  hot  and  dry.  The  White  River  was  crossed  at  Clarendon, 
where  a  week's  halt  was  made.  From  this  place  the  column  matched  up 
the  river  as  far  as  Duvall's  Bluifs,  at  the  crossing  of  the  Memphis  and 
Little  Rock  Railroad,  where  depots  of  supplies  and  hospitals  were  estab 
lished.  The  Twenty-ninth  was  in  the  division  commanded  by  General 
Samuel  A.  Rice,  the  brigade  being  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Benton. 
Nothing  worthy  of  note  occurred  until  after  the  column  left  Duvall's  Bluffs. 
From  there  to  Brownsville,  the  country  is  a  grand  prairie,  and  at  this 
season  of  the  year  entirely  without  water.  Each  man  carried  his  own 
supply  in  his  canteen.  It  was  so  hot  that  many  were  sun-struck  on  the 
march.  There  were  not  enough  ambulances  to  carry  those  who  gave  out, 
so  that  they  would  load  up,  travel  ahead,  leave  the  sick  by  the  road-side, 
and  return  for  others.  By  repeating  this  operation,  the  men  unable  to 
walk  were  by  turn  conveyed  in  the  ambulances  and  left  to  suffer  in  the 
broiling  sun  through  the  greater  part  of  two  days.  The  column  halted  a 
few  days  at  Brownsville,  but  during  that  time  General  Rice's  Division  made 
a  rapid  march  to  Bayou  Metoe,  eighteen  miles  distant,  to  cover  a  move 
ment  of  General  Davidson's  Cavalry  Division  in  another  direction.  Both 
detachments,  having  skirmished  sharpy  with  the  enemy,  soon  returned  to 
the  main  army.  General  Price,  commanding  at  Little  Rock,  occupied  a 
strong  position  four  miles  from  the  rebel  capital,  his  right  protected  by  the 
Arkansas,  his  left  by  an  impenetrable  cypress  swamp.  The  roads  leading 
to  this  position  from  the  front  pursued  devious  courses,  and  were  in  many 
places  narrow  causeways  over  bayous  and  through  swamps.  General 
Steele,  therefore,  turned  from  the  direct  road  and  struck  the  Arkansas 
about  eight  miles  below  Little  Rock.  Here  a  pontoon  bridge  was  thrown 
across  the  river,  and  early  on  the  morning  of  September  10th,  Davidson's 
whole  Cavalry  Divisio  n  with  its  artillery  passed  over  and  moved  rapidly 
along  the  sandy  shore  and  through  the  woods  against  the  enemy.  General 
Steele  moved  up  on  the  north  side  of  the  stream,  his  artillery  all  the  time 
assisting  his  left  wing,  on  the  south  side,  against  which  alone  the  enemy 

2  The  regiment  lost  in  this  engagement  thirty-one  killed  und  wounded.  Namely : — Killed,  Sergeant 
Isaac  T.  Lucas;  Privates  Edward  Harl,  John  T.  Cobb,  James  Conley,  Andrew  R.  Jordan.  Francis  I. 
Husband,  Lewis  Schwanz.  Wounded,  Sergeant  Hiram  Atkinson;  Corporals  Jacob  Bridenstine, 
Henry  Edinger,  (mortally) ;  Privates  Moses  Nixon,  Daniel  D.  Johnson,  Ansen  F.  Belden,  (mortally), 
P.  D.  Evans,  M.  L.  Spire,  J.  W.  Rodgers,  Emory  Jones,  (mortally),  L.  L.  Witty,  (mortally),  R.  T. 
Reeves,  (mortally),  P.  II.  Huffman,  Leonard  Mavity,  John  Morris,  John  T.  Hindman,  John  W. 
Hicks,  (mortally),  J.  W.  Smith,  W.  R.  Moler,  Isaac  Runyon,  George  W.  Smith,  John  H.  Leo,  J.  W. 
Trent,  John  S.  Burket. 


TWENTY-NINTH     INFANTRY.  569 

made  any  serious  demonstrations.  Davidson  was  resisted  with  less  or  more 
obstinacy  all  the  way  to  the  town,  and  the  right  wing  marched  in  light 
fighting  order,  momentarily  expecting  to  have  a  general  engagement.  The 
cavalry  entered  Little  Rock  at  dark,  Price  having  retreated  in  such  haste 
as  to  leave  the  arsenal  and  much  public  property  unharmed.  His  army 
was  superior  in  numbers  to  that  from  which  he  fled.  The  Union  army 
encamped  around  the  city  on  the  morning  of  the  llth,  leaving  the  rebels  to 
retreat  quietly  to  Arkadelphia. 

In  November,  the  rebel  General  Marmaduke  attacked  Pine  Bluff,  some 
sixty  miles  below  Little  Rock,  and  was  repulsed  with  heavy  losses.  General 
Rice  was  sent  out  with  the  brigade  to  which  the  Twenty-ninth  belonged, 
and  a  brigade  of  the  Second  Division  to  intercept  the  rebel  trooper.  The 
command  marched  as  far  as  Rockport,  on  the  Washita,  but  did  not  find 
Marmaduke.  This  ended  the  active  campaigning  of  the  regiment  for  the 
year.  It  remained  at  Little  Rock  during  the  winter  of  1863-4,  and  till 
General  Steele's  column  moved  for  the  southwest  on  the  morning  of  March 
23d. 

In  this  campaign  of  hard  marches  through  mud,  and  swamp  and  bayou  ; 
of  heavy  skirmishing  day  after  day  and  night  after  night — skirmishing 
which  more  than  once  became  severe  enough  to  make  it  a  battle  to  those 
engaged ;  of  burdensome  labor  in  building  causeways  and  bridges  ;  of  stub 
born  fighting,  of  stupendous  losses  in  material,  of  short  rations  much  of 
the  time,  and  no  rations  at  all  many  days,  the  Twenty-ninth  Iowa  bore 
laborious,  faithful,  honorable  part. 

The  country  through  which  General  Steele  proposed  to  himself  to  march 
had  been  marched  through  by  rebel  armies,  and  much  of  it  overrun  by  the 
troopers  of  both  armies.  There  were  many  square  miles  of  it  which  did 
not  contain  subsistence  for  a  crow.  It  was  necessary  that  the  Union  com 
mander  should  transport  his  supplies  with  his  column.  His  train  consisted 
of  not  less  than  four  hundred  wagons.  Passing  along  an  ordinary  road  in 
the  ordinary  way  it  was  about  four  miles  in  length.  April  2d,  the  column 
reached  the  bayou  of  Terre  Noir,  on  the  road  from  Arkadelphia  to  Wash 
ington. 

BATTLE    OF  TERRE  NOIR. 

When  the  main  body  crossed  the  bayou,  the  train  was  two  or  three  miles 
behind.  Here  was  an  opportunity  to  pounce  upon  the  supplies  by  a  sudden 
dash,  which  it  was  not  to  be  supposed  the  rebel  cavalry,  who  had  been 
hovering  near  the  column  and  watching  the  train  with  hawks'  eyes,  would 
let  pass  by.  Shelby's  brigade  made  a  rush  for  their  coveted  prey  about 
eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  Twenty-ninth  with  a  section  of  artillery 
constituted  the  rear-guard  for  the  day.  They  had  met  and  repulsed  this 
72 


570  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

rebel  brigade  at  Helena  the  year  before,  and  they  now  fought,  unsupported, 
against  fearful  odds  till  the  Fiftieth  Indiana  came  up,  having  marched  four 
miles,  to  their  assistance.  This  reenforcement  did  not  arrive  a  moment  too 
soon.  The  Twenty-ninth  had  repelled  their  assailants  three  several  times, 
but  were  now  being  roughly  handled.  The  left  wing  was  turned,  and  being 
confusedly  rolled  up  along  the  line.  General  Rice  rushed  to  the  ground, 
and  rallied  the  troops  almost  instantaneously,  and  they  immediately  charged 
with  a  shout,  again  driving  off  the  enemy  in  confusion.  Shortly  afterwards, 
the  rebel  Cabell  reenforced  Shelby  with  his  brigade  of  troopers,  and  another 
attack  was  made.  Meantime,  the  Ninth  Wisconsin  reenforced  the  rear 
guard,  and  the  rebels  were  again  and  again  foiled  of  their  object.  The  con 
flict  continued,  at  short  intervals,  from  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning  till 
after  dark.  The  train  would  close  up  and  move  on  whilst  our  troops  were 
repelling  an  attack.  Having  done  that,  the  march  in  the  fighting  order 
would  be  resumed,  and  continued  till  the  next  attack.  About  dusk,  the 
rebels  made  an  impetuous  charge,  seemingly  determined  to  capture  our 
artillery  at  all  hazards.  Our  men  stood  stock  still  till  the  galloping  horde 
came  within  thirty  yards  of  the  line,  when  they  let  drive  from  musketry 
and  artillery  such  a  fearful  hail  of  lead  and  iron,  that  the  charging  troopers 
seemed  to  have  dashed  against  a  wall  of  rock.  Then  the  Union  troops 
rushed  forward  with  a  yell,  to  which  the  throats  of  the  Indiana  boys  added 
fearful  power,  and  drove  the  enemy  in  much  admired  disorder  from  the 
field.  This  last  combat  was  fought  at  the  junction  of  the  Elkin's  Ferry 
road,  eight  miles  from  where  the  Twenty-ninth  repelled  the  first  assault  in 
the  morning.  The  Union  loss  during  the  day  was  about  sixty  in  killed  and 
wounded,  of  whom  the  Twenty-ninth  lost  twenty-seven.  The  men  who 
had  been  engaged  marched  into  Okolona,  after  nine  o'clock  at  night,  with 
drums  beating  and.  colors  flying.  Here  they  saw  the  train  in  park,  not  a 
wagon  missing. 

The  regiment  was  under  fire  for  three  hours  during  the  battle  of  Little 
Missouri,  at  Elkin's  Ferry,  having  been  ordered  to  support  McLean's  Bri 
gade,  sharply  engaged,  but  it  did  not  actively  enter  into  the  contest,  because 
it  was  unnecessary.  It  was  in  the  front  during  the  day  of  the  15th,  on  the 
evening  of  which  the  army  entered  Camden,  having  had  an  excited  race 
with  the  rebels  ever  since  the  magnificent  parade  on  Prairie  D' Anne,  on  the 
12th.  It  remained  at  Camden  till  the  26th,  retreated  with  the  army  upon 
Little  Rock,  fought  six  hours  at  the  severe  engagement  of  Jenkins'  Ferry, 
making  there  one  of  the  finest  bayonet  charges  of  the  war,  capturing  a 
section  of  artillery,  and  reached  the  capital  on  the  3d  of  May.  During  this 
active  campaign  of  six  weeks  the  losses  of  the  regiment  in  killed,  wounded, 
and  missing,  were  six  officers  and  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  enlisted  men. 
Of  these,  Captain  George  S.  Bacon,  of  Company  C,  and  fifty-nine  men  of 


TWENTY-NINTH     INFANTRY.  571 

the  command  were  left  wounded  on  the  field  of  Jenkins'  Ferry,  and  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  For  this  there  was  no  excuse,  except  such  as 
may  be  found  in  the  haste  of  General  Steele  to  protect  Little  Hock  from 
the  attack  of  Fagan,  against  whom  he  had  already  sent  a  force  of  cavalry 
sufficient  for  the  purpose  till  the  main  body  could  come  up.  But  this  Gen 
eral  seems  to  have  been  utterly  "stampeded,"  after  the  capture  of  his  train 
and  the  troops  guarding  it,  at  Mark's  Mill,  and  to  have  thought  thenceforth 
that  if  he  could  throw  his  army,  with  body  and  soul  together,  again  behind 
the  works  of  Little  Rock,  he  would  accomplish  a  great  military  achievement. 
That  is  precisely  what  he  did  accomplish. 

After  the  army  reached  Little  Rock  it  was  reorganized,  the  Twenty-ninth 
being  assigned  to  the  First  Brigade  of  the  First  Division.  Afterwards, 
however,  it  was  assigned  to  the  Second  Brigade,  Second  Division,  in  which 
command  it  remained  to  the  close  of  the  year.  Except  during  one  month, 
from  the  latter  part  of  July  to  the  latter  part  of  August,  when  it  was  at 
Lewisburg,  on  the  Arkansas,  fifty  miles  above  Little  Rock,  the  regiment 
remained  at  the  latter  place  after  the  retreat  from  Camden,  for  nearly  a 
year.  In  November,  it  was  ordered  to  move  to  Pine  Bluff,  but  the  order 
was  countermanded,  and  it  was  assigned  to  duty  as  "City  Guard"  of  the 
post  of  Little  Rock.  And  there  it  remained  until  February  9th,  1865,  when 
it  left  for  active  operations  in  another  field. 

Meantime,  General  J.  J.  Reynolds  had  relieved  Steele  of  the  command 
of  the  Department  of  Arkansas,  and  reorganized  the  army.  The  Twenty- 
ninth  regiment  was  assigned  to  an  organization  styled  the  ' '  Detached  Bri 
gade  of  the  Seventh  Army  Corps,"  General  E.  A.  Carr  commanding. 
About  the  1st  of  February,  Carr  received  orders  to  proceed  to  New  Orleans. 
But  on  account  of  the  want  of  transportation,  the  regiment  with  which  we 
now  have  to  do  did  not  leave  Little  Rock  until  the  9th.  After  a  tedious 
voyage,  the  regiment  reached  New  Orleans,  one  wing  on  the  14th,  the  other 
two  days  afterwards.  The  united  command  was  quartered  in  an  old  foundry, 
at  Algiers,  opposite  the  Crescent  City.  The  20th,  the  regiment  moved  by 
rail  to  Lakeport,  on  Lake  Pontchartrain,  and  there  embarked  for  Mobile 
Point,  Alabama,  The  vessel  unfortunately  ran  aground,  and  the  command, 
transferred  to  another,  disembarked  on  the  23d,  and,  without  tents  or  bag 
gage,  went  into  bivouac  about  three  miles  to  the  rear  of  Fort  Morgan.  The 
sands  of  Navy  Cove  were  no  luxuries,  but  the  oysters  were,  and  of  these 
luscious  fishes  the  troops  had  unlimited  quantities  by  simply  catching 
them. 

Preparations  for  the  campaign  of  Mobile  at  once  began.  Colonel  Ben- 
ton  was  attached  to  the  Second  Brigade,  Colonel  H.  M.  Day,  Ninety-first 
Illinois,  Third  Division,  Brigadier-General  W.  P.  Benton,  Thirteenth  Corps, 
Major-General  Gordon  Granger.  The  17th  of  March  the  army  began  the 


572  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

march  on  Mobile.  It  was  one  of  the  utmost  toil  and  difficulty.  But  on 
the  25th,  the  army  found  itself  under  the  guns  of  Spanish  Fort,  the  invest 
ment  of  which  was  immediately  commenced.  It  need  only  be  stated  here 
that,  as  in  the  labors  of  the  severe  march  the  Twenty-ninth  Iowa  bore  its 
part  with  unflagging  patience,  so  in  the  operations  directly  against  the 
works  of  Mobile  it  added  to  the  unsurpassed  reputation  of  Iowa  soldiery. 
It  was  behind  none  of  its  comrade  regiments.  Its  losses  in  the  campaign 
were  twenty-two,  one  killed,  seventeen  wounded,  one  missing  in  action,  and 
three  captured. 

April  12th,  the  regiment  entered  Mobile,  and  the  next  day  left  the  city 
with  the  division  under  orders  to  proceed  to  Mount  Vernon  Arsenal,  forty 
miles  above  Mobile  on  the  Tombigbee  River.  A  few  miles  from  Mobile, 
the  command  encountered  a  body  of  rebels  with  whom  a  running  fight  took 
place,  the  last  in  which  the  regiment  engaged,  and  one  of  the  last  combats 
of  the  war.  Colonel  Benton  took  command  of  the  Arsenal  on  the  22d,  his 
regiment  forming  the  garrison.  The  public  property  had  been  scattered 
over  the  country.  He  restored  much  of  it,  and  by  great  pains  and  labor 
again  made  Mount  Vernon  Arsenal  a  thing  of  beauty.  The  regiment 
remained  here  till  the  12th  of  May,  when  it  returned  to  Mobile. 

Thence,  the  1st  of  June,  part  of  the  regiment  sailed  for  Texas,  and 
arrived  at  Brazos  Santiago  the  9th,  where  the  rest  of  the  regiment  soon 
joined  it.  Major-General  Sheridan  having  assumed  command  of  the  Mili 
tary  Division,  decided  that  the  regiment  was  entitled  to  be  mustered  out 
under  the  order  of  the  War  Department  discharging  those  troops  who  had 
entered  the  service  before  October  1,  1862.  Though  the  regiment  had  not 
formally  entered  the  service  till  two  months  after  that  time,  it  was  the  fault 
of  the  government  in  not  sending  out  a  mustering  officer.  So  Sheridan 
sensibly  and  justly  decided.  Accordingly  the  command  sailed  to  New 
Orleans  in  the  latter  part  of  July,  and  was  there  honorably  discharged  the 
service  the  10th  of  the  following  month,  and  ordered  to  Davenport,  Iowa, 
for  final  payment  and  disbandment.3 

The  command  reached  Davenport  the  19th,  and  then  numbered  seven 
hundred  and  sixty-five,  officers  and  enlisted  men,  but  of  these  only  four 

3  The  roster  of  the  regiment,  when  mustered  out,  was  as  follows :  Colonel,  Thomas  H.  Benton,  Jr., 
Brevet  Brigadier-General;  Lieutenant-Colonel,  R.  F.  Patterson  ;  Major,  Joseph  Lyman;  Surgeon,  W. 
L.  Nicholson;  Assistant  Surgeon,  J.  H.  Rice ;  Quartermaster.  C.  W.  Oden. 

Company  A— Captain  C.  V.  Gardner;  First  Lieutenant  R.  R.  Kirkpatrick.  Company  B— Captain 
M.  L.  Andrews ;  First  Lieutenant  I.  M.  Warren ;  Second  Lieutenant  George  A.  Davis.  Company  C— 
Captain  George  S.  Bacon;  First  Lieutenant  J.  W.  Stocker.  Company  I) — Captain  J.W.Stewart; 
First  Lieutenant  D.  M.  Hedrick.  Company  E—  Captain  Hiram  Atkinson  ;  First  Lieutenant  George 
B.  Murray.  Company  F—  Captain  L.  B.  Nash;  First  Lieutenant  J.  H.  Turner;  Second  Lieutenant 
W.  F.  Evans.  Company  G— Captain  A.  Johnston;  First  Lieutenant  John  McFarland;  Second  Lieu 
tenant  C.  W.  Dake.  Company  H—  Captain  L.  K.  Myers;  First  Lieutenant  F.  Sommer.  Company  I— 
Captain  P.  H.  Lennon ;  First  Lieutenant  A.  McClaren.  Company  K—  First  Lieutenant  A.  J.  Chan 
try;  Second  Lieutenant  J.  S.  Miller. 


TWENTY-NINTH      INFANTRY.  573 

hundred  and  fifteen  were  originally  attached  to  the  Twenty-ninth.  The 
others  were  recruits  of  the  Nineteenth,  Twentieth,  and  Twenty-third  regi 
ments,  who  had  been  assigned  to  Colonel  Benton's  command  when  those 
regiments  came  home.  In  due  time,  the  Twenty-ninth  was  resolved  into 
its  original  elements.  The  returned  soldiers,  now  citizens,  sought  their 
homes  in  the  far  west,  and  were  everywhere  along  the  journey  and  at  their 
own  hearth-stones  met  with  heartiest  welcome. 

The  Twenty-ninth  regiment  was  unfortunate  in  being  so  long  kept  in  the 
Department  of  Arkansas,  where  the  military  operations  were  not  on  the 
grand  scale  exhibited  on  other  parts  of  the  theatre  of  war.  But  it  was  one 
of  our  best  disciplined  and  bravest  regiments.  It  was  first  trained  by  Cap 
tain  S.  D.  Nichols,  of  the  Fourth  Iowa,  afterwards  Lieutenant-Colonel, 
long  commanding  that  regiment,  and  one  of  the  most  accomplished  of  our 
soldiers.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Patterson  was  not  surpassed,  perhaps,  as  a 
skilful  commander  by  any  of  our  field  officers.  He  drilled  and  disciplined 
the  regiment  almost  to  the  degree  of  perfection.  Colonel  Benton,  already 
spoken  of  as  not  among  the  dashing  soldiers,  had  a  fine  influence  over  his 
troops.  He  was  brave,  just-minded,  intelligent.  The  staff  and  line  officers 
labored  zealously  to  become  accomplished  in  the  profession  of  arms,  and 
succeeded.  And  hence  the  regiment,  at  Helena,  at  Terre  Noir,  at  Jenkins' 
Ferry,  at  Mobile— on  every  occasion  when  it  was  called  upon  to  meet  the 
enemy,  responded  with  an  alacrity,  a  degree  of  soldierly  skill,  and  of 
courage,  which  would  have  given  credit  to  any  command  of  any  army  the 
world  ever  saw. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

THIRTIETH    INFANTRY. 

RECRUITED  IN  THE  FIRST  CONGRESSIONAL  DISTRICT,  AND  ORGANIZED  AT  KEO- 
KUK— MOVE  TO  HELENA— ENGAGED  AT  THE  BATTLE  OF  CHICKASAW  BAYOU- 
ARKANSAS  POST— ENCAMPMENT  NEAR  VICKSBURG— THE  GREENVILLE  EXPEDI 
TION—CAMPAIGN  OF  VICKSBURG— COLONEL  ABBOTT  SLAIN— CAMPAIGN  OF  JACK 
SON—A  SUMMER'S  QUIET— THE  AFFAIR  OF  CHEROKEE— COLONEL  TORRENCE 
KILLED— MARCH  TO  THE  RELIEF  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  CUMBERLAND— BAT 
TLE  OF  CHATTANOOGA— BATTLE  OF  RINGGOLD— WINTER  QUARTERS— CAM 
PAIGN  OF  ATLANTA— MARCH  IN  PURSUIT  OF  HOOD— THE  MARCH  TO  THE  SEA- 
THROUGH  THE  CAROLINAS— A  RAILROAD  ACCIDENT— DISBANDED. 

THE  men  of  the  Thirtieth  regiment  of  Iowa  Volunteer  Infantry  were 
recruited  for  the  most  part  in  six  counties  of  the  First  Congressional 
District.  Davis,  Jefferson,  Lee,  and  Washington  contributed  each  two 
companies  ;  Des  Moines  and  Van  Buren  one  each.  These  companies,  re 
cruited  in  the  latter  part  of  the  summer  of  1862,  proceeded  to  the  regi 
mental  rendezvous  at  the  city  of  Keokuk,  where  the  regiment  was  formally 
organized,  and  where  it  entered  the  service  of  the  United  States  on  the  23d 
day  of  September.  Charles  H.  Abbott  was  Colonel,  William  M.  G.  Tor- 
rence.,  who  had  been  captain  and  major  in  the  First  Cavalry,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel,  and  Lauren  Dewey,  a  noted  man  among  the  politicians  of  the  State, 
Major.  The  staff  was  soon  appointed,  and  consisted  of  Edwin  Reiner,  Ad 
jutant,  John  C.  Lockwood,  Quartermaster,  John  W.  Bond,  Surgeon,  Peter 
Walker  and  Charles  G.  Lewis,  Assistants,  and  Reverend  John  Burgess, 
Chaplain.  The  regiment  numbered  about  nine  hundred  and  seventy,  offi 
cers,  non-commissioned  officers,  and  privates.1 

The  Thirtieth  had  a  few  weeks  of  instruction  at  "  Camp  Lincoln,"  near 

1  The  line  officers  were:  Captains  Rufus  Goodenough,  Charles  Clarke,  A.  Roberts,  Charles  J.  Ma- 
ginnis,  William  T.  Burgess,  Henry  Mingee,  Robert  D.  Creamer,  John  B.  Drayer,  Uley  Burk,  Samuel 
D.Cook;  First  Lieutenants  William  M.  Stimson,  David  Letner,  John  P.  Mathews,  David  D.  Leach,  Jo 
seph  Smith,  James  P.  Newell,  Edward  B.  Heaton,  Matthew  Clark,  William  L.  Alexander,  Nestor  A. 
J.  Young  ;  Second  Lieutenants  Henry  Montgomery,  James  P.  Milliken,  Hugh  L.  Creighton,  William 
H.  Randall,  Isaac  S.  Drummond,  John  E.  Ford,  Simpson  J.  Chester,  Jacob  C.  Fry,  Edwin  M.  Dean, 
James  B.  Gallagher. 
574 


THIRTIETH     INFANTRY.  575 

Keokuk.  during  which  period  the  officers  and  men,  by  the  utmost  endea 
vors  of  all,  learned  more  of  the  practical  duties  of  soldiers  than  might  have 
been  expected.  But  the  demands,  or  seeming  demands,  of  the  field  re 
quired  their  presence  at  the  front,  and  embarking  on  steamer,  they  moved 
down  the  Mississippi.  Disembarking  at  Helena,  where  there  was  already 
a  considerable  army,  they  went  into  encampment  near  that,  the  gloomiest 
of  all  towns  within  the  bounds  of  civilization. 

The  regiment  remained  at  Helena  some  weeks.  That  is,  regimental 
head-quarters  remained  there,  and  its  encampment  was  the  scene  of  its 
drills  and  parades,  as  well  as  sufferings  from  sickness,  until  it  left  on  its 
first  important  campaign,  that  against  Vicksburg,  under  General  Sherman. 
Meantime,  however,  Colonel  Abbott  took  part  in  one  or  two  reconnois- 
sances  to  a  considerable  distance  from  Helena,  but  his  command  did  not 
meet  the  enemy  till  on  the  campaign  just  mentioned. 

The  regiment,  attached  to  General  John  M.  Thayer's  Third  Brigade,  of 
Steele's  Division,  Fifteenth  Army  Corps,  embarked  with  the  troops  at 
Helena  who  joined  General  Sherman's  forces  descending  the  river  from 
Memphis,  and  moved  down  the  river  with  the  army.  In  the  Battle  of 
Chickasaw  Bayou  of  the  28th  and  29th  of  December,  General  Steele's 
Division  bore,  perhaps,  the  most  prominent  and  laborious  part.  Thayer's 
Brigade,  at  this  time  composed  of  the  Fourth,  Ninth,  Twenty-sixth, 
Thirtieth,  and  Thirty-fourth  Iowa  Infantry  regiments,  took  full  part  in  the 
desultory  fighting,  which  preceded  the  final  heroic  but  disastrous  charge, 
but  it  was  only  the  Iowa  Fourth,  Colonel  Williamson,  of  the  brigade, 
which  joined  in  that  assault.  This  arose  from  a  mistake  which  may  well 
be  considered  fortunate,  since  it  is  probably  true  that  had  the  whole  brigade 
advanced  with  the  Fourth,  it  would  have  met  with  similar  slaughter,  and 
all  to  no  purpose.  General  Steele  directed  Colonel  Abbott,  at  the  time 
moving  by  the  flank  in  rear  of  the  Fourth,  to  change  his  course  to  the 
right.  The  other  regiments  naturally  followed  the  Thirtieth,  and  the 
Fourth  passed  into  the  dreadful  ordeal  alone.  During  the  engagement  the 
Thirtieth  lost  four  men  wounded. 

General  Sherman  at  length  seeing  that  it  was  impossible  to  take  Vicks 
burg  by  way  of  the  Chickasaw  Bluffs,  embarked  his  army  and  moved  down 
the  Yazoo  in  sullen  disappointment.  The  campaign  under  McClernand 
against  Arkansas  Post  immediately  followed.  In  this  successful  operation 
the  Thirtieth  participated.  Colonel  Abbott  being  seriously  ill  at  the  time 
of  the  battle,  by  the  success  of  which  Arkansas  Post  fell  into  our  hands, 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Torrence  commanded  the  regiment.  Officers  and  men, 
he  says,  fought  admirably  for  new  troops,  exhibiting  a  number  of  instances 
of  remarkable  coolness  and  courage  under  the  enemy's  severe  fire.  It  was 
the  first  occasion  in  which  the  regiment  was  actively  engaged,  face  to  face 


576  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

with  the  enemy,  and  it  is  a  gratifying  fact  that  all  reports  agree  that  its 
conduct  was  highly  meritorious  and  admirable.  Captains  R.  D.  Creamer 
and  Uley  Burk,  and  Lieutenants  H.  L.  Creighton  and  W.  L.  Alexander 
were  wounded.  The  entire  loss  of  the  regiment,  in  killed  and  wounded, 
was  about  forty-five.2  I  should  not  forget  to  add  that  Private  James  M. 
Smith  of  Company  C  acted  as  Adjutant  of  the  regiment  on  this  field,  and 
received  the  special  commendations  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Torrence  com 
manding. 

The  regiment  moved  with  the  army  on  its  return  to  the  vicinity  of  Vicks- 
burg,  and  went  into  encampment  near  Young's  Point,  where  several  weeks 
were  spent  in  canal  digging,  in  drills,  in  sickness,  and  in  mud.  Early  in 
April  the  division  started  on  the  Greenville  Expedition,  in  which  the  Thir 
tieth  took  part,  and  returned  to  Milliken's  Bend  in  about  one  month. 
Thence  it  began  the  march  to  join  the  main  army,  which  was  fighting  and 
marching  on  in  the  memorable  campaign  of  Vicksburg.  Colonel  Abbott 
came  up  with  the  Corps  near  Jackson,  and  his  regiment  took  part  in 
the  capture  of  that  place,  and  especially  in  the  destruction  of  the  rail 
ways  near  the  city,  which  work  of  destruction  at  this  time  was  principally 
done  by  Steele's  and  Tuttle's  Divisions.  The  16th,  Jackson  was  evacuated, 
and  our  regiment  forthwith  began  the  march  to  Vicksburg.  Two  days 
afterwards,  the  gallant  Fourth  Iowa  Cavalry,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Swan, 
occupied  Haines'  Bluff,  Captain  Peters  being  the  first  to  enter  the  works. 
Communications  were  open,  and  Grant's  Army  took  position  around  the 
works  of  Vicksburg. 

In  the  assaults  of  the  19th  and  22d  of  May,  the  regiment  was  fully 
engaged.  Especially  did  it  suffer,  fighting  most  heroically,  during  the 
general  assault  of  the  22d.  It  was  on  this  bloody  day  that  Colonel  Abbott 
was  slain,  whilst  bravely  leading  his  command  in  the  assault,  through  an 
atmosphere  surcharged  with  bullets.  He  was  a  man  of  great  courage,  and 
of  amiable  dispositions,  warmly  esteemed  and  beloved  by  officers  and  men 
of  his  command,  many  of  whom  fell  with  him  on  this  disastrous  day.  The 
troops  went  into  the  labors  of  the  siege  with  saddened  hearts,  but  unflag 
ging  spirit.  Throughout  the  whole  period  of  investment,  from  the  18th 

2  The  wounded  at  Chickasaw  Bayou  were:  Corporal  T.  Decamp  Day;  Privates  William  C.  An 
drews,  Alexander  S.  Perry,  James  McDonald.  The  casualties  at  Arkansas  Post  were  : — Killed, 
Privates  Lafayette  Edwards,  William  Henderson,  James  Mullen,  Thomas  J.  Foster.  Samuel  C. 
Loomis.  Wounded,  Captains  R.  D.  Creamer,  Uley  Burk ;  Lieutenants  H.  L.  Creighton,  W.  L.  Alex 
ander;  Sergeant-Major  J.  H.  Clendenning;  Sergeants  H.  M.  York,  I.  W.  Detwiler,  H.  Gregg;  Cor 
poral  C.  W.  Hamilton ;  Privates  James  Junkins,  James  P.  Dodson,  D.  Edwards,  Tobias  J.  Lyons, 
Oliver  H.  Davis,  Benjamin  F.  Hedges,  John  W.  Howe,  Webster  M.  King,  Charles  E.  Archer,  John 
Carnahan,  James  McCoy,  A.  Bigley,  W.  B.  Wayland,  A.  Fox,  R.  W.  Conaway,  E.  Await,  J.  H.  Phelps, 
John  S.  Ballinger,  F.  Worthington,  G.  Tharp,  C.  H.  Hill,  Ed.  E.  Chapman,  William  Peck,  Samuel 
Harress,  Alvin  W.  Neal;  Corporal  Jacob  Ash;  Privates  Eliaa  McMullen,  S.  G.  Maple,  Isaac  S. 
Edmunds  un. 


THIRTIETH     INFANTRY.  577 

of  May  to  the  4th  of  July,  the  Thirtieth  Iowa  performed  well  its  onerous 
duties  on  the  right  of  our  lines.  It  also  took  part,  immediately  after 
Vicksburg  fell  into  our  possession,  in  the  campaign  of  Jackson,  assisting  to 
capture  that  place,  and  participating  in  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy  to  Bran 
don  and  the  engagement  which  there  took  place.  After  this  the  third 
great  campaign  in  which  it  had  taken  part  since  the  commencement  of  the 
year,  it  went  into  encampment  on  the  Black  River,  where  it  had  about  two 
months'  repose. 

The  latter  part  of  September,  the  Thirtieth,  Colonel  Torrence,  moved 
by  Vicksburg  and  Memphis  to  Corinth,  and  thence,  soon  afterwards,  to 
luka,  in  the  vicinity  of  which  renowned  place  Osterhaus'  division  was 
engaged  in  repairing  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  railway.  It  was  from 
luka  that  Colonel  Torrence  returned  to  Iowa  for  safe  keeping  the  colors  of 
the  regiment  which  had  been  worn  out  in  the  service.  His  letter  was  pro 
bably  the  last  official  communication  he  had  with  our  authorities,  and  was 
as  follows : — 

"  HEAD-QUARTERS,  THIRTIETH  REGIMENT  IOWA  VOLUNTEERS,  i 
"luKA,  MISSISSIPPI.     Oct.  13^1863.    } 

"N.  B.  BAKER,  ADJUTANT  GENERAL  OF  IOWA: — "Accompanying 
this  you  will  receive  two  flags,  worn  out  in  the  service.  They  were  carried 
by  the  Thirtieth  Iowa  during  their  marches,  a  distance  of  five  thousand 
seven  hundred  miles,  between  October  26th,  1862,  and  October  10th,  1863. 

"  They  were  carried  in  the  following  named  battles,  to-wit:  Chickasaw 
Bayou,  December  28th  and  29th,  1862 ;  Arkansas  Post,  January  10th  and 
llth,  1863;  Jackson,  Mississippi,  May  14th,  1863;  Siege  of  Vicksburg, 
from  May  18th  to  July  4th,  1863;  Clinton,  Mississippi,  July  llth,  1863; 
Jackson,  Mississippi,  July  12th,  13th,  14th  and  15th,  1863;  Brandon, 
Mississippi,  July  18th,  1863. 

"  It  is  the  wish  of  the  regiment  that  you  forward  them  to  the  State  Historical 
Society,  there  to  be  retained,  subject  to  the  order  of  the  commanding  officer 
of  the  regiment 

"  Respectfully  your  obedient  servant, 

"W.  M.  G.  TORRENCE, 

' '  Colonel  Commanding. ' ' 

Five  days  afterwards  Colonel  Torrence  marched  to  Cherokee,  Alabama. 
On  the  20th,  General  Osterhaus,  moving  in  the  direction  of  Tuscumbia, 
met  with  considerable  opposition.  The  enemy,  with  a  considerable  force 
of  mounted  infantry,  annoyed  the  advance  constantly,  and  there  was  much 
sharp  skirmishing.  But  the  affair  of  Cherokee,  in  which  there  was  any 
considerable  combat,  did  not  take  place  till  the  next  day. 

The  morning  of  Wednesday,  October  21st,  was  dark  and  gloomy.  A 
73 


578  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

dense  fog  prevailed.  It  was  on  this  account  that  General  Osterhaus,  who 
had  purposed  moving  against  the  enemy  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  did 
not  move  till  some  hours  later.  And  when  he  did  move,  the  mist  was  still 
so  heavy  as  to  make  it  almost  impossible  to  distinguish  friend  from  foe  at  a 
few  yards'  distance.  General  Osterhaus  had  not  proceeded  far,  when  his 
advance,  consisting  of  the  Fourth,  Ninth,  Twenty-fifth,  Twenty-sixth,  Thir 
tieth,  and  Thirty-first  Iowa  regiments,  met  a  large  force  of  rebels,  under 
command  of  Lee,  Roddy,  and  Richardson.  A  heavy  battle  of  musketry 
soon  opened,  and  continued  to  rage  furiously  for  an  hour,  when  the  rebels 
were  driven  back  with  severe  loss.  The  casualties  on  the  Union  side  were 
less  than  one  hundred. 

The  most  serious  loss  of  this  combat  was  the  death  of  Colonel  Torrence. 
He  was  killed  in  the  midst  of  the  fight,  being  pierced  by  many  bullets,  arid 
the  rebels  just  at  that  moment  having  the  advantage,  his  body  fell  into  their 
hands.  Whereupon  the  Thirtieth,  with  a  piercing  yell  of  vengeance,  rushed 
forward  at  a  charge,  dispersed  the  enemy,  and  recovered  the  Colonel's 
body,  though  it  had  been  already  robbed  of  money  and  valuables  by  the 
vandals  of  the  cause  of  Southern  chivalry.  He  was  a  brave,  skilful,  ex 
perienced  officer.  He  had  served  in  the  Mexican  war,  and  in  the  early 
part  of  the  rebellion  in  the  First  Iowa  Cavalry,  Colonel  Fitz  Henry  Warren. 
Tall  and  commanding  in  person,  energetic,  a  good  disciplinarian,  kind  of 
heart,  he  was  held  in  affectionate  esteem  by  all  who  knew  him.  "Iowa  has 
lost  in  him,"  said  the  Memphis  Bulletin,  "one  of  her  most  worthy  and 
gallant  sons. ' '  But  he  fell  not  alone.  Captain  William  H.  Randall  was 
also  slain.  Captains  Henderson  C.  Hall,  Joseph  Smith,  Matthew  Clark, 
and  Adjutant  James  H.  Clendening  were  seriously  wounded.  Altogether, 
the  regiment  lost  nearly  thirty  officers  and  men  in  this  short  combat,  in 
which  only  Colonel  Williamson's  Iowa  Brigade  of  Infantry  participated, 
the  Thirtieth  bearing  the  brunt  of  the  contest,  and  all  the  regiments  doing 
their  whole  ^duty. 

There  was  considerable  skirmishing  for  several  days  after  the  affair  of 
Cherokee,  and  on  the  27th  Osterhaus  entered  Tuscumbia,  driving  the 
enemy  before  him.  The  last  day  of  the  month,  the  division  marched  to 
Chickasaw,  and  thence  commenced  very  soon  thereafter  the  march  to  the 
relief  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  at  Chattanooga.  When  Osterhaus, 
after  the  long,  laborious  march,  reached  Lookout  Valley,  he  was  ordered  to 
report  to  General  Hooker.  Already  the  manreuvres  had  commenced  which 
resulted  in  the  remarkable  series  of  conflicts  on  Lookout  Mountain  and 
Missionary  Ridge,  and  which  are  together  known  as 

THE  BATTLE  OF  CHATTANOOGA. 

Major-General  Rosecrans  had  been  defeated  at  the  battle  of  Chickamauga. 


THIRTIETH      INFANTRY.  579 

His  army  was  saved  from  complete  disaster  by  the  firmness  of  General 
Thomas,  who  stood  like  a  mountain  of  granite  between  the  victorious  enemy 
and  Chattanooga.  And  it  was  not  long  after  the  battle  that  Rosecrans  was 
compelled  to  give  up  the  command  to  the  General  who  had  stood  between 
the  army  and  destruction.  Thomas  assumed  command  of  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland,  but  Grant  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  Military 
Division  of  the  Mississippi,  which  embraced  the  departments  of  the  Ohio, 
of  the  Cumberland,  and  of  the  Tennessee.  He  proceeded  in  person  to 
Chattanooga  arriving  on  the  23d  of  October. 

It  belongs  to  general  history  to  relate  the  account  of  the  movements 
whereby  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  was  reenforced  by  troops  drawn  from 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  by  others  from  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee ; 
how  these  reinforcements,  most  skilfully  placed,  raised  the  blockade  of  the 
line  of  communications,  and  ended  the  era  of  gaunt  famine ;  how  grandly 
they  were  all  manoeuvred,  deceiving  the  enemy,  to  make  ready  for  the  final 
combined  attack.  It  will  be  sufficient,  as  illustrating  the  part  taken  by  the 
volunteers  of  Iowa  in  the  engagement,  to  speak  directly  of  the  battle.  . 

The  rebel  army,  under  Braxton  Bragg,  occupied  a  strong  position  on 
Missionary  Ridge,  in  front  of  Chattanooga  to  the  eastward.  There  was 
also  a  considerable  force  of  rebels  strongly  posted  and  fortified  on  Lookout 
Mountain,  a  bold,  striking  eminence,  a  few  miles  south  of  Chattanooga. 
The  rebel  lines  were  some  six  miles  long,  extending  from  South  Chicka- 
niauga  River  on  the  right,  along  Missionary  Ridge  across  Chattanooga 
Valley  and  Lookout  Mountain  to  Lookout  Creek  on  the  left.  The  position 
was  one  of  great  natural  strength,  and  was  fortified  on  the  tops  and  sides 
of  the  mountains  by  lines  of  rifle  pits  and  more  elaborate  works. 

On  the  morning  of  November  23d,  Thomas,  with  his  Army  of  the  Cum 
berland  and  Howard's  Eleventh  Corps,  advanced  against  the  enemy 
directly  in  front  of  Chattanooga,  and  in  the  most  gallant  style  drove  him 
from  his  first  line  of  works,  secured  "  Indian  Hill "  or  "  Orchard  Knoll," 
and  a  range  of  hills  south  of  it.  These  points  were  fortified  during  the 
night,  and  artillery  put  in  position  on  them.  During  the  night  Sherman 
also  commenced  operations  on  our  left.  A  fleet  of  pontoon  boats,  each 
carrying  thirty  armed  men,  was  sent  from  the  North  Chickaniauga,  which 
flows  into  the  Tennessee  from  the  west  several  miles  above  Chattanooga,  to 
near  the  mouth  of  the  South  Chickamauga,  flowing  in,  some  two  miles 
below,  from  the  opposite  direction.  The  enemy's  pickets  did  not  discover 
the  quiet  movement.  The  men  in  the  pontoons  secured  a  landing,  threw 
up  a  stout  tete-du-pont  below  the  Chickamauga,  and  by  daylight  of  the 
24th,  eight  thousand  men  under  Sherman,  were  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Tennessee  (for  here  the  river  runs  south)  and  fortified  behind  rifle  trenches. 
By  noon,  a  pontoon  bridge  nearly  one  thousand  four  hundred  feet  long  was 


580  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

laid  across  the  river;  the  remainder  of  Sherman's  troops  crossed  over,  and 
by  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  all  the  northern  extremity  of  Missionary 
Ridge,  near  the  railroad  tunnel,  was  in  his  possession. 

Meantime,  Thomas  was  strengthening  his  position  on  the  centre,  and 
Hooker  was  fighting  the  famous  ' '  battle  above  the  clouds ' '  on  Lookout 
Mountain.  Hooker's  force  consisted  of  two  brigades  of  the  Fourth  Corps, 
under  General  Charles  Cruft,  Geary's  Division  of  the  Twelfth  Corps,  and 
Osterhaus'  Division  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps.  This  battle  has  been  immor 
talized  by  the  genius  of  Mr.  B.  F.  TAYLOR,  of  the  Chicago  Journal,  whose 
poetical,  but  truthful  description  has  been  read  by  all  men.  It  was  indeed 
one  of  the  most  thrilling  scenes  of  the  whole  war — Hooker  thundering  up 
the  mountain-side,  covered  with  low  hanging  clouds,  Cruft  creeping  along 
the  base,  and  turning  towards  the  foe,  striking  his  camps  and  capturing 
many  prisoners ;  the  clouds  of  mist  and  the  clouds  of  smoke  commingling, 
and  the  flashes  of  the  artillery  and  muskets  seeming  to  set  all  ablaze 
betimes.  No  troops  but  the  volunteers  of  the  Union  could  ever  have 
carried  Lookout  Mountain  as  it  was  carried  on  that  day.  Fighting  their 
way  up  foot  by  foot  they  overcame  obstacles  seemingly  insurmountable. 
At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  direct  communication  with  Chattanooga 
was  established.  Ammunition  was  sent  over  to  the  climbing  warriors,  and 
the  battle  went  on.  "  Night  was  closing  in,"  says  Taylor,  "  and  the  scene 
was  growing  sublime.  The  battery  at  Moccasin  Point  was  sweeping  the 
road  to  the  mountain.  The  brave  little  fort  at  its  left  was  playing  like  a 
heart  in  a  fever.  The  rebel  cannon  at  the  top  of  Lookout  were  pounding 
away  at  their  lowest  depression.  The  flash  of  the  guns  fairly  burned 
through  the  clouds ;  there  was  an  instant  of  silence,  here,  there,  yonder, 
and  the  tardy  thunder  leaped  out  after  the  swift  light.  For  the  first  time, 
perhaps,  since  that  mountain  began  to  burn  beneath  the  gold  and  crimson 
sandals  of  the  sun,  it  was  in  eclipse.  The  cloud  of  the  summit  and  the 
smoke  of  the  battle  had  met  half  way  and  mingled.  Here  was  Chatta 
nooga,  but  Lookout  had  vanished !  It  was  Sinai  over  again,  with  its 
thunderings  and  lightnings  and  thick  darkness — and  the  Lord  was  on  our 
side.  Then  the  storm  ceased,  and  occasional  dropping  shots  told  off  the 
evening  till  half-past  nine — then  a  crashing  volley,  a  rebel  yell,  and  a  des 
perate  charge.  It  was  their  good-night  to  our  loyal  boys ;  good-night  to 
the  mountain. ' ' 

Lookout  was  ours.  The  Union  forces  maintained  an  unbroken  line  with 
open  communications  from  the  north  end  of  Lookout  Mountain  through 
Chattanooga  Valley  to  the  north  end  of  Mission  Ridge.  All  along  the  lines 
our  camp-fires  blazed  cheerfully,  and  when  "  Fighting  Joe"  gained  Lookout, 
wild  huzzas  rang  from  one  end  of  the  line  to  the  other.  Presently,  except 
the  vigilant  pickets,  the  army  lay  down  to  sleep  till  the  morrow  of  battle. 


THIRTIETH      INFANTRY. 


581 


CHATTANOOGA. 


REFERENCES. 

Sherman's  first  position,     Oct.  23,  1863. !  Gen.  Grant's  H.-Quar.,     Nov.   23  &  24. 
Hooker's  Corps  at  Lookout  Mt.,  Nov. 24.     Gen.     "  "  Nov.  25. 

Sherman's  Corps  morning,         Nov.  24.!  Gen.     "  "  Nov.  26. 

Sherman's  Corps  evening, 


NOTE. 

Sherman's  Corps  was  floated  down 
the  Tennessee  River  to  the  mouth 
of  the  South  Chickamauga  River  at 
midnight,  Nov.  23. 


582  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

November  25th  was  bright  and  clear.  Sherman  early  moved  against  the 
enemy's  right,  and  opened  up  the  battle  of  Missionary  Ridge,  GeneralJohn 
M.  Corse,  of  Iowa,  being  in  command  of  the  assaulting  column.  He  soon 
was  engaged  in  a  desperate  contest.  Now  losing  ground,  now  gaining,  he 
held  his  important  position  with  characteristical  tenacity.  The  brigade  of 
General  Mathies,  of  Iowa,  and  another  brigade  reenforced  Corse,  but,  meet 
ing  an  enfilading  fire,  fell  back  in  some  confusion.  Reforming,  they  re 
turned  to  the  fight,  and  the  battle  continued  to  rage  with  the  greatest  fury 
on  this  part  of  the  line.  The  enemy  all  the  while  pressed  to  his  right,  and 
used  his  utmost  endeavors  to  break  through  Sherman's  lines.  Vain  en 
deavor  !  Corse  was  wounded  and  borne  from  the  field.  Mathies  was  also 
wounded  seriously.  Others  commanding  were  struck  down,  but  Sherman 
maintained  his  position,  the  vital  part  of  our  lines,  with  unyielding  tenacity. 
Showers  of  grape,  canister,  and  bullets  swept  through  his  lines,  and  laid 
many  low,  but  the  lines  were  held. 

It  was  more  than  two  hours  after  noon,  when  Thomas  advanced  from  the 
centre.  Hooker  on  our  right  had  been  delayed  by  the  necessity  of  building 
bridges  across  Chattanooga  Creek.  But  between  two  and  three  o'clock, 
Thomas  moved  up  the  ascent  of  Missionary  Ridge.  Driving  the  enemy 
from  the  rifle-pits  at  the  base  of  the  ridge,  his  troops  pushed  on  up  the 
mountain  in  a  long,  continuous  line,  and  though  met  by  a  noisy  fire  of  ar 
tillery  and  musketry  pressed  onward  and  upward  in  the  grandest,  most  auda 
cious  charge  of  which  history  gives  any  account.  Hooker  likewise  moved 
against  the  enemy's  left,  and  the  victory  on  our  right  and  centre  was  well 
assured  by  nightfall.  There  continued  heavy  fighting  on  our  left,  but  before 
midnight  the  rebels  were  everywhere  defeated,  and  were  in  full  retreat. 

Thus  was  the  great  battle  of  Chattanooga  fought  and  won.  It  was  the 
most  remarkable  victory  of  the  war,  and  among  the  most  remarkable  of 
history.  It  was  the  victory  which  broke  the  back-bone  of  the  rebellion, 
and  made  the  triumph  of  the  Union  cause  a  mere  question  of  time.  It 
should  have  persuaded  the  insurgents  to  lay  down  their  arms  and  submit 
to  the  government.  It  doubtless  did  persuade  every  thoroughly  intelligent 
military  man  of  the  confederacy  that  its  cause  was  henceforth  hopeless. 
Wherefore,  the  military  leaders  of  that  cause  are  justly  held  responsible  for 
every  life  lost  and  every  drop  of  blood  shed  by  their  further  prosecution  of 
a  wicked  rebellion  and  a  hopeless  war. 

In  the  battle  of  Chattanooga,  the  Fifth,  Sixth,  Tenth  and  Seventeenth 
regiments  fought  on  the  left  under  Sherman — on  that  part  of  our  lines 
where  the  most  desperate  fighting  was  required,  where  the  victory  was  really 
won,  but  where  the  success  was  less  apparent  than  elsewhere.  It  was 
Sherman's  sublime  steadiness  against  overwhelming  numbers  that  enabled 
Thomas  to  sweep  up  the  mountain  so  grandly,  and  Hooker  to  swing  round 


THIRTIETH     INFANTRY.  583 

on  the  enemy's  left,  and  drive  many  of  his  troops  into  a  fatal  cul-de-sac, 
In  this  severe  fighting  there  were  no  regiments  more  conspicuous  than  those 
just  named,  nor  were  there  any  general  officers  more  distinguished  than 
Corse  and  Mathies. 

The  Fifth  Infantry,  Colonel  Jabez  Banbury,  fought  in  the  brigade  com 
manded  by  General  Mathies,  "the  Iowa  tiger"  in  battle,  and  formerly 
Colonel  of  the  regiment.  Mathies  was  one  of  those  brigade  commanders 
ordered  to  the  reinforcement  of  Corse,  and  who  were  compelled  to  give 
way  before  overwhelming  numbers.  Nevertheless,  the  regiment  fought 
with  great  gallantry,  and  lost  more  than  an  hundred  officers  and  men,  out 
of  less  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  engaged.  Among  the  wounded  were 
Major  Marshall  and  Adjutant  S.  H.  M.  Byers,  the  latter  of  whom  is  no 
less  distinguished  for  his  manly  courage  than  his  literary  talents.  He  was 
captured  ;  and  it  was  while  he  was  a  prisoner  in  the  enemy's  hands  that  he 
wrote  the  stirring  song,  "Sherman's  March  to  the  Sea,"  afterwards  sung 
by  the  whole  army  and  by  almost  everybody  not  given  over  to  treason, 
stratagems,  and  spoils.  The  Tenth,  Colonel  Henderson,  also  fought  in 
Mathies'  Brigade,  and  with  a  valor  fully  equal  even  to  its  own  valor  on  the 
scarcely  more  fatal  field  of  Champion  Hills.  Its  losses  were  very  heavy. 
The  Seventeenth,  Colonel  Clark  R.  Wever,  was  in  Raum's  Brigade,  which 
also  was  forced  to  give  way  before  the  enemy,  at  about  the  same  time  and 
in  about  the  same  manner  as  Mathies'  brigade.  Raum  and  Mathies  were 
both  wounded,  too,  and  the  command  of  one  brigade  devolved  upon  Colonel 
Banbury,  that  of  the  other  upon  Colonel  Wever.  The  broken  lines  were 
rallied,  and  both  commands  again  went  into  the  bloody  work  with  a  will. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Archer,  of  the  Seventeenth,  was  captured.  Colonel 
Wever  speaks  in  the  highest  terms  of  Adjutant  Woolsey,  and  Captain 
George  W.  Deal.  The  Sixth  regiment  fought  under  its  old  Colonel,  now 
General  Corse.  It  stood  like  a  rock  with  the  command  which  held  the 
key  of  the  position  on  our  left,  fighting  the  livelong  day  with  an  obstinate 
valor  rarely  witnessed.  Its  losses  were  heavy,  and  among  the  wounded 
was  Major  Ennis,  a  gallant  officer,  who  survived  this  action  to  be  slain  in 
another. 

The  other  Iowa  regiments  here  engaged — the  Fourth,  Ninth,  Twenty- 
fifth,  Twenty-sixth,  Thirtieth,  and  Thirty-first—fought  with  Osterhaus 
under  Hooker  on  the  right.  All  these  regiments,  except  the  Twenty-fifth 
and  Twenty-sixth,  were  warmly  engaged  on  Lookout  Mountain,  on  the 
24th,  and  on  Missionary  Ridge  the  next  day.  But  the  battle  of  each  of 
these  days  was  accompanied  with  remarkably  small  loss,  except  on  the 
left.  Hooker's  entire  loss  on  Lookout  Mountain  was  only  about  two  hun 
dred,  and  Thomas  made  his  grand  charge  up  the  heights  of  Missionary 
Ridge  with  a  singularly  small  list  of  casualties. 


584  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

The  whole  Union  loss  in  the  campaign  of  Chattanooga — embracing  the 
battles  of  Lookout  Mountain,  Missionary  Ridge,  Ringgold,  and  Knoxville — 
was  about  five  thousand  five  hundred,  whilst  we  captured  more  than  six 
thousand  prisoners,  and  probably  killed  and  wounded  nearly  as  many  more. 
There  fell  to  the  victors  forty  pieces  of  artillery,  about  seventy  artillery  car 
riages  and  caissons,  seven  thousand  stand  of  small  arms,  and  much  property 
besides.  But  the  great  victory  was,  that  the  siege  of  Chattanooga  as  well 
as  that  of  Knoxville  was  raised,  the  rebel  army  beaten  and  driven  from 
Tennessee,  and  demonstration  made  that  the  military  power  of  the  insurgents 
was  hopelessly  shattered.  It  can  probably  be  taken  as  true  that  the  victory 
of  Chattanooga  meant  more  than  any  simple  victory  of  the  war.  Added  to 
his  former  achievements,  it  placed  GRANT  at  the  very  head  of  the  military 
profession. 

The  Thirtieth  Regiment  of  Iowa  Infantry,  like  most  of  the  regiments 
under  Osterhaus,  lost  more  heavily  at  the  battle  of  Ringgold  on  the  27th, 
than  at  Lookout  Mountain  or  Missionary  Ridge.  In  that  engagement, 
Colonel  Williamson's  Iowa  Brigade  was  conspicuous,  bringing  victory  to 
the  Union  arms  when  the  battle  had  been  well  nigh  lost  by  a  panic  which 
threw  many  other  troops  into  disordered  flight.  Major  S.  D.  Nichols,  of 
the  Fourth  Iowa,  was  specially  mentioned  for  coolness  and  gallantry  on  this 
trying  occasion.  After  this  engagement,  our  regiment  halted  a  few  days, 
and  then  marching  by  Chattanooga  to  Bridgeport  went  into  encampment, 
but  before  the  close  of  the  year  moved  with  the  division  to  Woodville, 
Alabama,  and  rested  from  campaigning  till  the  spring  of  1864. 

Of  the  campaign  of  Atlanta,  in  which  the  regiment  bore  its  part  with 
great  honor  from  first  to  last,  I  need  not  here  speak.  It  will  suffice  to  say 
that,  in  Williamson's  Iowa  Brigade  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  it  marched  and 
fought  with  the  best  of  troops,  and  when  it  went  into  camp  near  East 
Point  in  the  early  part  of  September,  it  was  with  ranks  much  reduced  by 
the  honorable  casualties  of  battle.3 


8  The  casualties  during  the  campaign  are  thus  reported : 

AT  RESACA.  Kitted,  Adolphus  F.  Larkin,  James  II.  Russell,  R.  W.  Macy.  Wounded,  Captain 
Alvin  S.  Taylor,  (mortally) ;  Sergeants  Thomas  Berry,  John  S.  Ballinger,  Lewis  B.  Keeler,  Wade  H. 
Fulton ;  Corporals  John  N.  Rector,  David  Horton,  George  M.  Pope ;  Privates  Charles  Gibbs,  A.  H. 
Goodnough,  (musician,  mortally),  H.  T.  Fleenor,  J.  M.  Fetterman,  Joseph  A.  Loyd,  Rankin  Smith, 
J.  F.  Hannam,  F.  Becraft,  Samuel  Z.  Murphy,  E.  W.  Kerr,  (mortally),  Elijah  Gardiner,  William  Gift, 
W.  R.  Brady,  John  Abraham,  Samuel  W.  Southard,  (mortally),  Charles  H.  Davis,  (mortally),  John 
Carpenter,  Fernando  C.  Robisson,  (mortally),  John  W.  Ilaigler,  I.  S.  Edmondson,  David  M.  Grier. 

AT  DALLAS.    Kitted,  Corporal  Augustus  E.  Cary.     Wounded,  James  B.  Noble. 

KENESAW,  June  15</i  to  oOth.  Killed,  Corporal  Alva  H.  Frazee,  Philip  Knauf.  Wounded,  Captain 
William  Dixon;  Sergeant  Henry  Hammond ;  Privates  N.  II.  Reed,  (mortally),  George  M.  Metzler, 
Joseph  Horton,  W.  N.  Sherman,  E.  G.  Wood,  Thomas  F.  Davis,  T.  M.  Husted.  J.  W.  Litton. 

ATLANTA,  July  22d  to  August  20th.  Killed,  Lieutenant  T.  J.  Stoner;  Private  Edward  T.  Ruling. 
Wounded,  Captains  Joseph  Smith,  P.  H.  Bence;  Corporal  H.  H.  Cross;  Privates  Frank  Starr,  David 
Carmean,  George  W.  Gaudy,  William  Gift,  E.  G.  Wood,  H.  G.  Duncan,  James  Watson,  David  E. 


THIRTIETH     INFANTRY.  585 

It  joined  also  in  the  pursuit  of  Hood,  making  a  rapid  march  to  north 
eastern  Alabama.  Countermarching,  it  returned  to  Atlanta,  and  thence 
began  with  Sherman's  army  the  march  to  the  sea,  leaving  the  Gate  City 
the  middle  of  November.  In  this  campaign,  as  well  as  in  the  march 
through  the  Carolinas,  early  in  1865,  of  which  some  notice  has  been 
made,  and  more  will  be  hereafter,  the  Thirtieth  made  honorable  record, 
and  was  distinguished  at  Columbia,  as  well  as  at  the  battle  of  Bentons- 
ville,  where  the  army  last  crossed  lances  with  the  enemy.  The  battles 
of  the  Thirtieth  were  there  finished,  but  it  marched  on  to  Washington, 
with  Sherman's  victorious  and  unequalled  legions;  took  part  in  the 
grand  review,  and  on  that  splendid  occasion  closed  its  marches  with  the 
Union  army. 

Its  officers  at  this  time  were:  Lieutenant-Colonel  Aurelius  Roberts; 
Major  Robert  D.  Creamer:  Adjutant  James  M.  Smith;  Quartermaster 
John  C.  Lockwood;  Surgeon  Samuel  C.  Rogers;  Chaplain  Thomas  W. 
Hyde.  Company  A,  Captain  Thomas  Berry ;  First  Lieutenant  Charles  F. 
Rifley.  Company  B,  Captain  Ethan  Milliken ;  First  Lieutenant  James  M. 
Penny.  Company  C,  Captain  Samuel  B.  Heizer;  First  Lieutenant  James 
B.  McCray.  Company  D,  Captain  George  W.  Elerick ;  First  Lieutenant 
Hanson  H.  Cross.  Company  E,  Captain  Joseph  Smith;  First  Lieutenant 
John  W.  Middleton;  Company  F,  Captain  Shadrack  J.  Woodson; 
Second  Lieutenant  G-eorge  A.  Miller.  Company  G,  Captain  Edwin  B. 
Kerr;  First  Lieutenant  Thomas  H.  Ho  well.  Company  H,  Captain 
Samuel  H.  "NVatkins;  First  Lieutenant  Charles  D.  Donaldson.  Com 
pany  I,  Captain  William  L.  Alexander;  First  Lieutenant  Lewis  B. 
Keeler.  Company  K,  Captain  James  B.  Galligher;  First  Lieutenant 
Frank  Critz. 

The  command  left  Washington  City  for  Davenport,  June  6th.  It  was 
ready  for  muster  out,  and  left  the  national  metropolis  in  great  glee,  and 
cheered  by  hundreds  of  spectators.  Before  reaching  Pittsburg  the  regiment 
met  with  a  misfortune  unspeakably  sad.  The  train  on  which  the  command 
was  traveling  was  thrown  from  the  track  and  Sergeant  Charles  C.  Brad- 
shaw  of  Company  H  was  killed.  Captains  Smith  and  Watkins,  Lieutenant 
Middleton,  and  a  number  of  enlisted  men  were  severely  injured.  Without 
further  accident,  the  regiment  reached  Davenport  in  due  course,  and  was 
there  honorably  discharged  the  service.  When  the  members  of  the  dis 
banded  regiment  reached  their  homes  in  the  First  District  they  were 
received  with  the  utmost  kindness  and  respect  by  all  classes  of  our  citizens. 

Kendle,  John  W.  Howe,  Robert  A.  Salter,  James  Stewart,  H.  II.  Honea.  A.  G.  Wright,  George  W. 
Reed,  A.  J.  Murphy. 

JONESBORO,  September  1st  to  5th.    Killed,  Jacob  Vogt.     Wounded,  Sergeant  J.  R.  Frame;  Cor 
poral  D.  E.  Bush;  Privates  W.  T.  Coffnian,  J.  R.  Kirkham,  (mortally),  J.  H.  Freeman,  James  M. 
Gregg,  R.  E.  Taylor,  B.  F.  White,  James  Wood,  William  Peck,  W.  H.  Gaudy. 
74 


586  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

It  was  not  forgotten  that  two  of  its  commanding  officers  had  been  slain  in 
battle,  and  that  the  regiment,  its  ranks  battle-worn  and  thin,  had  left  its 
mark  of  valor  and  its  honored  dead  on  more  than  a  score  of  fields  made 
illustrious  by  the  unsurpassed  gallantry  of  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps,  in 
all  the  fame  of  which  the  Thirtieth  Iowa  Infantry  could  justly  claim  a 
proud  and  lasting  portion. 


CHAPTER   XXXV. 

THIRTY-FIRST    INFANTRY. 

RECRUITED  IN  THE  SECOND  AND  SIXTH  CONGRESSIONAL  DISTRICTS— ORGANIZED 
AT  DAVENPORT— MOVE  TO  HELENA— ENGAGED  IN  THE  BATTLES  OF  CHICKASAW 
BAYOU  AND  ARKANSAS  POST— ENCAMPMENT  NEAR  YOUNG'S  POINT— GREENVILLE 
EXPEDITION— THE  VICKSBURG  CAMPAIGN— SIEGE  OF  JACKSON— AFFAIR  OF  CAN 
TON—ENCAMPMENT  ON  BLACK  RIVER— CAMPAIGN  OF  CHATTANOOGA— WINTER 
QUARTERS  —  CAMPAIGN  OF  ATLANTA  —  BATTLE  OF  JtJSSACA  —  BATTLE  OF 
DALLAS— SIEGE  OF  ATLANTA— JONESBORO  AND  LOVEJOY— PURSUIT  OF  HOOD- 
MARCH  TO  SAVANNAH— FROM  SAVANNAH  TO  WASHINGTON— TO  IOWA— CONCLU 
SION. 

WILLIAM  SMYTH,  Esq. ,  of  Linn,  a  noted  lawyer  and  orator  of  the  State, 
who  had  been  one  of  the  Commissioners  to  revise  the  statutes  of  Iowa, 
and  in  other  ways  prominently  before  the  public,  was  commissioned  Colonel 
of  the  Thirty-first  Volunteer  Infantry,  August  10th,  1862,  more  than  two 
months  before  the  regiment  was  formally  entered  the  service  of  the  United 
States,  but  only  about  one  month  before  the  companies  were  ready  and 
willing  to  go  into  regimental  organization  and  thus  to  be  mustered  into  the 
ranks  of  the  Union  army.  The  delay,  however  caused,  was  afterwards  the 
means  of  keeping  the  command  in  service  longer  than  it  otherwise  would 
have  been  kept — a  thing  by  no  means  agreeable  to  most  of  the  officers  and 
men  of  the  regiment,  who,  like  most  of  our  volunteers,  were  desirous  of 
becoming  citizens  as  soon  as  the  great  rebellion  had  fallen  in  ruins  before 
their  arms  and  their  valor. 

Seven  of  the  ten  companies  forming  the  regiment  were  recruited  in  the 
second  congressional  district,  the  other  three  in  Black  Hawk  county,  of  the 
sixth  district.  The  rendezvous  was  at  Davenport,  where  the  companies 
came  together  for  regimental  organization  in  the  early  part  of  September, 
1862.  They  were  mustered  into  the  service,  as  the  Thirty-first  Iowa  Volun 
teer  Infantry,  on  the  13th  of  the  following  month,  the  strength  of  the 
regiment  then  being  nine  hundred  and  seventy,  officers  and  enlisted  men. 

587 


588  IOWA    AND     THE     EEBELLION. 

Colonel  Smyth's  associate  field  officers  were,  Jeremiah  W.  Jenkins,  Lieute 
nant-Colonel,  Ezekiel  Cutler,  Major.1 

The  regiment  did  not  remain  long  at  Davenport.  Early  in  November, 
Colonel  Smyth  was  ordered  southward  with  his  command,  and  the  20th 
found  his  regiment  disembarking  at  Helena,  Arkansas,  to  go  into  camp  with 
the  army  near  that  place.  A  week  afterwards,  the  command  joined  the 
"Hovey  Expedition"  to  the  Coldwater  River,  Mississippi,  returning  to 
Helena  in  about  ten  days.  About  two  weeks  afterwards  it  joined  the  army 
under  General  Sherman,  moving  against  Vicksburg,  and  on  the  27th,  28th, 
and  29th  of  December  was  engaged  in  the  battle  of  Chickasaw  Bayou, 
during  which  engagement  it  fought  with  Hovey 's  Brigade,  of  Steele's 
Division,  a  brigade  which  only  took  part  in  the  heavy  skirmishing  of  the 
occasion,  and  not  in  the  disastrous  assault  which  closed  the  engagement. 

Its  next  operation  was  in  the  movement  against  Arkansas  Post.  The 
Post,  with  rich  spoil,  fell  into  our  hands  on  the  llth  of  January,  1863,  after 
a  desperate  engagement,  in  which  the  Thirty-first  took  part,  fighting  credit 
ably,  and  receiving  the  friendly  mention  of  General  C.  E.  Hovey,  who  re 
marked,  however,  that  the  courage  of  the  regiment  lost  much  of  its  effec 
tiveness  ' '  through  lack  of  discipline. ' '  This  fact  is  easily  accounted  for. 
The  regiment  was  new.  It  had  not  sufficient  time  to  accomplish  much  in 
the  way  of  drill  and  discipline  after  regimental  organization  before  it  was 
ordered  to  the  front.  The  voyage  to  Helena  was  long  and  disagreeable, 
and  after  that  there  was  little  opportunity.  Moreover,  Colonel  Smyth, 
though  a  man  of  brilliant  talents,  was  not  what  we  call  a  "born  soldier." 
He  was  industrious,  conscientious,  but  did  not,  intuitively  as  it  were,  under 
stand  how  to  discipline  troops,  as  was  the  case  with  Colonel  George  A. 
Stone,  of  the  Twenty-fifth  regiment,  S.  D.  Nichols,  of  the  Fourth,  after 
wards  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  that  noted  regiment,  and  others  who  might  be 
named,  who,  like  Nichols,  added  to  the  finest  skill  in  drill  and  discipline 
the  highest  degree  of  dashing  bravery  under  fire.  But  by  long  continuance 

1  Company  A— enrolled  in  Linn  county,  was  commanded  by  Captain  Robert  Stinson;  Lieutenants 
Dyer  Usher,  John  II.  Harvey.  Company  B — from  Black  Hawk  county,  Captain  Robert  P.  Speer; 
Lieutenants  Theodore  Stimming,  Edward  Townsend.  Company  C— also  from  Black  Hawk,  Captain 
John  Cook  (who  died  during  the  month  after  muster,  and  was  succeeded  by  Captain  Chauncey  J. 
Maynard);  Lieutenants  Joseph  T.  Hedinger,  Milo  P.  Smith.  Company  D— from  Black  Hawk, 
Captain  George  W.  Dearth;  Lieutenants  F.  M.  Thompson,  Henry  B.  Webster.  Company  E — Jones 
county,  Captain  Edwin  B.  Alderman ;  Lieutenants  Edmund  T.  Mellet,  George  D.  Hilton.  Company 
F—  Jackson  county,  Captain  William  Vosburgh;  Lieutenants  A.  G.  Henderson,  Adam  Gebert. 
Company  G — Jones  and  Cedar  counties,  Captain  Jeremiah  C.  Austin;  Lieutenants  Edward  H. 
Handy,  Hannibal  C.  Freeman.  Company  H— Jones  county,  Captain  S.  S.  Farwell ;  Lieutenants 
Franklin  Amos,  James  G.  Dawson.  Company  /—from  Jackson  county,  Captain  John  Downing; 
Lieutenants  Robert  Anderson,  Thomas  B.  Hazen.  Company  K—  also  from  Jackson,  Captain  John- 
sou  G.  Thompson;  Lieutenants  Augustus  W.  Bockins,  Leonard  K.  Bell. 

The  Lieutenants  above  named  are  mentioned  in  the  order  of  their  rank  in  tho  different  companies. 
Edwin  C.  Blackman,  was  appointed  Adjutant;  Albert  J.  Twogood,  Quartermaster  ;  G.  L.  Carhart, 
Surgeon;  L.  French,  C.  I.  Dawson,  Assistants;  Reverend  D.  S.  Starr,  Chaplain. 


THIRTY-FIRST     INFANTRY.  589 

in  well  doing,  the  Thirty-first  regiment  became  scarcely  less  remarkable  for 
its  proficiency  in  drill  and  its  strict  adherence  to  discipline,  than  it  always 
was  for  courage  and  tenacity  in  battle.  Its  losses  at  Arkansas  Post  were 
considerable,  but  have  never  been  officially  published.2 

The  general  history  of  the  Thirty-first  regiment  from  the  capture  of  Ar 
kansas  Post  to  the  capitulation  of  Vicksburg  is  essentially  the  same  as  that 
of  the  Fourth,  Ninth,  Twenty-fifth,  Twenty-sixth,  and  Thirtieth  regiments, 
already  related.  It  need  only  be  stated  here,  therefore,  that,  having  en 
camped  several  weeks  on  the  peninsula  opposite  Vicksburg,  it  moved  with 
the  division  on  the  Greenville  Expedition,  and  returning  took  part  at  once 
in  the  direct  campaign  against  the  stronghold ;  was  under  fire  while  Mc- 
Pherson  was  whipping  the  enemy  at  Raymond,  May  12th;  took  part  in  the 
capture  of  Jackson  two  days  afterwards;  marched  with  Sherman's  column 
against  V icksburg ;  took  part  in  the  terrible  assault  on  the  22d ;  and  en 
gaged  in  the  siege  until  the  final  triumph  of  our  arms.  The  conduct  of 
the  regiment  in  battle  and  siege  was  most  admirable,  and  its  losses  during 
the  campaign  were  severe.  Among  the  wounded  in  the  assault  of  the  22d, 
was  Lieutenant-Colonel  Jenkins.  It  also  joined  the  column  which  moved 
against  Jackson,  and  took  full  part  in  that  campaign.  After  the  evacuation 
of  Jackson  the  regiment  marched  against  the  enemy  at  Canton,  and  in  the 
affair  which  there  took  place,  was  engaged  in  heavy  skirmish.  The  27th 
of  July  the  command  went  into  encampment  on  the  Big  Black  River. 

The  latter  part  of  September  the  regiment  moved  with  the  division,  now 
commanded  by  General  Osterhaus,  to  engage  in  the  Campaign  of  Chat 
tanooga.  Having  labored  no  little  in  Northern  Mississippi,  fought  and 
skirmished  in  Northern  Alabama,  the  column  pushed  across  Tennessee,  and 
November  24th  found  Osterhaus'  Division  fighting  the  enemy  above  the 
clouds  of  Lookout  Mountain.  The  next  day,  the  command  was  engaged 
on  Missionary  Ridge.  Two  days  afterwards,  it  wrenched  victory  out  of 
defeat  on  the  bloody  field  of  Taylor's  Ridge,  hard  by  Ringgold,  in  Georgia. 
The  enemy  retreated  toward  the  sea  and  the  gulf,  and  the  Union  army 
went  into  winter  quarters,  Sherman,  however,  with  the  troops  who  had 
fought  on  our  left  under  him,  marching  to  the  relief  of  Knoxville,  and 
causing  Longstrcet  to  raise  the  siege. 

In  all  the  operations  of  Osterhaus  in  this  campaign  the  Thirty-first  Iowa 
bore  honorable  part,  fighting  bravely  at  Lookout  Mountain,  Missionary 
Ridge,  and  Ringgold,  losing  heavily  in  all  these  engagements,  and  espe 
cially  in  the  last  named.  Returning  to  Chattanooga  about  the  1st  of  Decem- 

*  From  the  Adjutant-General's  report,  I  take  the  following  names  of  those  put  hors-de-combat  at 
Chickasaw  Bayou  and  Arkansas  Post,  the  list  being  incomplete :  at  Chickasaw  Bayou— Leonard 
Knowles,  Jacob  Glaser.  Arkansas  Post — James  R.  Richardson,  James  H.  Ackermau,  Hezekiah 
Pearsant,  Peter  W.  Frisbey,  Isaac  Lane,  Jerrnan  S.  Wright,  Charles  Albertson,  Charles  Dickerson, 
John  P.  Gardner,  Loren  M.  Doty.  These  are  all  reported  wounded. 


590  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

her,  it  marched  by  Bridgeport,  Alabama,  halting  there  a  short  time,  to 
Woodville,  where  it  went  into  cantonment  for  the  winter. 

The  regiment  left  Woodville  the  1st  of  May,  1864,  and  marched  to 
Northern  Georgia,  where  it  joined  the  forces  composing  General  Sherman's 
grand  Army  for  the  invasion  of  the  Confederacy,  through  and  through. 
It  belonged  to  Williamson's  Iowa  Brigade  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  and 
joined  the  main  column  at  Snake  Gap  on  the  9th.  General  Sherman's 
force  moving  against  Johnston  consisted  of  a  few  less  than  ninety-nine 
thousand  men,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty-four  guns.  Of  this  force,  the 
Army  of  the  Cumberland,  General  Thomas,  was  the  largest  power,  num 
bering  between  sixty  thousand  and  seventy  thousand  of  all  arms.  General 
McPherson's  Army  of  the  Tennessee  numbered  more  than  twenty-four 
thousand,  whilst  General  Schofield,  commanding  the  Army  of  the  Ohio, 
brought  into  the  field  more  than  thirteen  thousand  men.  The  rebel  army, 
under  General  Joseph  Johnston,  was  in  the  vicinity  of  Dalton.  It  con 
sisted  of  the  three  corps  of  Hardee,  Hood,  and  Polk,  and  some  four  thou 
sand  cavalry  under  Wheeler,  and  was  probably  between  fifty  and  sixty 
thousand  strong.  The  first  conflict  between  these  hostile  armies  was  the 
running  engagement,  interspersed  with  many  sharp  combats,  named  on 
regimental  colors, 

TELE  BATTLE   OF  RESACA. 

Johnston's  army  at  Dalton  lay  behind  a  lofty  and  rough  spur  of  the 
Alleghanies,  called  Rocky-Faced  Ridge,  which,  not  far  from  Dalton,  was 
cloven  by  what  is  called  in  the  classical  nomenclature  of  the  South,  Buz 
zard's  Roost  Gap,  through  which  run  the  railway  and  a  small  stream  called 
Mill  Creek.  On  the  7th  of  May,  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  occupied 
Tunnel  Hill,  directly  in  front  of  Buzzard's  Roost  Gap,  and  two  days  after 
wards  Schofield  moved  down  directly  from  the  north  close  to  Dalton. 
Heavy  demonstrations  were  made  by  Hooker  and  Howard,  and  a  consider 
able  engagement  took  place,  but  meanwhile  McPherson  moved  with  the 
Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth  Corps  by  Ship's  Gap,  Villanow,  and  Snake  Gap, 
toward  Resaca,  some  fifteen  miles  south  of  Dalton.  Unable  to  reach  the 
railway  without  exposing  his  flank  to  attack,  he  fell  back  to  the  mountain, 
and  took  up  a  strong  position  at  Snake  Gap. 

Leaving  Howard's  Fourth  Corps  to  amuse  the  enemy  in  front  of  Buz 
zard's  Roost,  General  Sherman  sent  Hooker's  Twentieth,  and  Palmer's 
Fourteenth  Corps,  to  Snake  Gap,  and  ordered  Schofield  to  follow.  The 
whole  army,  except  Howard's  Corps,  debouched  from  the  pass  into  the 
more  level  country  on  the  12th,  and  moved  in  battle  array  on  Resaca.  But 
the  country  was  difficult  of  passage,  and  when  the  army,  having  to  break 
its  way  through  dense  forests  and  undergrowth,  approached  Resaca— and 


THIRTY-FIRST     INFANTRY. 


591 


GENERAL  SHERMAN'S  OPERATIONS  AROUND  RESACA. 


592  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

not  without  opposition  from  the  enemy — Johnston  was  found  strongly 
posted  behind  formidable  works,  extending  from  the  Oostanaula  above  to 
the  river  below  the  town.  Hood's  Corps  formed  the  rebel  right  wing, 
Folk's  the  left,  and  Hardee's  the  centre.  McPherson  held  the  Union 
right,  Thomas  the  centre,  Schofield  the  left.  Heavy  skirmishing  began  on 
the  morning  of  the  14th,  and  continued  throughout  the  day,  varied  at 
times  with  attempts  to  break  the  enemy's  lines.  The  heaviest  fighting  of 
the  day  was  on  the  left  centre,  where  the  gallant  Palmer,  with  his  Four 
teenth  Corps,  made  a  desperate  attempt  to  force  the  enemy  from  his  strong 
position.  About  the  same  time  a  division  of  Schofield's  Corps  made  an 
attack  further  to  the  left,  and  assisted  by  Newton,  and  finally  by  Cox,  suc 
ceeded  in  getting  the  better  of  the  enemy,  driving  him  from  his  outer  line 
of  works.  Still  further  to  the  left  there  was  a  severe  conflict,  led  by  Scho- 
field  in  person,  supported  by  Howard,  who  had  followed  the  enemy  from 
Dalton.  But  the  enemy  was  successful  here,  and  but  for  the  timely  arrival 
of  Hooker,  might  have  caused  great  disaster.  He  checked  the  advancing 
enemy,  and  finally  caused  him  to  retire.  Logan's  Fifteenth  Corps,  on  our 
right,  now  made  a  bold  charge,  and  crossing  Camp  Creek,  drove  the  rebels 
from  their  rifle  pits  and  took  position  on  a  commanding  hill,  from  which 
the  enemy's  lines  were  swept  by  an  enfilading  fire.  The  rebels  made  a 
furious  attempt  to  regain  their  works,  but  were  repulsed  with  great 
slaughter. 

The  next  day,  Hooker  fiercely  assaulted  the  enemy's  right,  and  by  a 
daring  charge  carried  two  important  and  commanding  positions  in  the 
enemy's  lines,  from  which  he  could  not  be  dislodged.  In  this,  the  principal 
combat  of  the  day,  Hooker  was  supported  by  artillery  and  musketry  firing 
all  along  the  lines.  Meantime,  General  Elliott  W.  Rice,  commanding  a 
brigade  in  Sweeny's  Division  of  Dodge's  Sixteenth  Corps,  had  effected  a 
passage  of  the  Oostanaula  at  Lay's  Ferry,  below  Resaca,  and  there  whip 
ping  a  rebel  division,  had  turned  the  enemy's  position  at  Resaca — an 
achievement  which  has  been  more  fully  mentioned  in  the  history  of  the 
Seventh  Regiment,  and  which  has  been  erroneously  accredited  to  General 
Sweeny,  who  had  very  little,  if  anything  at  all,  to  do  with  it.  The  enemy 
retreated  during  the  night  of  the  15th. 

In  this  series  of  engagements  whereby  the  rebels  were  driven  beyond  the 
Oostanaula,  the  Union  losses  were  about  eight  hundred  killed  and  five 
times  as  many  wounded,  but  half  the  wounded  were  so  slightly  injured  that 
they  soon  returned  to  duty.  The  enemy  also  lost  heavily  in  killed  and 
wounded,  one  thousand  prisoners,  and  eight  guns  captured  by  Hooker. 
The  losses  of  the  Iowa  regiments  engaged  were  not  severe,  except  in  the 
Seventh,  which  had  a  severe  combat  at  Lay's  Ferry.  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Jenkins,  of  the  Thirty-first,  was  for  the  second  time  severely  wounded. 


THIRTY-FIRST     INFANTRY.  593 

The  army  pushed  on  in  pursuit,  Thomas  directly  on  the  enemy's  heels, 
McPherson  by  Lay's  Ferry,  and  Schofield  by  obscure  roads  to  the  left. 
General  Jeff.  C.  Davis,  commanding  a  division  in  Palmer's  Corps,  moved 
west  of  the  Oostanaula,  and  took  possession  of  Rome,  with  valuable  cap 
tures.  The  main  column  halted  a  few  days  in  the  vicinity  of  Kingston, 
where  dispositions  were  made  for  a  pitched  battle,  but  the  enemy  retired 
by  night  beyond  the  Etowah,  and  took  up  strong  position  in  Allatoona 
Pass.  General  Sherman  determined  to  "flank"  him  out  of  Allatoona. 
Wherefore,  providing  his  trains  with  twenty  days  rations,  he  left  the  line 
of  the  railway,  and  directed  his  columns  on  Dallas,  a  town  far  south  of 
Allatoona,  and  east  of  the  railway.  On  the  25th,  General  Hooker  had  a 
severe  engagement  near  New  Hope  Church,  about  four  miles  north  of 
Dallas.  The  country  was  mountainous  and  wooded,  and  the  movements  of 
the  army  were  made  with  no  little  difficulty.  The  enemy  was  well  nigh  as 
active  as  Sherman,  and  had  posted  himself  well  across  the  road  leading 
from  Dallas  to  Marietta.  Some  time  was  required  for  Sherman  to  over 
come  the  difficulties  of  the  country,  and  several  sharp  encounters  occurred 
on  different  parts  of  the  lines.  All  the  while  there  was  heavy  skirmishing, 
as  well  by  night  as  by  day,  so  that  the  troops  were  required  to  test  their 
powers  of  endurance  to  the  utmost ;  and  their  courage  too,  for  there  was 
scarcely  a  moment  when  a  general  battle  did  not  seem  imminent. 

The  enemy's  position,  fortified  by  strong  works,  General  Sherman  did 
not  propose  to  himself  to  assault.  He  determined  rather  to  work  gradually 
to  the  left  and,  turning  the  rebel  works,  to  move  directly  on  the  railroad 
east  of  Allatoona — which  plan  required  a  considerable  march  northward. 
It  was  while  he  was  thus  gradually  moving  to  the  left,  that  several  engage 
ments  took  place,  already  referred  to.  The  most  severe  of  these  engage 
ments,  and  which  has  been  called  the  Battle  of  Dallas,  took  place  on  the 
28th. 

General  McPherson  was  on  the  point  of  closing  up  to  the  left,  when  he 
was  suddenly  assailed  with  the  greatest  impetuosity  by  the  enemy,  who 
hurled  his  army  in  mass  against  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  at  Dallas. 
The  suddenness  and  force  of  the  blow  might  have  bewildered  almost  any 
army.  But  the  troops  of  the  army  of  the  Tennessee,  most  fortunately 
posted  behind  hastily  constructed  field  works,  received  the  attack  with  the 
utmost  coolness  not  only,  but  repelled  it  with  enthusiastic  shouts  of  satis 
faction  that  for  once  the  enemy  had  attacked  them  behind  fortifications. 
"Ah!  come  on,  you  gray  devils!"  shouted  the  men;  "butt  your  heads 
against  these  works  if  you  think  you'll  get  your  money  back !"  And  they 
loaded  and  fired  their  pieces  in  fine  excitement.  The  ground  in  front  of 
our  lines  was  covered  thick  with  the  dead  and  dying.  But  there  was  a 
break  in  the  lines.  The  enemy  found  it,  and  poured  in  a  stream  of  men, 
75 


594  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

threatening  destruction.  It  was  at  this  crisis  of  the  battle  that  William 
son's  Iowa  Brigade  rushed  to  the  rescue  of  the  army,  and  by  a  dashing 
charge  drove  the  enemy  pell-mell  from  the  field.  The  day  was  gained. 
The  repulse  of  the  enemy  had  been  terrible  and  bloody. 

The  enemy,  defeated  with  fearful  loss,  retired  to  his  intrenched  position 
near  by  New  Hope  Church,  and  what  of  fighting  afterwards  took  place  in 
this  vicinity  was  more  in  the  nature  of  skirmish  than  of  battle.  Sherman 
left  Johnston  behind  his  works,  and  marched  to  the  railroad,  arriving  at 
Ackworth  on  the  6th  of  June.  Allatoona  Pass  having  before  been  taken 
by  troopers,  a  depot  of  supplies  was  there  established,  the  railroad  north 
repaired,  and  a  short  rest  given  to  the  army.  Blair  reenforced  the  Army 
of  the  Tennessee  with  the  Seventeenth  Corps  at  Ackworth,  on  the  8th. 
Sherman  had  now  advanced  through  the  mountain  region  of  northern 
Georgia.  Just  before  him  were  the  outlying  peaks  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  and 
beyond  ' '  the  fertile  plains  of  Central  Georgia — the  granary  of  the  Con 
federacy.  ' ' 

Being  necessarily  compelled  in  this  work  to  relate  the  history  of  regi 
ments  without  direct  regard  to  the  chronological  order  of  the  events  of  the 
war,  I  have  already  in  accounts  of  other  regiments  set  forth  the  principal 
occurrences  of  the  remainder  of  the  campaign  of  Atlanta.  The  Thirty-first 
regiment  having  well  and  bravely  done  its  whole  duty  in  all  the  movements 
and  engagements  of  the  campaign,  thus  far,  continued  in  the  same  manner 
to  perform  its  duty  to  the  end.  It  was  engaged  with  the  enemy  at  Big 
Shanty  on  the  10th,  and  afterwards  took  position  in  rifle-pits  nearer  Kene- 
saw,  and  long  remained  under  fire  of  both  artillery  and  musketry.  It 
moved  with  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  around  the  grand  army  to  the  Chat- 
tahoochee,  and  was  again  engaged  in  heavy  skirmishing  for  several  days  on 
the  Nickajack  Creek.  It  joined  in  the  march  again  around  the  army  to71 
Roswell,  and  was  there  detailed  on  special  duty.  It  did  not  join  the  brigade 
till  the  2d  of  August,  so  that  it  took  no  part  in  the  memorable  battles  of 
Atlanta  and  Ezra  Church,  on  the  22d  and  28th  of  July.  It  moved  with 
the  army  in  the  final  flanking  movement  of  the  campaign  to  Jonesboro,  and 
fully  participated  in  the  series  of  engagements  near  that  place,  by  the  suc 
cess  of  which  Atlanta  fell  into  the  hands  of  Sherman.  The  losses  of  the 
regiment  during  this  long  and  active  campaign  were  considerable,  but  have 
not  been  officially  set  forth  in  any  published  document. 

Resting  about  a  month  a  few  miles  from  Atlanta,  the  regiment  took 
up  line  of  march  in  the  famous  pursuit  of  Hood.  It  was  more  than  a 
month,  when,  after  the  long  march,  the  command  returned  to  Atlanta. 
Halting  near  by  the  ruins,  suggestive  of  mingled  feelings  of  pride  and  sor 
row,  of  the  city  whose  possession  had  cost  so  much  blood  and  so  many  lives, 
the  command  joined  in  the  march  to  the  sea  on  the  15th  of  November.  It 


THIRTY-FIRST     INFANTRY.  595 

spent  the  following  holidays  in  Savannah,  and  moved  with  the  army  north 
ward,  in  January,  1865,  on  the  campaign  of  the  Carolinas.  Having  done 
its  fair  share  of  the  labors  and  fighting  of  that  campaign,  laboring  almost 
daily  making  roads  on  which  troops  could  march,  and  frequently  meeting 
the  enemy,  especially  at  the  capture  of  Columbia  and  the  battle  of  Ben- 
tonsville,  at  both  of  which  Lieutenant-Colonel  Jenkins  commanding  and 
the  officers  and  men  of  his  regiment  received  the  warm  encomiums  of 
superior  officers  and  the  hearty  congratulations  of  comrades — it  reached  the 
capital  of  the  nation  in  May,  where  it  made  an  end  of  its  marches  on  the 
great  review  of  the  24th. 

The  non-veteran  regiments  of  the  brigade,  the  Twenty-fifth,  Twenty- 
sixth,  and  Thirtieth  regiments  were  sent  to  Iowa  directly  from  Washington, 
but  the  Thirty-first  was  not  so  ordered  because  it  happened  that  it  had  not 
been  mustered  into  the  service  before  the  1st  of  October,  1862.  Had  it 
not  been  for  this,  the  command  would  have  come  under  the  provisions  of 
an  'order  of  the  War  Department,  and  been  honorably  discharged  the  ser 
vice  at  the  National  Capital.  Instead,  it  moved  with  those  troops  of  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee  not  coming  under  the  provisions  of  that  order,  by 
Parkersburg,  Virginia,  to  Louisville,  Kentucky,  and  there  remained  in 
service  some  weeks  before  discharge. 

It  was  disbanded  at  Davenport.  Its  reception  by  the  citizens  of  that 
city  was  an  occasion  never  to  be  forgotten.  The  railroad  depot,  the  plat 
forms,  the  space  around,  were  crowded  with  people.  "Arriving  opposite 
the  platform, ' '  says  the  Gazette,  ' '  the  boys  were  received  with  cheers  and 
hurrahs,  while  a  thousand  flags  were  unfurled  to  the  breeze,  and  the 
waving  of  white  handkerchiefs,  by  fair  hands,  shone  like  bursting  cotton- 
pods  in  Dixie. ' '  James  T.  Lane,  Esq. ,  a  prominent  orator  of  the  city, 
delivered  an  address,  Colonel  Jenkins  responded,  and  there  was  a  happy 
time  generally.3 

But  the  reception  at  Davenport  was  not  the  only  ovation  received  by  the 
officers  and  men  of  the  Thirty-first  regiment.  Jones,  Linn,  and  Cedar 
Counties  welcomed  the  returning  braves  with  sincere  demonstrations  of 
cordiality.  The  beautiful  town  of  Bellevue,  nestling  cosily  under  the  pic 
turesque  bluffs  of  the  Mississippi,  turned  out  en  masse  to  receive  the  Jack- 

8  The  officers  of  the  regiment  by  commissions  of  the  Governor  at  this  time  were :  Colonel,  J.  W. 
Jenkins;  Lieutenant-Cokmd,  Theodore  Stimming;  Major,  S.  S.  Farwell;  Adjutant,  Joseph  Rosen- 
baum ;  Quartermaster,  J.  W.  Oilman ;  Surgeon,  H.  H.  Gates. 

Company  A— Captain  Jeremiah  S.  Alexander;  First  Lieutenant  John  H.  Harvey.  Company  B— 
Captain  H.  E.  Williams;  First  Lieutenant  Thomas  G.  Salisbury.  Company  C—  Captain  Levi  W. 
Herring;  First  Lieutenant  T.  C.  Bird.  Company  D— Captain  R.  McQuilkin ;  First  Lieutenant  F.  H. 
Lacey.  Company  #— Captain  G.  D.  Hilton ;  First  Lieutenant  Richard  McDaniel.  Company  F— 
Captain  Adam  Gebert ;  First  Lieutenant  A.  J.  McPeak.  Company  G — Captain  Joseph  H.  Evans ; 
First  Lieutenant  D.  Rorick;  Second  Lieutenant  S.  N.  Landon.  Company  .H"— Captain  0.  E.  White. 
Company  J— Captain  A.  M.  Philips;  Second  Lieutenant  John  S.  Dunham.  Company  K—  Captain  A. 
M.  Bockins;  First  Lieutenant  M.  Maloney. 


596  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

son  County  members  of  the  regiment.  It  was  a  gala-day.  So  too,  "Old 
Black  Hawk  County,"  noted  for  its  hospitable  people,  shook  its  returning 
braves  heartily  by  the  hand,  and  made  them  truly  joyful. 

But  there  was  sadness  mingled  with  the  joy.  The  Thirty-first  left  Iowa 
for  the  wars,  nearly  one  thousand  strong.  It  returned  with  less  than  three 
hundred  and  seventy.  Disease  and  battle  had  thus  reduced  its  strength. 
It  had  won  honor  at  Arkansas  Post  and  at  Vicksburg.  So  too  it  had  there 
left  its  sacrifices.  It  had  won  the  special  commendations  of  General 
Hooker  for  a  gallant  charge  by  night  on  Lookout  Mountain ;  it  was  behind 
no  regiment  in  all  the  fine  Army  of  the  Tennessee  in  carrying  the  enemy's 
works  at  Resaca;  it  was  not  surpassed  by  any  in  Williamson's  charge  at 
Dallas ;  it  was  first  to  cross  Broad  River  into  Columbia,  South  Carolina, 
and  it  was  the  colors  of  the  Thirty-first  that  Colonel  Stone,  commanding 
brigade,  placed  on  the  State  House  of  that  capital.  In  all  its  battles  it 
fought  gloriously,  but,  though  it  won  the  victory,  it  left  its  sacrifices  on 
every  field,  and  returned  with  but  a  little  more  than  a  third  of  its  original 
strength.  Wherefore  its  welcome  was  joyous ;  but  there  were  many  fathers 
who  missed  their  sons,  many  wives  who  looked  in  vain  for  the  forms  their 
fancy  pictured,  and  thinking  of  the  narrow  houses  of  the  regiment  all  over 
the  South,  turned  sorrowfully  away.  Such  welcome  was  fitting  to  regi 
ments  which  had  done  their  duty  faithfully  and  bravely.  Had  they  not 
returned  with  thinned  ranks,  the  rebellion  had  not  been  conquered,  the 
Union  had  not  been  saved. 


CHAPTER    XXXVL 

THIRTY-SECOND  INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZATION  — RENDEZVOUS  NEAR  DUBUQUE  — THE  REGIMENT  SEPARATED  IN 
DETACHMENTS— HISTORY  OF  THE  DETACHMENT  UNDER  MAJOR  EBERHART— 
ACTIVE  SERVICE-SEVERE  MARCHES  WITH  CAVALRY-HISTORY  OF  COMMAND 
UNDER  COLONEL  SCOTT— GARRISON  DUTY— HIS  EVACUATION  OF  NEW  MADRID— 
HIS  TRIAL  AND  ACQUITTAL— ORDERED  TO  THE  FIELD— CAMPAIGN  IN  MISSIS 
SIPPI—THE  WHOLE  COMMAND  AT  LAST  TOGETHER— COLONEL  SCOTT'S  CONGRA 
TULATORY  ORDER— ORDERED  TO  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  GULF— MAJOR-GENE 
RAL  B.  F.  BUTLER— MAJOR-GENERAL  N.  P.  BANKS— THE  DISASTROUS  RED  RIVER 
EXPEDITION— BATTLE  OF  PLEASANT  HILL— RETREAT— SERVICES  OF  THE 
REGIMENT  AFTER  THE  RED  RIVER  CAMPAIGN. 

THE  companies  forming  the  Thirty-second  Infantry,  Iowa  Volunteers, 
were  recruited  in  the  counties  composing  the  Sixth  Congressional  District, 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  summer  and  early  fall  of  1862.  They  rendez 
voused  at  Camp  Franklin,  near  Dubuque.  Here,  on  October  6th,  the 
regiment  was  sworn  into  the  service  of  the  United  States  for  three  years 
or  during  the  war ;  John  Scott,  of  Story  county,  being  Colonel,  E.  H. 
Mix,  of  Butler,  Lieutenant- Colonel,  Gr.  A.  Eberhart,  of  Black  Hawk,  Major, 
Charles  Aldrich,  of  Hamilton,  Adjutant.  Here  it  remained  under  drill  and 
discipline  till  about  the  middle  of  the  following  month.  The  barracks  at 
Camp  Franklin  were  uncomfortable  in  cold  weather,  of  which,  unhappily, 
there  was  much  about  this  time.  Measles  of  a  malignant  type  broke  out  in 
camp,  the  exposed  condition  of  which,  the  unfavorable  weather,  and  the 
want  of  sufficient  clothing,  conspiring  to  make  the  disease  unusually  fatal. 
Many  of  the  men  died,  though  but  few  just  at  this  time. 

From  the  14th  to  the  18th  of  November,  the  regiment,  numbering  about 
nine  hundred  and  twenty,  embarked  by  detachments  for  St.  Louis,  reporting 
there  on  the  21st,  and  going  into  quarters  at  Benton  Barracks.  Here  it 
remained  a  few  days,  when,  under  orders  from  Major-General  Curtis,  six 
companies  under  Colonel  Scott  proceeded  to  New  Madrid,  Missouri,  and 
the  remaining  four  companies  under  Major  Eberhart,  went  no  further  down 
the  river  than  Cape  Girardeau.  The  companies  at  regimental  head- 

597 


598  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

quarters  were :  Company  B,  Captain  A.  B.  Miller.  Company  C,  Captain 
H.  F.  Peebles.  Company  E,  Captain  J.  R.  Jones.  Company  H,  Captain 
J.  B.  Reeve.  Company  I,  Captain  J.  Hutchinson;  and  Company  K, 
Captain  Joseph  Cadwalader.  The  companies  under  Major  Eberhart  were 
commanded  by  Captains  L.  H.  Cutler,  Theodore  De  Tar,  Joseph  Edging- 
ton,  and  C.  A.  L.  Roszell.  The  separation  of  the  regiment,  thus  effected 
on  the  last  day  of  the  autumn  of  1862,  continued  till  the  spring  of  1864. 
It  was  a  prolific  cause  of  annoyance,  and  extraordinary  labor.  The  details 
required  of  a  regiment  were  frequently  demanded  from  each  of  these  com 
mands  ;  stores  sent  to  the  regiment  would  sometimes  go  to  the  detachment, 
sometimes  to  head-quarters,  when  they  should  have  gone  just  the  other 
way ;  the  mails  were  in  an  interminable  tangle. 

The  history  of  the  regiment,  during  this  long  period  of  separation,  must 
necessarily  be  two-fold.  It  will  not  be  improper  to  write,  first,  an  account 
of  the  detachment  under  command  of  Major  Eberhart : 

In  obedience,  then,  to  the  order  of  General  Curtis,  Major  Eberhart,  with 
Companies  A,  D,  F,  and  G,  of  the  Thirty-second,  proceeded  to  Cape  Girar 
deau,  and  assumed  command  of  that  post,  on  the  1st  of  December,  1862. 
The  garrison  consisted  of  these  companies  and  one  company  of  the  Second 
Missouri  Heavy  Artillery.  The  detachment  remained  at  Cape  Girardeau, 
performing  prOvost  and  garrison  duties  during  the  winter.  Toward  the 
close  of  the  year,  however,  Captain  Roszell,  with  Lieutenants  Airy  and 
Shannon,  and  a  detachment  of  fifty  men  went  down  the  Mississippi  in  a 
ferry  boat  to  Lane's  Landing,  there  disembarked,  and  marched  back  to  the 
post,  through  Mississippi  and  Scott  counties,  bringing  in  a  number  of  pri 
soners  and  a  quantity  of  supplies.  On  the  10th  of  March,  the  garrison 
was  reenforced  by  the  First  Nebraska  Volunteers,  and  preparations  com 
menced  for  a  march  into  the  interior.  In  a  few  days  Major  Eberhart 
marched  his  detachment  to  Bloomfield,  accompanying  a  regiment  of  Wis 
consin  cavalry  and  a  battery  of  Missouri  artillery.  The  little  army  re 
mained  at  and  near  Bloomfield  till  the  21st  of  April,  when  it  moved  to 
Dallas,  forty-six  miles  northward.  The  rebel  General  Marmaduke  now 
threatened  Cape  Girardeau  with  a  considerable  army.  He  himself  was  at 
Fredericktown,  northwest  of  Dallas,  while  another  force  was  coming  up  on 
the  Bloomfield  road.  General  McNeil,  commanding  the  Union  forces, 
marched  at  once  to  Cape  Girardeau  by  Jackson.  The  detachment  of  the 
Thirty-second,  guarding  the  train,  marched  from  Dallas  to  Jackson,  twenty 
miles,  in  less  than  six  hours,  and  reached  Cape  Girardeau  on  the  morning 
of  the  24th.  The  next  day  Marmaduke,  with  a  force  of  eight  thousand 
men,  invested  the  place.  At  ten  o'clock  at  night,  he  sent  in  a  flag  of 
truce,  with  a  demand  of  unconditional  surrender,  giving  the  Union  com 
mander  thirty  minutes  for  decision.  General  McNeil,  by  Colonel  Strachan, 


THIRTY-SECOND     INFANTRY.  599 

who  received  the  truce,  sent  back  a  flat  refusal  in  one  minute,  and  politely 
requested  a  credit  of  twenty-nine  minutes  by  General  Marmaduke.  The 
attack,  however,  was  not  commenced  till  Sunday  morning,  the  26th,  at  ten 
o'clock.  The  engagement,  being  little  more  than  an  artillery  duel,  con 
tinued  till  two  o'clock,  when  the  rebels  retired  with  considerable  loss,  just 
as  General  Vandever  came  down  the  river  with  reinforcements  for  the  gar 
rison.  In  this  combat  Major  Eberhart's  command  was  posted  on  the  right, 
in  support  of  a  section  of  Meltfly '  s  battery.  Its  loss  was  but  one  man,  cap 
tured  on  picket.  General  McNeil  rapidly  pursued  Marmaduke.  On  the 
28th,  our  detachment  was  ordered  to  Bloomfield.  Leaving  Cape  Girar- 
deau  at  five  o'clock  ;n  the  afternoon,  it  marched  fifty  miles  by  dark  of  the 
next  evening,  and  went  into  camp  near  the  Castor  River.  Completing  the 
bridge  over  this  stream,  it  returned  to  the  Cape,  reaching  that  post  on  the 
5th  of  May.  Here  it  remained  on  garrison  duty  till  the  llth  of  July,  when 
it  again  marched  for  Bloomfield.  Having  remained  there  a  few  days,  at 
work  on  the  fortifications,  it  was  attached  to  the  Reserve  Brigade,  First 
Cavalry  Division,  Department  of  the  Missouri,  and  on  the  19th  started  on 
the  memorable  march,  which  ended  with  the  capture  of  Little  Rock,  Ar 
kansas.  The  command  reached  Willsburg  on  the  28th,  halted  there  a  day 
or  two,  and  then  pushed  forward  to  Clarendon,  reaching  there  on  the  8th 
of  August  Early  on  the  morning  of  the  13th,  our  detachment  started  up 
.White  River,  Companies  A  and  D,  Captain  De  Tar  commanding,  on 
"Cricket"  gun-boat,  Companies  F  and  G,  Captain  Roszell,  on  the  "Mar 
mora,"  Major  Eberhart  aboard  the  flag-ship  "Lexington,"  Captain  Bache, 
United  States  Navy.  The  expedition  lasted  three  days,  and  was  quite  a 
brilliant  and  successful  affair.  The  fleet  went  up  White  River  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Little  Red  River,  and  then  proceeded  up  that  stream  to  the 
town  of  Searcy,  where  two  steamers  were  captured,  and  a  pontoon  bridge 
destroyed.  When  ten  miles  below  Searcy  on  the  return,  the  fleet  was  at 
tacked  by  three  hundred  rebels,  who  directed  their  principal  fire  on  the 
prize  "Kaskaskia,"  which  was  manned  by  half  of  Company  D,  under 
Lieutenant  William  D.  Templin.  The  steamer  was  near  the  shore  from 
which  the  attack  was  directed,  but  made  a  gallant  defence.  The  rebels 
were  driven  off,  with  a  loss  of  more  than  twenty  killed.  The  loss  in  Com 
pany  D  was  one  killed,  five  wounded.  Before  reaching  White  River,  the 
fleet  was  again  attacked,  but  the  assailants  were  quickly  driven  off  with 
loss,  and  without  any  casualty  on  board.  Large  quantities  of  public  prop 
erty  were  destroyed,  and  a  number  of  prisoners  captured  during  the  expe 
dition.  The  Army  of  Arkansas  under  General  Steele,  marching  on  Little 
Rock,  formed  a  junction  with  the  forces  under  General  Davidson  at  Claren 
don.  In  the  heavy  skirmish  at  Bayou  Metoe,  on  the  27th,  our  detachment 
was  engaged,  losing  there  one  killed  and  two  wounded.  It  returned  to 


600 


IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 


Duvall's  Bluff,  and  there  had  charge  of  the  sick,  of  whom  there  were  more 
than  twelve  hundred.  The  detachment  itself  was  sorely  afflicted,  there  be 
ing  only  forty  able  to  be  on  duty.  On  the  10th  and  llth  of  September,  it 
moved  to  Little  Rock,  in  charge  of  more  than  a  regiment  of  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers.  Here  the  detachment  remained  till  the  middle  of  Octo 
ber,  when  it  marched  to  Benton,  twenty-five  miles  distant.  It  returned 
again  to  Little  Rock  in  about  a  month,  where  it  remained  till  the  last  of 
January,  1864,  when  it  started  for  Memphis.  Proceeding  to  Duvall's 
Bluff  by  rail,  and  thence  by  steamer  down  the  White  River  and  up  the 
Mississippi,  it  reached  Memphis  on  the  5th  of  February.  Here  it  was  or 
dered  to  proceed  by  steamer  to  Vicksburg  and  report  to  Brigadier- General 
A.  J.  Smith,  Third  Division,  Sixteenth  Army  Corps.  It  reached  Vicks 
burg  on  the  9th,  and  remained  there  till  the  27th,  when  it  marched  out  to 
Black  River  to  await  the  return  of  the  army  from  its  great  raid  in  the 
interior. 

Meanwhile  Colonel  Scott  established  his  head-quarters  at  New  Madrid, 
and  assumed  command  of  the  post.  The  chief  duty  was  to  prevent  contra 
band  trade  with  Arkansas,  which  was  done  most  effectually,  but  not  without 
the  disagreeable  results  to  Colonel  Scott  which  interested  parties  usually 
bring  to  bear  against  a  firm  administrator — one  who  did  not  believe  in  con 
sulting  armed  rebels  or  their  sympathizers  touching  the  mode  of  carrying 
on  the  war.  His  administrative  duties  did  not  prevent  him  from  giving 
much  care  to  his  command  and  attention  to  his  surroundings.  On  the  17th 
of  December,  1862,  he  sent  out  a  detachment  of  one  hundred  men  under 
Captain  Peebles,  who  made  a  reconnoissance  as  far  as  the  St.  Francis  River, 
bringing  back  several  prisoners,  much  public  property,  and  valuable  infor 
mation. 

On  the  28th  of  December,  Colonel  Scott  destroyed  the  public  property, 
and  evacuated  New  Madrid.  For  this  act,  which  was  done  in  obedience  to 
orders,  but  against  his  judgment  and  advice,  he  was  afterwards  tried  by 
court-martial  and  honorably  acquitted.  In  the  performance  of  his  duty  to 
give  what  attention  he  could  to  the  state  of  the  country  and  trade  between 
Cape  Girardeau  and  New  Madrid,  the  Colonel  had  made  a  voyage  from  the 
latter  to  the  former  place,  stopping  frequently  on  the  way  to  acquire  infor 
mation,  and  on  his  return  ^reported  personally  to  General  T.  A.  Davies,  at 
Columbus,  Kentucky,  then  commanding  the  district.  General  Davies,  as 
suming  to  have  authority  from  General  Curtis  to  command  Colonel  Scott, 
and  proving  his  assumption  correct  by  General  Fisk,  just  from  General 
Curtis'  head-quarters,  handed  the  Colonel  a  written  order,  commanding 
him  to  "immediately  proceed  to  New  Madrid,  burn  the  gun-carriages  and 
wooden  platforms,  spike  the  guns,  and  destroy  the  ammunition  totally." 
In  this  interview  General  Davies  talked  very  heroically  about  a  grand  scheme 


THIRTY-SECOND     INFANTRY.  601 

there  was  on  foot,  of  which  the  evacuation  of  New  Madrid  formed  a  part, 
by  which  scheme  a  rebel  movement  was  to  be  circumvented.  As  things 
happened,  the  heroics  turned  out  to  be  nonsense.  But  Colonel  Scott,  with 
mental  protest,  obeyed  the  order.  Having  blown  up  the  magazine,  and 
destroyed  the  public  property  as  ordered,  he  proceeded  by  steamer  to  Fort 
Pillow,  there  disembarking  on  the  29th  of  December. 

For  the  evacuation  of  New  Madrid  Colonel  Scott  was  much  blamed  by 
the  public  press.  The  matter  was  at  length  brought  before  a  military  com 
mission,  of  which  Brigadier-General  W.  K.  Strong  was  President.  Before 
this  tribunal  General  Davies  took  upon  himself  the  entire  responsibility. 
The  commission  found  that  "Colonel  Scott  did  right,  under  the  circum 
stances,  in  obeying  Brigadier-General  Davies'  order ;  not  only  did  his  duty, 
but  is  honorably  acquitted  of  all  blame. ' ' 

The  command  remained  at  Fort  Pillow  for  nearly  six  months,  in  the  per 
formance  of  garrison  duties  for  the  most  part,  but  making,  by  detachments, 
several  scouts  into  the  interior  and  two  or  three  voyages  on  the  river.  Drill 
was  not  neglected,  but  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  surroundings  were  dis 
agreeable  to  the  officers,  and  would  have  had  a  demoralizing  effect  upon  the 
man  but  for  constant  resistance,  and  the  labors  and  prayers  of  the  chaplain, 
Rev.  L.  S.  Coffin.  For  some  weeks  before  the  departure  of  the  command 
for  Columbus,  Company  B,  Captain  Miller,  was  at  Fulton,  three  miles  be 
low  the  fort. 

The  command  embarked  for  Columbus,  Kentucky,  on  the  17th  and  18th 
of  June,  1863,  in  detachments,  and  went  into  camp  there  on  the  19th;  and 
there  regimental  head-quarters  remained  for  more  than  seven  months, 
Colonel  Scott  being  most  of  the  time  in  command  of  the  post.  On  July 
10th,  Union  City  in  Tennessee,  some  twenty-five  miles  south  of  Columbus, 
was  captured  by  the  rebels.  Our  command  hastened  to  that  place  as  rapidly 
.  as  possible,  but  arrived  too  late  to  find  the  enemy.  They  buried  the  dead, 
cared  for  the  wounded,  and  returned.  The  command  was  soon  afterwards 
again  divided  into  fractions.  Companies  B  and  I,  under  command  of 
Captain  Miller,  Lieutenant- Colonel  Mix  being  president  of  a  court-martial 
at  Cairo,  alone  remained  at  regimental  head-quarters.  Company  C  was  at 
tached  to  the  Fourth  Missouri  Cavalry ;  Company  E  was  placed  at  Fort 
Quinby,  not  far  from  Columbus,  whilst  Companies  H  and  K,  Captain  Ben- 
sen  commanding,  proceeded  down  the  river  to  Island  No.  Ten.  From  this 
time  forth  until  January  1864,  the  history  of  each  of  these  detachments, 
except  that  of  Company  C,  is  devoid  of  remarkable  events.  This  detach 
ment  was  most  actively  employed  during  most  of  the  period.  The  labors 
of  officers  and  men  were  arduous  in  the  extreme.  They  scouted  a  wide  ex 
tent  of  country,  infested  by  guerrillas ;  inarched  oftentimes  a  considerable 
distance  from  Columbus,  going  out  in  all  weather,  by  night  as  often  as  by 
76 


602  IOWA     AND     THE     [REBELLION. 

day.  They  braved  many  perils  and  endured  many  hardships.  The  detach 
ment  also  accompanied  General  A.  J.  Smith's  expedition  to  Jackson,  being 
out  twenty  days  of  severe  weather  in  December,  1863,  and  January,  1864. 
The  detachment  at  Island  No.  Ten  was  engaged  in  guard  duties  and  pro 
tecting  the  colony  of  freedmen  established  there.  It  also  made  short  expe 
ditions  on  either  side  of  the  river  against  guerrillas.  With  the  exception 
of  an  expedition,  in  August,  to  Hickman,  Kentucky,  under  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Mix,  the  detachment  at  regimental  head-quarters  remained  all  the 
time  at  Columbus,  while  the  company  at  Fort  Quinby  continued  to  perform 
the  lazy  duties  of  a  garrison. 

In  the  month  of  January,  1864,  these  six  companies  were  brought  to 
gether,  and  soon  embarked  for  Vicksburg,  where  they  were  assigned  to  the 
Second  Brigade,  Colonel  W.  T.  Shaw,  Fourteenth  Iowa,  commanding,  of 
General  A.  J.  Smith's  Division,  Sixteenth  Army  Corps,  then  commanded  by 
Major-General  Hurlbut.  Perhaps  there  was  not  a  single  organization  in 
the  whole  army  under  Major-General  Sherman,  which  left  Vicksburg  on 
the  3d  of  February,  that  so  gladly  commenced  that  singular  campaign  as 
the  command  under  Colonel  Scott.  Having  marched  more  than  three 
hundred  miles,  destroyed  immense  amounts  of  public  property,  very  many 
miles  of  railroad  included,  the  army  returned  to  Vicksburg  on  the  4th  of 
March.  On  this  expedition  our  command  made  several  hard  marches  both 
by  day  and  night,  and  had  some  skirmishing  with  the  enemy.  Near  Canton 
on  the  return  Captain  Peebles,  whilst  foraging  with  a  detachment  of 
twenty-five  men  from  Company  C,  was  attacked  by  nearly  three  hundred 
mounted  rebels.  The  Captain  made  a  gallant  defence,  but  on  account  of  a 
panic  among  the  teamsters,  lost  eight  out  of  twenty-one  wagons.  Private 
Edward  Flood  was  killed. 

If  the  battalion  left  Vicksburg  joyfully,  its  return  was  still  more  joyful, 
for  here  were  found  Major  Eberhart  and  his  four  companies,  and  the  whole 
regiment  was  together  for  the  first  time  since  November,  1862.  The  re 
union  brought  great  satisfaction  to  officers  and  men.  Colonel  Scott  issued 
a  congratulatory  order  upon  the  subject,  in  which  the  long  separation  was 
referred  to  in  befitting  terms,  but  with  the  truthful  announcement  that  it 
had  in  no  degree  destroyed  the  pride  and  spirit  of  officers  or  men.  He 
made  a  part  of  the  order  the  following  words  from  a  special  order  by  Gene 
ral  Davidson,  on  the  occasion  of  the  departure  of  Major  Eberhart  from 
Little  Rock,  namely :  "In  relieving  this  Detachment  from  duty  with  the 
Cavalry  Division,  the  General  commanding  cannot  forbear  expressing  his 
high  appreciation  of  the  soldierly  qualities  they  have  exhibited,  and  the 
valuable  services  they  have  rendered  while  under  his  command.  Although 
Infantry  they  have  accompanied  the  march  of  the  Cavalry  Division  for  a 
distance  of  over  four  hundred  miles — shared  in  its  privations  and  toils 


THIRTY-SECOND     INFANTRY.  603 

without  a  murmur — and,  finally,  taken  a  noble  part  in  its  engagements  and 
victories.  The  mission  of  the  Detachment  with  the  Cavalry  Division  is 
accomplished,  and  it  is  about  to  enter  upon  a  new  field  of  operations,  but 
wherever  it  may  go  it  will  be  followed  by  the  best  wishes  and  kindest  regards 
of  the  troops  with  whom  it  has  served  so  faithfully  and  well. "  Colonel 
Scott  closed  his  order  with  touching  remembrance  of  deceased  comrades, 
and  bright  anticipations  for  the  future  of  the  regiment.  Shortly  after  the 
reunion  of  the  regiment  it  was  ordered  to  the  Department  of  the  Gulf, 
and  there  accompanied  the  disastrous  Red  River  Expedition. 

Among  the  citizens  of  Massachusetts  whom  the  war  brought  prominently 
before  the  public  eye  Major-General  B.  F.  Butler  and  Major-General  N.  P. 
Banks  were  the  most  conspicuous.  The  powerful  influence  of  circumstances 
upon  minds  of  great  firmness  and  independence  was,  never,  perhaps,  more 
clearly  illustrated  than  in  the  careers  of  these  two  men.  General  Butler, 
up  to  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  had  been  a  Democrat  of  the  most  con 
servative  school,  especially  upon  the  subject  of  slavery.  To  prevent,  as  he 
thought,  his  party  from  splitting  on  this  rock,  he  had  cooperated  with  the 
southern  wing  in  the  canvass  of  1860,  thereby  putting  himself  in  a  helpless 
minority  in  his  own  State.  But  when  traitors  fired  the  southern  heart  by 
the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter,  he  zealously  advDcated  the  national  cause,  and 
from  that  moment  became  one  of  the  firmest,  and  perhaps  the  truest, 
representatives  of  our  nationality.  He  astounded  Lieutenant-General  Scott, 
hardly  less  than  the  citizens  of  Baltimore,  by  his  occupation  of  Federal 
Hill.  Whilst  the  Secretary  of  War,  Simon  Cameron,  and  other  public 
men  were  scratching  their  heads  in  seemingly  unending  botheration  on  the 
practical  difficulties  of  the  new  phases  of  the  slavery  question,  he  put  an 
end  to  their  perplexities  and  their  fine-spun  theories  by  three  words — con 
traband  of  war — which  have  been  in  everybody's  mouth  ever  since.  He 
went  to  New  Orleans.  The  city  had  always  been  noted  for  bad  morals  and 
nearly  everything  else  which  is  condemned  by  Christian  civilization.  Its 
ruling  classes  were  desperadoes,  slave-drivers,  gamblers,  scurvy  politicians 
without  principle,  and  aristocrats  without  brains.  The  men  of  capital  were 
all  traitors  or  aliens  !  The  women  were  beautiful,  and  exceedingly  ill-bred. 
The  only  persons  loyal  to  the  government  were  the  laboring  classes  and  the 
slaves.  All  others  were  hostile  to  General  Butler,  and  by  all  means  within 
their  power  attempted  to  thwart  him  in  his  designs.  They  were  aided 
herein  by  the  representatives  of  the  principal  European  governments  in  the 
city.  Nevertheless,  he  had  not  been  long  in  New  Orleans  till  it  was  the 
cleanest,  the  healthiest,  the  most  orderly  city  in  America.  Trade  revived. 
The  city  became  prosperous  again.  Life  and  property  were  secure.  He 
performed  this  miracle  of  administration  without  cost  to  the  government, 
but  not  without  giving  offence  to  secessionists  and  foreign  consuls.  These 


604  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

latter,  in  especial,  were  loud  in  complaint.  Their  complaints  came  to  the 
ears  of  the  Secretary  of  State  at  Washington,  who  was  at  that  time  con 
ducting  our  foreign  affairs  with  great  success  and  our  domestic  affairs  as 
badly  as  possible.  It  was  impossible  that  the  iron  rule  of  General  Butler 
in  the  Gulf  Department  should  meet  the  approval  of  a  statesman  without 
the  courage  to  remain  in  a  carriage  when  the  horses  are  running  away.  So 
General  Butler  was  relieved,  but  not  till  after  he  had  revolutionized  New 
Orleans,  and  made  a  large  part  of  Louisiana  nearly  ready  to  come  back 
into  the  Union. 

Major-General  Banks,  who  succeeded  Butler,  was  known  to  have  good 
administrative  abilities.  Till  the  commencement  of  the  war,  his  political 
principles  had  been  antagonistic  to  those  of  General  Butler.  Whereas 
Butler,  for  the  sake  of  the  Union,  had  always  been  willing  to  ignore  the 
slavery  question,  Banks  had  expressed  a  willingness  to  "let  the  Union 
slide ' '  rather  than  yield  to  the  demands  of  slavery.  For  a  time  after  he 
became  a  general,  certain  prominent  men  among  those  called  Radicals  had 
him  in  keeping  for  the  presidency.  His  retreat  down  the  Shenandoah 
Valley  and  the  battle  of  Cedar  Mountain  caused  him  to  spoil  on  their 
hands  as  an  army  candidate.  But  he  went  to  New  Orleans  with  their  good 
wishes,  and  with  the  good  wishes  of  most  men  in  the  Radical  party. 
Trammeled,  no  doubt,  by  instructions,  when  he  reached  the  city  he  imme 
diately  inaugurated  the  policy  which  has  been  classed  rose-water  by  some 
writers,  and  water-gruel  by  others.  The  effect  of  this  policy  was  precisely 
the  reverse  of  that  of  General  Butler.  His  course  had  been  wonderfully 
popular  with  the  poor  and  the  oppressed ;  with  all  who  had  any  heart  in 
the  cause  of  the  Union.  It  had  been  as  unpopular  with  all  others.  Gen 
eral  Banks  now  thought  to  conciliate  the  elit6  of  the  city  and  of  the  State — 
the  "select  few"  who  under  the  old  regime  controlled  affairs,  and  were 
anxious  to  control  affairs  again  on  the  old  plan.  The  tenements  of  the 
laboring  classes  and  the  hovels  of  the  blacks  ceased  to  wear  the  cheerful 
aspect  of  happiness  and  of  hope.  Nevertheless,  New  Orleans  was  gay. 
Balls  were  of  almost  nightly  occurrence,  and  many  were  characterized  by  a 
gorgeous  magnificence  which  might  have  satisfied  the  royal  taste  of  the 
Empress  Josephine,  and  which  certainly  emptied  the  pockets  of  honest 
army  officers  who  received  their  pay  in  a  depreciated  currency,  and  whom 
courtesy  compelled  to  take  part  in  these  amusements.  The  newspapers 
teemed  with  accounts  of  these  revelries  by  night,  the  commanding  general 
coming  in  for  a  large  share  of  the  be-puffery.  It  was  the  reign  of  bon-ton. 
The  secessionists  and  the  representatives  of  foreign  monarchies  seemed  to 
be  delighted,  and  undoubtedly  they  actually  were  delighted,  with  the  balls. 
The  real  friends  of  the  country  were  indignant.  They  compared  the  state 
of  affairs  to  the  Vatican  at  Rome — splendor  within,  and  beggars,  misery, 


THIRTY-SECOND     INFANTRY.  605 

Discontent  without.  Many  Hotspurs  in  the  army  boiled  over  with  wrath, 
spoke  in  angry  terms  of  the  general  commanding,  and  averred  they  must 
pass  as  seldom  as  possible  betwixt  the  wind  and  his  nobility.  General 
Banks  could  not  forever  remain  ignorant  that  he  must  ignore  his  instruc 
tions,  or  be  the  means  of  ruining  our  affairs  in  the  Gulf  Department.  He 
changed  his  policy  to  one  of  vigor,  but  too  late  to  secure  the  confidence  of 
the  army,  or  to  shake  off  the  speculators  who  brought  terrible  disaster  to 
his  principal  campaign,  and  utter  ruin  to  his  reputation  as  a  soldier. 

In  the  disastrous  Red  River  campaign  the  Thirty-second  Iowa  took  part, 
and  suffered  more  severely,  perhaps,  than  any  other  regiment  in  this  expe 
dition.  It  formed  a  part  of  General  A.  J.  Smith's  command,  consisting  of 
ten  thousand  infantry  and  three  batteries  of  artillery,  which  left  Vicksburg 
on  March  9th  on  transports,  accompanied  by  gun-boats.  At  the  mouth  of 
Red  River,  this  fleet  was  joined  by  Admiral  D.  D.  Porter,  with  a  large 
fleet,  including  several  heavy  iron-clads.  Some  miles  from  where  the  Red 
River  empties  into  the  Mississippi  it  separates  into  two  streams  which  come 
together  again  very  near  the  mouth.  From  the  southern  one  of  these  two 
streams,  the  Achafalaya  River  flows.  The  fleet  entered  Red  River  by  the 
southern  stream,  and  passed  thence  into  the  Achafalaya,  proceeding  as  far 
as  Simmesport,  where  the  troops  disembarked  on  the  night  of  the  13th, 
and  immediately  commenced  a  march  on  Fort  De  Russey.  The  halt  was 
not  ordered  till  the  army  marched  some  seven  miles.  It  was  twenty-eight 
miles  from  here  to  Fort  De  Russey.  Nevertheless,  the  army  marched  that 
distance  the  next  day,  constantly  harassed  by  rebel  cavalry,  delayed  once 
two  hours  at  a  stream  over  which  a  bridge  had  to  be  made,  attacked  the 
fort  and  carried  it  by  storm,  before  sundown,  and  before  the  gun-boats 
arrived.  In  this  assault,  the  Thirty-second  was  on  the  right,  and  "the 
men  on  the  right  took  the  fort,"  said  the  prisoners.  Colonel  Shaw,  com 
manding  brigade,  speaks  in  unqualified  praise  of  all  the  officers  and  men  in 
his  command,  engaged  in  this  brilliant  affair.  The  loss  was  slight  on  either 
side.  Of  the  Thirty- second,  one  man  was  killed  and  two  were  wounded. 

At  Fort  De  Russey  the  army  reembarked  and  proceeded  to  Alexandria, 
where  the  troops  again  disembarked,  and  where  they  remained  nearly  two 
weeks.  At  this  point  the  column  under  General  Smith  formed  a  junction 
with  the  column  which  had  marched  from  New  Orleans  by  Brashear  and 
Franklin.  The  transports  could  not  be  taken  over  the  rapids  while  laden, 
so  the  troops  marched  to  Cotile  Landing,  some  twenty-five  miles  up  the 
river.  Here  our  regiment  had  its  first  battalion  drill,  with  all  the  compa 
nies  in  line,  since  leaving  Dubuque  in  November,  1862.  On  April  3d,  the 
command  again  embarked,  and  reached  Grand  Ecore  on  the  next  evening. 
Here  it  remained  till  the  morning  of  the  7th,  when  it  marched  to  the 
front. 


606  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 


BATTLE  OF  PLEASANT  JHTii. 

This  engagement,  fought  on  the  9th  of  April,  was  an  Union  victory,  of 
which  no  advantage  was  taken  by  the  commanding  general.  Wherefore,  it 
might  as  well  have  been,  practically,  a  defeat.  General  Banks  states  in  his 
official  report,  published  in  November,  1865,  that  the  battle  was  desperate 
and  sanguinary ;  that  it  was  the  decisive  battle  of  the  campaign ;  that  the 
defeat  of  the  enemy  was  complete,  and  his  loss  of  officers  and  men  more 
than  double  that  sustained  by  our  forces.  Nevertheless,  he  put  his  army 
in  retreat  on  the  morning  of  the  10th,  yielding  our  victory,  our  dead  and 
our  wounded  to  the  enemy.  It  is  on  account  of  this  great  blunder,  the 
criminations  and  recriminations  which  it  produced,  the  contradictory  state 
ments  of  reporters  and  puffers,  that  no  man  can  yet  write  a  full  account  of 
the  engagement  which  shall  not  be  liable  to  revision  and  correction.  I 
shall,  therefore,  not  attempt  to  give  a  detailed  description  of  the  battle, 
except  so  far  as  to  represent  the  operations  of  the  brigade  commanded  by 
Colonel  William  T.  Shaw,  Fourteenth  Iowa,  which  consisted  of  his  own 
regiment,  the  Twenty-seventh  and  Thirty-second  Iowa,  and  the  Twenty- 
fourth  Missouri,  which  brigade  stood  the  brunt  of  the  fight,  being  the  first 
in  the  battle,  fighting  longer  than  any  others,  in  the  hardest  of  the  contest, 
the  last  to  leave  the  field,  and  losing  three  times  as  many  officers  and  men 
as  any  brigade  engaged.  Nevertheless,  it  may  be  stated,  to  show  the  utter 
unreliability  of  reports  of  this  contest,  that  General  Banks  does  not  so 
much  as  mention  Colonel  Shaw's  Brigade  in  his  official  report,  born  after 
a  gestation  of  near  eighteen  months,  a  neglect  which  must  be  characterized 
by  every  candid  mind  as  much  more  than  ungrateful. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  the  Battle  of  Mansfield,  or,  more  properly, 
Sabine  Cross  Roads,  occurred  on  the  8th,  and  resulted  in  a  defeat  of  the 
Union  arms,  with  heavy  loss  of  men  and  guns.  The  army  retreated  on 
Pleasant  Hill,  fifteen  miles  distant,  and,  General  Smith  coming  up,  Banks 
determined  again  to  offer  battle.  A  line  was  formed,  says  Banks,  in  the 
following  order — First  Brigade,  Nineteenth  Corps  on  the  right;  Second 
Brigade  in  the  centre,  strengthened  by  a  brigade  of  General  Smith's  forces 
(this  means  Shaw's  Brigade) ;  Third  Brigade  on  the  left.  There  was  con 
siderable  skirmishing  during  the  morning,  but  the  battle  did  not  fairly  open 
till  after  four  o'clock.  At  five  o'clock,  it  was  raging  heavily,  the  rebels 
moving  at  first  against  our  right,  but  delivering  their  main  attack  against 
the  centre,  now  held  by  Colonel  Shaw,  who  was  without  support  either  on 
his  right  flank  or  his  left ;  in  a  short  time  after  the  contest  became  general. 
Nevertheless,  he  held  his  position,  his  four  regiments  pouring  into  the 
enemy  the  most  destructive  volleys  which  ever  swept  men  into  the  valley 
of  the  shadow  of  death.  At  one  time,  the  enemy  made  a  bold  cavalry 


THIRTY-SECOND     INFANTRY. 


G07 


OF    IPH.IEAJS.VIVT 

OPERATIONS  OF    SHAW'S  "IRON    BRIGADE. 


608  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

charge  along  the  Shreveport  road.  When  within  short  range  of  our  lines 
they  were  met  by  the  unerring  rifles  of  the  Fourteenth,  the  Twenty-seventh, 
and  the  Thirty-second  Iowa,  when  riders  and  steeds  fell  dead  as  though 
struck  by  a  thousand  thunderbolts.  Horses  and  men  were  hurled  into 
instant  death  by  that  fearful  volley.  Scarcely  a  man  escaped.  The  battle 
continued  till  dark,  when  the  rebels  put  themselves  in  retreat,  leaving  us 
the  complete  victors,  and  Shaw's  brigade  the  heroes  of  the  fight. 

However,  other  troops  did  their  whole  duty,  and  among  those  from  Iowa, 
the  Thirty-fifth  Infantry  was  conspicuous  on  another  part  of  the  field,  and 
lost  during  the  engagement  about  seventy  men  hors-de-combat.  The 
"bloody  Fourteenth"  well  sustained  on  the  field  of  Pleasant  Hill  the  repu 
tation  it  had  won  in  former  battles.  Lieutenant- Colonel  Newbold,  "a 
Christian  gentleman,  and  a  brave,  industrious,  conscientious  officer,"  fell 
mortally  wounded.  "Here  also  fell,"  says  Captain  Warren  C.  Jones,  who 
commanded  the  regiment  after  the  fall  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Newbold, 
"Lieutenants  Logan,  McMillen,  Shanklin,  and  Hazlett,  officers  beloved  by 
all. "  "  The  long  list  of  casualties, ' '  he  continues,  ' '  clearly  indicates  the 
irresistible  bravery  and  determined  will  of  the  regiment."  The  Twenty- 
seventh  regiment,  Colonel  James  I.  Gilbert,  in  this  its  first  pitched  battle, 
gained  a  proud  reputation.  Colonel  Gilbert  was  himself  wounded,  but  con 
tinued  in  command  throughout.  He  and  his  regiment  received  the  un 
mixed  praise  of  Colonel  Shaw.  Colonel  Gilbert  himself  states  his  officers 
and  soldiers  all  conducted  themselves  bravely  and  well,  so  that  he  only 
specially  mentions  Captain  J.  M.  Holbrook,  who  led  his  company  with  dis 
tinguished  gallantry  after  having  received  a  severe  wound,  and  until  he  was 
wounded  the  second  time.  Lieutenants  J.  W.  Granger,  Frank  A.  Brush, 
and  Samuel  0.  Smith  were  also  wounded,  the  last  mortally.  The  loss  of 
the  regiment  was  about  ninety,  killed,  wounded,  and  missing. 

"  Of  Colonel  John  Scott,  Thirty-second  Iowa,"  says  the  brigade  com 
mander,  "  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  he  showed  himself  worthy  to  command  the 
Thirty- second  Iowa  Infantry — a  regiment  which,  after  having  been  entirely 
surrounded,  and  cut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  command,  with  nearly  one 
half  of  its  number  killed  or  wounded,  among  them  many  of  the  best  and 
prominent  officers,  forced  its  way  through  the  enemy's  lines,  and  was  again 
in  line  ready  and  anxious  to  meet  the  foe  in  less  than  thirty  minutes. ' '  It 
is  certain  no  regiment  ever  fought  with  a  sublimer  courage  than  did  the 
Thirty-second  on  the  field  of  Pleasant  Hill.  Its  heroism  and  its  sacrifices 
were  worthy  of  a  better  fate  than  a  retreat  from  the  scene  of  its  splendid 
daring  and  its  glory.  The  fame  of  its  gallant  conduct  soon  spread  all  over 
Iowa,  as  it  would  have  spread  all  over  the  country  had  the  commanding 
general  accepted  the  victory  which  the  troops  had  given  him.  But  sad 
losses  befell  the  regiment.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mix,  an  admirable  officer^ 


THIRTY-SECOND     INFANTRY.  609 

4 

was  slain  on  the  field.  Captain  Amos  B.  Miller,  a  man  of  many  noble 
qualities,  a  heart  ever  overflowing  with  the  milk  of  human  kindness,  an 
officer  of  approved  skill  and  courage,  was  fatally  wounded.  With  him  fell 
Lieutenant  Thomas  0.  Howard,  and  Adjutant  Charles  H.  Huntley.  Cap 
tain  Michael  Ackerman,  Captain  H.  F.  Peebles,  Lieutenants  John  Devine 
and  John  F.  Wright  were  all  severely  wounded  and  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  enemy.  "The  painful  circumstances,"  says  Colonel  Scott,  " surround 
ing  the  abandonment  of  these  and  other  wounded  comrades,  on  a  field  we 
had  so  gallantly  contested  and  won,  must  live  only  in  our  hearts.  The  honor 
of  our  country  forbids  their  mention."  "To  Captain  Jonathan  Hutchin- 
son,"  says  the  Colonel  in  another  place,  "my  special  thanks  are  due,  not 
only  for  his  gallantry,  but  also  for  repressing  reckless  exposure  among  the 
men  and  thus  saving  valuable  lives.  His  son,  a  youth  of  much  promise, 
was  killed  by  his  side  early  in  the  action."  The  regiment  lost  in  the  action 
two  hundred  and  ten  officers  and  men,  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  the 
most  of  the  missing  being  also  wounded,  and  many  so  reported  no  doubt 
slain.1 

1  LIST  OF  CASUALTIES.— Killed,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Edward  H.  Mix ;  Missing,  Adjutant  Charles  H. 
Huntley,  supposed  to  have  died  of  wounds. 

Company  A— Killed,  Sergeant  A.  Hull ;  Patrick  Burns,  William  T.  Crockett.  Wounded,  Captain 
Michael  Ackerman ;  Sergeants  A.  J.  Ripley,  John  S.  Quiggle  ;  Corporal  William  P.  Hiserodt ;  John 
Downs,  Joshua  McFarland,  John  M.  Miller,  Robert  P.  Mack,  George  M.  Sweeden,  John  Talbott. 
Missing,  Sergeant  Amos  Doane;  Corporal  Joseph  A.  Kent;  Linas  Betts,  R.  D.  F  aught,  Henry  Frank, 
Charles  Gray,  John  Hoskins,  Joseph  T.  Payne,  I.  A.  Packard,  Henry  Smith,  C.  M.  Townsend,  Stephen 
Tjaden,  Andrew  Williams. 

Company  B— Killed,  Captain  Amos  B.  Miller;  Lieutenant  Thomas  0.  Howard;  John  P.  Ford,  Wil 
liam  F.  Hoyt.  Wounded,  Sergeants  Harvey  N.  Brockway,  Harvey  D.  Barr,  Peter  R.  Wood;  Charles 
R.  Bilanski,  Allen  T.  Cole,  John  Crozier,  Peter  Cope,  F.  B.  Florence,  Amos  Ingalls,  Cyrus  Morris,  A. 
McConville,  John  Randall,  William  K.  Spaulding,  0.  A.  Wilson,  John  Curran.  Missing,  Lieutenant 
Samuel  W.  Griffin ;  Corporals  Alonzo  Frink,  James  Jenkinson ;  Lewis  B.  Boomhawer,  Jacob  G. 
Brown,  John  Carroll,  William  Harris,  Martin  B.  Parker,  John  Rozsell,  F.  J.  Furmere,  C.  W.  Tobin. 
Sergeant  Milton  P.  Goodell  was  wounded. 

Company  C—  Wounded,  Captain  Hubert  F.  Peebles ;  Sergeant  Cornelius  Bennet ;  Corporal  Charles 
P.  Hunt ;  Allen  T.  Baldwin,  Charles  Cleveland,  Zenas  J.  Duke,  Thomas  B.  B.  Doxy.  Johnson  B. 
Ilewett,  Barnard  McCormick,  James  F.  McFarland,  Sidney  Palmer  (mortally)  Charles  B.  Shaw,  Edgar 
W.  Webster. 

Company  D — Killed,  Corporal  Malborn  Pettibone ;  Jacob  M.  Buffington,  Peter  Battin,  William  B. 
Lawton,  William  M.  Peoples,  J.  L.  Starr,  John  E.  R.  Wright.  Wounded,  Sergeant  F.  M.  Spurrier; 
Corporals  John  Weston,  James  P.  Williams ;  John  A.  Atkinson,  Samuel  C.  Blunk,  Amos  J.  Blunk, 
Alouzo  J.  Barkley,  Moses  S.  Copps,  James  A.  Davis,  Benjamin  W.  Hickman,  John  H.  Merrick. 
Missing,  Sergeants  Joseph  G.  Miller,  David  S.  Jewett ;  Corporal  David  W.  Robbins ;  Nicholas  Harter, 
Garret  L.  Joice,  Gustus  Linn,  William  T.  Leonard,  John  W.  Moriarty,  Thomas  B.  Thompson. 

Company  E — Killed,  John  W.  Bloss,  F.  J.  Carter,  Lyman  James,  Wilbur  L.  Lewis,  Delos  Patton, 
Julius  Waters.  Wounded,  Lieutenant  John  F.  Wright ;  John  Aspey,  Albert  Blackman,  Dow  Clayton, 
Elijah  Rights,  James  Leverich,  Roland  P.  Mead,  Edward  E.  Needham,  Robert  L.  Olmstead,  Orrin  P. 
Olmstead,  Jasper  Parriott,  Daniel  Plummer,  F.  C.  Putnam,  James  Quiur,  George  H.  Williams, 
Solomon  Wheeler.  Missing,  Sergeant  William  H.  Guy  (soon  rejoined  the  regiment);  Oliver  Codner, 
John  Conner,  Henry  Jones,  Isaac  Ketterman,  Charles  Lewis,  0.  S.  Newcomb,  W.  W.  Olmstead. 

Company  F— Killed,  James  Royal.  Wounded,  Lieutenant  John  Devine ;  Sergeant  Solon  F.  Benson ; 
Corporal  A.  M.  Caldwell ;  William  R.  Champlin,  Luther  Couch,  William  Nutt,  Asher  N.  Parke. 
Missing,  Nathan  R.  Modlin. 

Company  G— Killed,  Sergeant  Roszell  W.  Kane ;  Corporal  George  H.  Burton.     Wounded,  Lieuten- 

77 


610  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

I 

The  fame  of  the  Thirty-second,  as  I  have  said,  soon  spread  all  over  Iowa. 
There  was  a  feeling  of  sadness  mingled  with  the  satisfaction  that  the  repu 
tation  of  the  State  had  been  so  bravely  sustained,  which  no  one  attempted 
to  repress.  Iowa  gloried  in  the  fame  of  her  honored  sons  and  wept  for 
their  dead  comrades  who  fell  on  the  stricken  field.  The  following  beautiful 
impromptu  lines  were  written  by  Mrs.  Caroline  A.  Soule*,  the  gifted  writer 
of  our  state,  upon  hearing  of  the  sad  losses  sustained  by  the  Thirty-second 
at  Pleasant  Hill : 

Cold  are  the  sleepers 

Wrapt  in  their  shrouds- 
Pale  are  the  weepers 

The  battle  has  bowed; 
Softly  they  slumber, 

Our  soldiers  in  death — 
While  heart*  without  number 

Cry,  with  hushed  breath — 
0  God,  are  they  dead  I 

Pale  are  the  sleepers, 

Like  marble  they  lie- 
Sad  are  the  weepers, 

Tear-stained  their  eyes; 
Quiet  they  slumber, 

Soldiers  entombed, 
While  hearts  without  number, 

All  shrouded  in  gloom, 
Cry— 0,  are  they  gonel 

Calm  are  the  sleepers, 

Taking  their  rest — 
Sad  are  the  weepers, 

Joyless  their  breasts; 
Softly  they  slumber, 

Our  soldiers  to-day, 
While  hearts  without  number 

Cry,  only  this  way 
Can  our  battles  be  won  I 

ant  Charles  A.  Bannon;  Corporals  George  L.  Allen,  Albert  Boggs,T.  W.Folger,De  Witt  C.  Harrison ; 
William  C.  Bishop,  J.  R.  Brown,  Joseph  Babcock,  Henry  Brooks,  William  Corastock,  Michael  Cline, 
Daniel  N.  Clark,  N.  W.  Davis,  Andrew  Ellis,  N.  B.  Gleason,  Horace  G.  Hawks,  Isaac  N.  Modlin, 
James  M.  Phillippi,  Hiram  Poisal,  Adam  Sturtz,  Daniel  D.  Warner.  Missing,  Sylvester  W.  Bragg, 
John  Phillippi,  John  Swim,  Martin  V.  Walmsley. 

Company  H— Killed,  Corporals  Washington  Ballou,  George  W.  Ross ;  Daniel  W.  Cole,  George  N. 
Demander,  George  W.  Fry,  A.  J.  Horsington,  Ira  McCord,  Bartley  M.  Mechan.  Wounded,  Sergeant 
Benjamin  H.  Pound;  Corporals  Lewis  P.  Berry,  E.  B.  Criley;  Jesse  Homer,  A.  E.  Phinney,  Henry 
W.  Smith,  John  P.  Underwood.  Missing,  Jacob  Brooks,  E.  W.  Crosby. 

Company  J— Killed,  Mathias  Hutchinson.  Wounded,  Corporal  James  A.  Rowley,  Hiram  Hulsizer, 
John  Mayberry.  Missing,  William  J.  Salisbury,  John  Vandevener. 

Company  K— Killed,  Corporal  Elias  Modlin ;  F.  M.  Anderson,  Daniel  J.  Bloice,  Charles  Hurlbert. 
Wounded,  Corporal  Isaac  N.  Alderman,  Lewis  F.  Brown,  Frank  Daniels,  A.  J.  Frakes,  Henry  French, 
John  Henderson,  Francis  Luellan,  John  S.  Wood.  Missing,  Sergeant  William  A.  Fallas,  William  C. 
Ballard,  John  F.  Hilton,  Joseph  L.  Harkness,  Samuel  Pearson. 

Colonel  Scott,  in  his  official  report,  expressed  the  fear  that  many  of  those  marked  "  missing"  were 
killed  or  wounded. 


THIRTY-SECOND     INFANTRY. 

Colonel  Shaw's  Brigade  covered  the  retreat  of  the  army  to  Grand  Ecore, 
where  the  Thirty-second  regiment,  after  a  movement  up  Red  River  to  aid 
the  fleet  in  escaping  from  imminent  peril,  went  into  encampment.  It 
joined  in  the  retreat  down  the  Red  River  on  the  21st,  and  frequently  met 
light  bodies  of  the  enemy  in  skirmish.  The  retreat  from  Alexandria  to  the 
Mississippi  was  also  harassed  by  the  enemy,  and  considerable  engagements 
took  place  at  Marksville  and  Bayou  de  Glaize,  in  both  which  the  regiment 
took  part.  Colonel  Shaw,  in  his  official  report  of  the  latter  battle  says 
that  to  "  Colonel  Gilbert,  Twenty-seventh  Iowa,  Major  Eberhart,  Thirty- 
second  Iowa,  Captain  Crane,  Fourteenth  Iowa,  and  their  commands  is  due 
the  safety  of  the  army.  Had  they  failed  to  move  into  the  position  assigned 
them  (although  a  difficult  one,  that  of  changing  front  under  fire),  with 
less  celerity,  or  failed  to  hold  it  steadily  after  taking  it,  our  left  and  rear 
would  have  been  enveloped  by  overwhelming  numbers,  and  nothing  could 
have  saved  us — not  even  the  fighting  qualities  of  the  Sixteenth  Army 
Corps. ' '  Lieutenant  William  D.  Templin  and  four  privates  of  the  Thirty- 
second  were  wounded  in  this  battle.2 

The  regiment  reached  Memphis  on  the  10th  of  June,  having  meanwhile 
participated  in  the  brilliant  affair  of  Point  Chicot,  in  which  it  suffered  a 
loss  of  four  slain  and  as  many  wounded.  From  Memphis,  the  command 
moved  to  Moscow,  and  thence  to  La  Grange,  in  the  latter  part  of  June. 
From  this  point  it  marched  with  General  Smith's  forces  on  the  Tupelo 
campaign,  in  the  skirmishes  and  engagements  thereof  taking  honorable 
part  throughout,  but  with  slight  loss.  It  returned  to  Memphis,  and 
having  encamped  there  about  ten  days,  joined  in  the  Oxford  Expedition. 
We  find  it  again  at  Memphis  in  the  latter  part  of  August.  The  next 
active  campaign  in  which  the  Thirty-second  took  part  was  in  Missouri — the 
pursuit  of  Price.  It  was  a  campaign  of  severe  marching  for  the  infantry, 
but  not  of  battle.  The  regiment,  not  well  provided  for  such  a  campaign, 
marched  at  least  six  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  averaging  twenty  miles  a  day, 
counting  the  time  during  which  the  command  actually  moved.  It  marched 
across  the  State  and  back  agai%  Halting  a  few  days  at  St.  Louis,  it  moved 
to  Cairo  by  steamer,  arriving  November  27th. 

Hence  it  moved  to  Nashville,  which  was  soon  afterwards  besieged  by  the 
rebel  General  Hood.  In  the  battle  of  Nashville,  December  15th  and  16th, 
the  Thirty-second,  fighting  in  General  Gilbert's  Brigade,  was  warmly 
engaged,  and  won  great  credit  for  daring,  efficient  behaviour.  It  captured 
a  battery  of  five  guns  and  many  prisoners,  and  lost  about  twenty-five, 
killed  and  wounded.  With  the  pursuit  of  the  defeated  rebels,  closed  the 
campaigning  of  the  regiment  for  the  year  1864  in  face  of  the  enemy.3 

*  Henry  Marsh,  Orrin  Morris,  John  Myers,  Ed.  Fogerty. 

*  It  will  not  be  amiss  now  to  bring  up  the  personnel  of  the  regiment,  by  noting  the  names  of 


612  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Early  in  1865,  the  regiment  marched  to  Clifton,  whence  it  moved  by 
steamer  to  Eastport,  Mississippi.  Its  next  and  last  campaign  was  that  of 
Mobile  under  Major-General  E.  R.  S.  Canby.  It  is  not  necessary  to  pursue 
it  in  its  long  journey  with  the  forces  under  General  A.  J.  Smith  to  the 
theatre  of  its  operations  against  the  enemy.  Let  it  suffice,  that  throughout 
those  laborious  and  difficult  operations,  the  Thirty-second  performed  its 
part  faithfully,  skilfully,  honorably,  as  we  shall  hereafter  more  particularly 
note. 

It  remained  in  Alabama  some  months  after  the  fall  of  Mobile,  and  was 
mustered  out  of  the  service  during  the  summer  following.  Returning  to 
Iowa,  the  Thirty-second  Infantry  was  in  due  time  disbanded,  the  officers 
and  men  left  from  the  ravages  of  three  years'  service  receiving  everywhere 
along  the  line  of  their  journey  from  the  Mississippi  to  their  homes  in  the 
beautiful  valleys  of  the  Des  Moines  and  the  Cedar,  the  kind  greetings 
which  our  people  extended  with  generous  profusion  to  their  returning 
braves  of  all  our  regiments,  and  especially  to  those  which,  like  this,  had 
left  so  many  of  their  number,  fallen  in  the  great  struggle  for  liberty,  reposing 
in  death  on  the  battle-fields  whereby  the  Union  was  saved. 

officers  as  set  forth  in  the  Adjutant-General's  Reports.  And,  first,  those  which  we  there  find  noted 
up  to  January,  1864 : 

Colonel,  John  Scott;  Lieutenant-Colonel,  Edward  H.  Mix;  Major,  G.  A.  Eberhart;  Adjutants, 
Charles  Aldrich,  Charles  H.  Huntley;  Quartermaster,  Thomas  C.  McCall;  Surgeon,  Stephen  B. 
Olney;  Assistants,  Jesse  Wasson,  William  B.  Waters,  Philander  Byam,  William  L.Huston;  Chap 
lains,  Reverends  L.  S.  Coffin,  Joseph  Cadwalader. 

LINE  OFFICERS. — Company  A — Captains  Lewis  H.  Cutler,  Michael  Ackerman ;  Lieutenants  Allen 
Greer,  Joseph  P.  Airy,  A.  Hull.  Company  .B— Captain  A.  B.  Miller;  Lieutenants  William  C.  Stans- 
bury,  C.  S.  Lane,  Thomas  0.  Howard,  Samuel  W.  Griffin.  Company  C1— Captain  Hubert  F.  Peebles; 
Lieutenants  H.  C.  Raymond,  B.  F.  Thomas.  Company  D — Captain  Theodore  De  Tar ;  Lieutenants 
William  D.  Templin,  Robert  J.  Shannon.  Company  I?— Captain  John  R.  Jones;  Lieutenants  Alonzo 
Converse,  John  F.  Wright.  Company  J7— Captain  Joseph  Edgington ;  Lieutenants  John  Devine, 
Lucius  E.  Campbell.  Company  G— Captain  Charles  A.  L.  Roszell ;  Lieutenants  Charles  A.  Bannon, 
Daniel  Haine,  William  L.  Carpenter.  Company  H—  Captains  James  B.  Reeve,  Rufus  S.  Benson ; 
Lieutenants  0.  A.  Lesh,  Rufus  S.  Benson,  James  H.  Hall.  Company  /—Captain  Jonathan  Hutchin- 
son;  Lieutenants  Amos  S.  Collins,  Alexander  Dowd.  Company  J^— Captains  Joseph  Cadwalader, 
Gideon  Wheeler;  Lieutenants  Gideon  Wheeler,  George  Child,  Vincent  Tomlinson. 

The  regiment  entered  upon  the  year  1865,  with  Lieutenant-Colonel  G.  A.  Eberhart  (commissioned 
colonel),  who  had  commanded  the  regiment  for  many  months,  as  commanding  officer ;  Jonathan 
Hutchinson,  Major;  William  L.  Carpenter,  Adjutant;  Morrison  Bailey,  Quartermaster;  Doctors 
Byam  and  Huston,  above  named,  in  the  medical  department.  The  officers  commanding  companies 
were,  in  their  order:  Captains  Michael  Ackerman,  H.  N.  Brockway,  H.  C.  Raymond,  Theodore  De 
Tar,  John  R.  Jones,  L.  E.  Campbell,  C.  A.  L.  Roszell,  R.  S.  Benson,  Alexander  Dowd,  Gideon 
Wheeler,  the  lieutenants  being  John  H.  Ford,  Henry  Keerl,  S.  W.  Griffin,  B.  F.  Thomas,  Patrick 
Mclsaacs,  William  D.  Templin,  R.  I.  Shannon,  Alonzo  Converse,  John  F.  Wright,  Ezekiel  Kilgore, 
Charles  A.  Bannon,  James  H.  Hall,  Ambrose  Booth,  James  Lynn,  George  Child,  Vincent  Tomlinsoii. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

THIRTY-THIRD    INFANTRY. 

SAMUEL  A.  RICE— THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  HIS  REGIMENT— RENDEZVOUS  AT  OSKA- 
LOOSA— DEPARTURE  FOR  THE  FRONT— PROVOST  GUARD  AT  ST.  LOUIS— PROCEED 
TO  COLUMBUS,  KENTUCKY-TO  HELENA,  ARKANSAS— GO  WITH  THE  EXPEDITION 
AGAINST  FORT  PEMBERTON— RETREAT— THE  BATTLE  OF  HELENA— TAKE 
PART  IN  THE  LITTLE  ROCK  CAMPAIGN— THE  SOUTHWESTERN  EXPEDITION- 
PRAIRIE  D'ANNE— THE  RACE  FOR  CAMDEN— RETREAT— BATTLE  OF  JENKINS' 
FERRY— DEATH  OF  GENERAL  RICE— REGIMENT  AT  LITTLE  ROCK— MARCH  TO 
VAN  BUREN  AND  RETURN— CAMPAIGN  OF  MOBILE— MUSTERED  OUT. 

SAMUEL  ALLEN  RICE,  the  original  colonel  of  the  Thirty-third  Iowa 
[nfantry,  and  the  first  general  officer  from  the  State  who  lost  his  life  in  the 
service,  owed  his  first  commission  in  the  army  to  a  defeat  in  the  political 
arena.  Had  he  been  successful  in  the  convention  of  his  party  which  nomi 
nated  a  candidate  for  Congress  in  1862,  he  would  have  remained  in  civil  life. 
He  had  been  for  many  years  an  active  politician,  favorably  known  in  the 
magnificent  central  counties  of  the  State.  In  1856,  he  was  the  successful 
candidate  for  State's  Attorney.  In  canvassing  for  that  office  he  became 
well  known  to  a  great  majority  of  the  people.  He  was  reflected  in  1858. 
He  filled  the  office  with  acknowledged  ability.  There  was  no  man  in  the 
State,  certainly  not  one  no  older  than  he,  who  had  a  more  solid  basis  of 
popularity.  He  was  specially  liked  by  the  people  of  Mahaska  county  in 
which  he  lived,  and  of  the  counties  surrounding.  Public  confidence  in  him 
enabled  him  to  recruit  a  regiment  among  his  own  neighbors  and  friends,  so 
to  say,  in  a  very  short  time,  though  the  general  enthusiasm  at  the  time  exist 
ing  was,  of  course,  a  valuable  auxiliary.  To  his  regiment  his  own  "Proud 
Mahaska"  furnished  four  companies,  Keokuk  on  the  east  three,  and 
Marion  on  the  west  the  same  number.  The  companies  were  all  filled  up 
and  organized  about  the  20th  of  August,  1862,  within  ten  days,  that  is, 
of  the  date  of  Colonel  Rice's  commission  as  commanding  officer  of  the 
regiment. 

The  rendezvous  of  the  command  was  at  Oskaloosa,  the  encampment  be 
ing  on  the  County  Fair  Grounds,  and  called  Camp  Tuttle  in  honor  of  the 

613 


614  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

gallant  colonel  of  the  Second  Infantry,  whose  command  had  fought  so  no 
bly  at  Fort  Donelson  in  the  early  part  of  the  year,  giving  to  him  and  the 
State  universal  praise.  Here  the  companies  all  rendezvoused  during  the 
early  part  of  September,  each  building  for  itself  rude  but  not  uncomforta 
ble  barracks.  On  the  1st  of  October,  it  being  one  of  those  balmy  days  of 
Indian  summer,  more  beautiful  in  Iowa,  it  seems  to  me,  than  they  can  be 
elsewhere  on  the  wide  earth,  the  companies  were  drawn  up  in  line  and 
solemly  sworn  into  the  service  of  the  United  States.  The  regiment  num 
bered  nine  hundred  and  eighty  men  in  the  aggregate.  Cyrus  H.  Mackay 
was  lieutenant-colonel,  Hiram  D.  Gibson,  major.  On  the  regimental  staff 
were  Arad  Parks,  surgeon,  with  John  Y.  Hopkins  and  William  M.  Scott, 
assistants;  F.  F.  Burlock,  adjutant;  H.  B.  Myers,  quartermaster;  Rev. 
Robert  A.  McAyeal,  chaplain.  John  F.  Lacey,  afterwards  captain  and 
assistant  adjutant-general  on  the  staff  of  Major-General  F.  Steele,  was  the 
first  sergeant-major  of  the  regiment.1 

The  command  left  the  rendezvous  on  the  morning  of  November  20th, 
and  on  that  day  marched  to  Eddyville,  there  taking  cars  for  Keokuk.  Here 
it  went  aboard  a  steamer  without  delay,  and  reached  St.  Louis  on  the  22d. 
Part  of  the  regiment  was  assigned  to  provost  guard  duty  by  General  Curtis, 
who  passed  a  high  compliment  upon  the  appearance  of  the  command,  and 
part  to  the  guarding  of  prisons.  At  St.  Louis,  there  were  occasional  drills 
and  parades,  but  guard-mounting  was  usually  the  most  important  cere 
mony.  The  men  were  very  quiet  and  orderly,  and  were  especially  praised 
by  the  citizens  on  that  account.  At  midnight  of  December  21st,  command 
was  passed  through  the  regiment  to  get  ready  to  move,  and  early  on  the 
following  morning  it  was  on  board  a  transport  steaming  down  the  Mississippi 
for  Columbus,  Kentucky.  It  reached  that  place  on  the  morning  of  the  24th, 
piled  overcoats  and  knapsacks,  marched  out  to  the  bottom  below  town, 
rapidly  formed  in  line  of  battle,  remained  in  line,  expecting  attack,  till  the 
middle  of  the  afternoon,  then  worked  hard  throwing  up  breastworks  till  far 
into  the  night,  when,  without  shelter,  the  men  tumbled  down  to  sleep  in 
the  mud  and  rain.  They  remained  in  the  trenches  all  day  Christmas,  still 
expecting  attack,  and  continued  in  the  same  shelterless  line  for  two  or  three 
days  afterwards,  when  they  procured  tents.  On  New  Year's  day,  1863,  the 
regiment  moved  by  rail  to  Union  City,  Tennessee,  to  assist  in  repelling  a 
threatened  attack  on  that  place.  Considerable  alarm  existed  here,  and  the 

iThe  line  officers  were:  Captains — Cyrus  B.  Boydston,  John  P.  Yerger,  Andrew  I.  Comstock, 
John  Lofland,  John  P.  Walker,  M.  W.  Forrest,  L.  W.  Whipple,  John  Dillon,  Paris  T.  Totten,  Thorn 
ton  Mclntosh.  First  Lieutenants — Samuel  S.  Pierce,  Joseph  Bhawhan,  Robert  F.  Burden,  D.  M. 
Gunn,  Cheney  Prouty,  Anderson  Davis,  George  R.  Ledyard,  Joseph  L.  Smith,  John  Henderson, 
George  Gilchrist.  Second  Lieutenants— E.  K.  Woodruff,  William  S.  Parmley,  Cyrus  II.  Talbott, 
Jeesup  Riley,  Theodore  L.  Seevers,  Lycurgus  McCoy,  John  C.  Klyn,  William  H.  Gore,  John  Richard, 
John  M.  Baugh. 


THIRTY-THIRD     INFANTRY.  615 

troops  were  formed  into  line,  but  there  was  no  attack.  There  was  but  one 
casualty  happened  during  the  expedition.  A  soldier  of  Company  B  acci 
dentally  shot  off  a  finger,  and  Dr.  Scott  amputated  with  a  chisel  and  stick 
of  wood.  On  the  3d,  the  regiment  returned  to  Columbus. 

On  the  morning  of  the  8th,  it  started  on  a  steamer  for  Helena,  Arkansas, 
and  reached  that  place  on  the  13th.  A  regular  camp  was  pitched  about 
one  half  mile  south  of  the  town.  The  regiment  remained  at  this  miserable 
locality  for  about  a  month  of  most  miserable  weather.  On  the  9th  of  Feb 
ruary,  it  proceeded,  along  with  other  troops,  to  the  Yazoo  Pass,  and  during 
two  weeks  in  which  it  rained  almost  without  cessation,  assisted  in  clearing 
that  devious  and  narrow  channel  of  obstructions  preparatory  for  the  expe 
dition  which  soon  afterwards  made  the  Pass  historical.  On  the  23d,  the 
troops  returned  to  Helena,  and  on  the  next  day  joined  the  main  expedition, 
which  moved  down  the  Pass,  and  as  far  as  Fort  Pemberton,  but  which, 
failing  to  reduce  that  work,  retraced  its  way  again  to  Helena. 

The  second  camp  of  the  Thirty-third  near  Helena  was  pitched  on  a  hill 
side  about  half  a  mile  northwest  of  the  town,  on  April  9th.  By  this  time, 
on  account  of  exposure  'at  Columbus,  and  the  privations  of  the  Yazoo  Pass 
Expedition,  the  strength  of  the  regiment  had  become  considerably  reduced. 
Several  of  the  original  line  officers  had  resigned  on  account  of  sickness,  and 
their  places  were  filled  by  others. 

During  the  Pass  Expedition  the  regiment  was  in  the  brigade  of  General 
Fisk.  It  continued  under  his  command  after  reaching  Helena  till  the  llth 
of  June,  when  Colonel  Bice  assumed  command  of  the  brigade,  and  never 
afterwards  returned  to  his  original  command.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mackay 
usually  commanded  the  regiment  from  this  time  forth,  and  afterwards  re 
ceived  the  appointment  of  colonel.  The  regiment  was  almost  daily  drilled 
while  in  camp  at  Helena.  On  the  1st  of  May  a  small  body  of  rebel  cavalry 
made  a  dash  upon  the  lines,  and  the  Thirty-third  was  sent  out  to  cut  them 
off.  It  marched  about  ten  miles,  but  returned  to  camp  the  next  day  with 
out  having  seen  any  rebels.  A  few  days  after  this,  Colonel  Bice,  in  com 
mand  of  his  own  regiment,  the  Twenty-eighth  Wisconsin,  a  detachment  of 
the  Third  Iowa  Cavalry  and  the  Third  Iowa  Battery,  marched  toward  Cot 
ton  Plant,  Arkansas,  and  having  destroyed  a  large  quantity  of  corn  returned 
in  about  a  week.  On  the  18th,  the  regiment  took  part  in  its  first  brigade 
drill,  and  from  this  time  till  the  battle  of  Helena,  it  was  all  the  while  occu 
pied  with  drilling,  fatigue,  and  picket  duties,  except  that,  after  about  the 
middle  of  June,  till  the  attack  upon  the  post  was  actually  made  on  the  4th 
of  July,  it  was  frequently  marched  to  the  front  and  formed  into  line  to  repel 
fancied  attacks  which  were  at  this  period  as  frequent  as  they  had  been  the 
winter  before  at  Columbus,  Kentucky. 


616  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  HELENA. 

The  constant  alarm  at  Helena,  however,  was  not  unreasonable,  and  it  re 
sulted  in  great  good — in  the  strictest  watchfulness,  and  in  the  improvement 
of  the  defences  of  the  post,  so  that  a  small  body  of  troops  by  gallant  fight 
ing  were  able  to  repel  the  assaults  of  an  army  five  times  as  large  as  their 
own. 

The  rebel  Lieutenant-General  Holmes,  usually  as  unready,  and  always  as 
fond  of  a  good  meal  as  Athelstane  of  Coningsburg,  roused  himself  on  this 
occasion  from  his  customary  indolence,  and,  declaring  that  he  would  take 
his  Fourth-of-July  dinner  in  Helena,  made  his  dispositions  for  attack  both 
with  energy  and  skill.  Under  Holmes  were  Price,  Marmaduke,  Parsons, 
Shelby,  and  other  noted  general  officers  of  the  Confederacy,  with  forces 
numbering  between  fifteen  and  twenty  thousand. 

The  town  of  Helena  is  situated  on  flat  ground,  but  to  the  westward,  at 
the  distance  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  and  running  parallel  to  the  river,  is  a 
rough  ridge  of  hills,  broken  into  several  distinct  heights  by  intervening 
ravines,  which  open  toward  the  town.  A  little  farther  west  there  is  a 
similar  range  of  hills,  higher  than  the  first.  Fort  Curtis,  a  fortification  of 
considerable  strength,  and  mounting  many  heavy  guns,  commanded  all 
approaches  to  the  town  by  troops  debouching  from  the  ravines.  This  work, 
however,  was  commanded  by  the  ridges  beyond.  Along  this  line  were  four 
batteries  of  light  artillery,  each  planted  on  a  commanding  elevation,  from 
which  the  guns  could  sweep  in  all  directions,  and  connected  by  rifle-pits  for 
infantry.  The  batteries  were  called  A,  B,  C,  D,  A  being  on  the  right  and 
D  on  the  left  of  the  line.  The  low  ground  on  both  flanks  of  this  line  of 
fortifications  was  protected  by  rifle  and  cavalry  pits,  and  batteries  of  ten- 
pounder  Parrotts,  and  six  and  twelve-pounder  brass  pieces.  The  principal 
roads  leading  to  Helena  had  been  obstructed  by  fallen  timber. 

The  effective  force  of  the  garrison  was  three  thousand  and  eight  hundred 
men.  The  gun-boat  Tyler,  always  in  fortunate  position,  now  in  the  channel 
of  the  Mississippi  in  front  of  Helena,  rendered  most  valuable  assistance 
during  the  entire  engagement,  but  not  enough  to  justify  the  dispatch  of  the 
Gascon  Porter,  a  hundred  miles  away  from  the  enemy,  that  it  had  "  saved 
the  day." 

Reveille  aroused  the  garrison  at  two  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  4th. 
The  troops  were  in  the  positions  assigned  them  before  four  o'clock.  At 
this  hour,  our  pickets  were  driven  in,  almost  at  the  same  moment,  in  front 
of  our  left,  centre,  and  right,  and  it  was  not  long  till  the  action  became 
general.  Artillery  opened  upon  both  flanks  of  our  army  as  early  as  half- 
past  four,  and  both  wings  were  soon  spiritedly  engaged.  The  design  of 
the  enemy,  however,  soon  developed  itself  in  determined  attacks  upon 


THIRTY-THIRD     INFANTRY.  617 

Batteries  C  and  D  against  which  their  troops  were  thrown  in  heavy  masses, 
with  the  evident  purpose  of  breaking  through  our  centre  and  then  falling 
upon  both  wings  in  reverse,  or  rolling  them  up  toward  the  flanks  in  confu 
sion  and'defeat.  Whilst,  therefore,  the  fighting  at  all  parts  of  the  line  was 
severe,  it  was  most  severe  and  bloody  on  our  centre  and  left  centre.  Holmes 
himself  directed  the  attack  upon  Battery  D,  whilst  Price  directed  that  upon 
C.  A  regiment  advanced  in  four  ranks  upon  D,  but  was  quickly  hurled 
back  by  the  fire  from  both  that  battery  and  C.  They  were  reenforced,  and 
again  moved  to  the  attack,  but  were  soon  checked,  and  sought  shelter  in 
the  ravines  and  fallen  timber.  At  this  time  a  dense  mist  enveloped  hills 
and  batteries,  and  hostilities  here  ceased  for  nearly  an  hour.  When  the 
fog  was  dispelled,  the  force  in  front  of  Battery  D  seemed  to  have  been 
weakened,  but  between  the  position  of  that  force  and  Battery  C  the  bayonets 
of  three  distinct  regiments  moving  on  the  latter  work  glistened  in  the  sun, 
as  the  troops  moved  across  the  low  ridges.  As  they  approached  the  work, 
they  came  up  neither  in  line  nor  column,  but  in  dense  mass,  and  were  thus 
fired  into  by  artillery  and  musketry,  doing  fearful  execution.  But  their 
progress  was  not  even  checked.  They  came  on,  shouting  like  demons,  and 
captured  the  battery,  but  not  until  one  of  the  guns  was  spiked,  and  the 
primers  all  carried  away,  so  that  the  pieces  were  useless  to  their  captors. 
The  artillerymen  and  infantry  supports  fell  back  in  the  direction  of  Fort 
Curtis,  in  some  confusion,  but  rallied  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  and  henceforth 
acted  as  sharp-shooters  to  protect  the  gunners  of  the  principal  work. 
Against  this,  the  enemy,  flushed  with  success  and  confident  of  a  speedy 
general  victory,  now  directed  the  assault.  As  they  had  done  against  the 
captured  battery,  so  now  against  the  fort,  the  troops  moved  in  swarms, 
yelling  as  they  came.  Five  twenty-four-pounder  siege  guns  and  one  thirty- 
two-pounder  columbiad  swept  the  hill  up  which  they  must  advance,  from 
base  to  crest.  The  guns  of  Batteries  A,  B,  and  D  commanded  the  approach. 
The  broadside  guns  of  the  Tyler  sent  their  shells  to  the  spot  with  wonderful 
accuracy.  The  irregular  front  of  the  advancing  masses  was  fairly  smashed 
to  pieces.  The  vast  mob — for  it  may  well  be  called  such — was  struck  with 
horror,  turned  round  as  by  a  common  impulse,  and  retreated  through  a 
sickening  sight  of  the  heads,  limbs,  and  mangled  bodies  of  many  comrades 
torn  off  and  literally  lifted  into  the  air  by  the  terrific  storm  of  iron.  This 
cannonading  was  heard  beyond  Little  Rock.  Meantime,  all  had  been  going 
well  on  the  extremes  of  the  line.  In  front  of  Fort  Curtis  the  rebels 
attempted  to  form  again,  but  annoyed  by  the  bullets  of  our  sharp-shooters 
and  confused  by  the  fire  of  our  guns,  they  were  compelled  to  acknowledge 
themselves  defeated.  Our  infantry  and  dismounted  cavalry  crept  over  the 
steep  hills,  pressing  back  the  enemy  at  every  point,  and  capturing  many 
prisoners.  They  would  have  driven  them  farther  but  for  the  shells  from 
78 


618  IOWA    AND     THE     KEBELLION. 

the  Tyler,  which  now  fell  among  our  own  troops.  At  eleven  o'clock  the 
battle  was  gained,  and  the  rehel  army  in  disordered  retreat  upon  Little 
Rock.  The  Union  loss  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  was  less  than  two 
hundred  and  fifty.  The  rebel  loss  was  certainly  more  than  two  thousand. 
They  lost  in  prisoners  nearly  twelve  hundred,  whilst  we  buried  two  hundred 
and  seventy-five  of  their  dead,  and  saw  the  graves  of  more  than  an  hundred, 
buried  by  their  own  parties. 

This  stout  defence  of  Helena,  which  was  a  victory  so  important  that  it 
would  have  fairly  received  thb  admiration  of  the  country,  but  for  the  more 
grand  achievements  of  our  arms  at  Gettysburg  and  Vicksburg,  was  made 
by  Brigadier-General  Salomon,  of  Wisconsin.  Under  him,  Colonel  Rice, 
commanding  a  brigade,  performed  the  most  valuable  services,  and  earned 
promotion  which  was  bestowed  with  unusual  promptness.  The  Iowa  troops 
which  fought  here  were  the  Third  Battery,  Twenty-ninth,  Thirty- third, 
and  Thirty-sixth  Regiments  of  Infantry.  Colonel  Rice's  Brigade  consisted 
of  these  infantry  regiments  and  the  Thirty-third  Missouri  Infantry.  The 
losses  of  his  command  embraced  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  entire  casual 
ties  of  the  day.  The  Twenty-ninth,  Colonel  Benton,  took  position  on  the 
bluffs  in  front  of  Battery  A,  and  steadily  drove  back  the  enemy  from  early 
in  the  morning  till  about  ten  o'clock.  It  was  supported  by  the  Thirty-sixth, 
Colonel  Kittredge,  and  at  this  time  relieved  by  that  regiment,  which  con 
tinued  the  advance  till  a  halt  was  ordered.  The  Thirty-third  Missouri, 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Heath,  manned  the  guns  of  Fort  Curtis,  and  of  the  four 
batteries.  The  Thirty-third  Iowa,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mackay,  supported 
both  Batteries  C  and  D,  and  was  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight  from  the  com 
mencement  to  the  close.  It  captured  two  stands  of  colors  and  as  many 
prisoners  as  it  had  men  in  action.  The  Iowa  Battery  did  good  service  on 
the  extreme  right. 

All  the  troops  in  this  engagement  behaved  most  handsomely.  Colonel 
Rice  in  his  official  report  of  the  battle,  specially  refers  to  Colonels  Benton 
and  Kittredge,  Lieutenant-Colonels  Mackay,  Patterson,  and  Heath,  Majors 
Gibson,  Van  Beck  and  Shoemaker,  and  Lieutenant  Lacey,  his  Adjutant- 
General.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mackay  in  his  account  of  the  operations  of 
the  Thirty-third,  says  the  officers  and  men  behaved  splendidly  without 
exception,  and  he  particularly  mentions  Major  Gibson,  Captains  Yerger, 
Lofland,  and  Whipple,  and  Lieutenants  Prouty  and  Sharman.  Colonel 
Benton,  in  a  clear  narrative  of  the  battle,  with  special  mention  of  the  doings 
and  losses  of  his  own  command,  published  in  the  Council  Bluffs  Nonpareil, 
names  every  officer  of  the  regiment,  awarding  high  praise  to  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Patterson  and  to  Adjutant  Lyman.  Colonel  Kittredge  congratu 
lated  his  command,  by  a  general  order,  for  their  gallant  conduct  in  the 
engagement.  Certain  it  is  the  thirty-eight  hundred  troops  who  whipped 


THIRTY-THIRD     INFANTRY.  619 

the  large  army  under  Holmes,  quitted  themselves  like  men.  As  for  the 
Thirty-third  Iowa,  it  held  position  where  it  was  more  exposed  than  any 
other  regiment,  suffered  more  loss,  and,  perhaps,  accomplished  more  toward 
achieving  the  victory.  Ever  afterwards  things  went  better  with  the  com 
mand.  There  was  more  harmony  among  the  officers,  and  more  kindness 
for  each  other  among  the  men — a  fine  esprit-de- corps  which  nothing  but  a 
severe  battle  could  have  given. 

Unless  we  except  the  celebration  on  the  8th,  arranged  by  General  Pren- 
tiss,  in  honor  of  the  4th  and  the  victory,  nothing  occurred  to  tempt  the 
regiment  from  its  dull  routine  of  garrison  duties,  till  the  departure  of  the 
column  to  operate  against  Little  Rock.  In  this  thirsty  campaign  Colonel 
Rice  commanded  a  division,  but  he  received  his  commission  as  Brigadier- 
General  at  Clarendon.  After  the  capture  of  the  place,  on  September  10th, 
the  regiment  remained  at  Little  Rock,  in  rude  barracks  built  of  logs  by  the 
men  themselves,  until  the  southwestern  expedition  started  in  the  latter  part 
of  March,  1864,  except  that  it  marched  to  Benton  and  back,  being  gone  the 
last  week  of  October. 

On  the  march  to  Camden,  Major  Gibson  commanded  the  regiment, 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Mackay  being  left  sick  at  Little  Rock.  Of  the  labor, 
exposure,  hunger  and  fighting  of  this  expedition  the  Thirty-third  had  its 
share.  The  regiment  with  the  Twenty-ninth  Iowa  and  Twenty-eighth  Wis 
consin,  composed  General  Rice's  Brigade,  numbering,  when  it  left  Little 
Rock,  twenty-one  hundred  men,  well  drilled  and  disciplined,  and  distin 
guished  in  the  corps  for  their  soldierly  appearance  and  conduct.  The 
organization  was  called  "Rice's  Brigade"  by  the  whole  army,  and  during 
this  campaign  became  well  known  and  feared  by  the  enemy.  "  You-uns," 
said  a  gaunt  Arkansas  captive  to  one  of  the  men  of  the  Thirty-third,  "are 
the  fellows  who  fought  we-uns  so  like  hell  at  Helena. ' '  The  troops,  espe 
cially  the  Twenty-ninth,  were  severely  engaged  throughout  nearly  the  whole 
day  of  April  2d,  and  were  under  fire  at  the  battle  of  Elkin's  Ferry,  where 
General  Rice  was  slightly  wounded. 

The  column,  still  proceeding  in  a  southwesterly  course,  with  the  apparent 
intention  of  striking  the  Red  River  at  Fulton,  with  the  town  of  Washing 
ton  on  the  direct  line,  approached  Prairie  D'Anne  on  the  morning  of  the 
10th  of  April.  This  prairie  is  an  undulating  field,  fourteen  miles  long  and 
eight  miles  wide,  in  the  county  of  Hempstead.  The  position  of  our  army 
at  this  time  was  equidistant  from  Fulton  on  the  southwest  and  Camden  on 
the  southeast.  Here  General  Steele  received  intelligence  of  the  defeat  of 
General  Banks  at  Mansfield  and  Pleasant  Hill,  Louisiana,  and  determined 
to  change  his  course  towards  Camden.  He  manoeuvred  on  this  prairie  dur 
ing  the  10th,  llth,  and  12th.  General  Price  posted  his  army  behind  con 
siderable  works  of  earth  and  logs,  in  the  edge  of  the  timber.  During  these 


()20  IOWA    AND     THE     EEBELLIOX. 

three  days  there  was  much  skirmishing  and  artillery  dueling  on  the  prairie, 
which  was  dotted  with  groves  of  stunted  undergrowth — hazel  and  thorn 
bushes.  Towards  sundown  on  the  evening  of  the  10th,  the  skirmishing 
had  become  quite  heavy.  The  Thirty-third  and  the  other  regiments  of 
Rice's  Brigade  were  in  line  in  the  woods  near  the  northern  edge  of  the 
prairie.  An  aid  from  Colonel  Engelmann,  commanding  a  brigade,  came  up 
to  General  Rice  with  a  message  that  the  enemy  was  advancing  in  force. 
"Tell  Colonel  Engelmann,"  said  Rice,  "that  I  am  advancing  on  the 
enemy."  Cheered  by  the  prospect  of  speedy  aid,  Colonel  Engelmann' s  gal 
lant  troops  soon  repulsed  the  rebels,  who  fell  behind  the  cover  of  their 
works.  The  artillery  duel  during  the  early  hours  of  the  night  was  a  sublime 
spectacle.  The  torches  of  the  gunners,  the  flashes  of  the  guns,  the  spark 
ling  shells  coursing  through  the  air,  could  be  plainly  seen  from  all  parts  of 
the  field.  But  the  grandest  spectacle  was  witnessed  the  next  day,  when 
the  whole  army  deployed  into  the  prairie  and  marched  forward  for  miles  in 
battle  array — skirmishers  in  front,  batteries  in  position,  cavalry  covering  the 
flanks,  the  infantry  moving  by  battalion  in  double  column,  closed  in  mass — 
flags  waving,  bands  playing  along  the  whole  line.  Night  closed  in  upon 
this  gorgeous  scene  without  a  battle,  and  the  troops  countermarched  to 
their  former  position.  The  next  morning  General  Steele  flanked  the  rebel 
works,  and  found  them  entirely  evacuated.  His  manoeuvres  had  convinced 
the  enemy  that  he  purposed  moving  toward  the  Red  River,  and  he  followed 
the  rebels  for  some  distance  in  that  direction,  skirmishing  with  their  rear 
guard.  His  real  intention  was  to  march  rapidly  upon  Camden  and  occupy 
that  strongly  fortified  place  before  the  enemy  could  regain  possession  of  it. 
This  object  being  soon  discovered  by  the  rebels,  there  was  an  animated 
race  for  the  coveted  place  by  the  two  armies.  On  the  14th  Rice's  Brigade, 
in  light  fighting  order,  marched  in  advance  of  the  main  column,  and  con 
tinued  rapidly  advancing  till  nine  o'clock  at  night.  During  the  entire 
march  from  Prairie  D'Anne  to  within  a  few  miles  of  Camden,  there  was 
less  or  more  skirmishing.  On  the  morning  of  the  15th,  there  was  consider 
able  resistance.  About  nine  o'clock  the  Thirty- third,  holding  the  van, 
came  directly  under  range  of  a  masked  battery  which  suddenly  opened  upon 
the  column.  The  artillery  being  just  at  the  time  moving  up,  there  was 
some  little  confusion  in  the  regiment  as  it  filed  out  of  the  road  into  the 
woods  on  the  left.  Order  was  soon  restored,  and  it  marched  to  a  slight 
elevation  on  the  right  of  the  road,  and  there,  under  fire  of  artillery,  sup 
ported  a  battery  during  the  engagement.  After  an  artillery  duel  of  about 
an  hour,  General  Rice  asked  permission  to  charge,  but  he  had  hardly  com 
menced  the  movement,  when  the  rebels  withdrew.  For  the  rest  of  the  day, 
there  was  constant  skirmishing  on  the  picket  lines.  Near  evening  the 
enemy  took  a  by-road  to  the  west,  and  disputed  our  advance  no  further. 


THIRTY-THIRD     INFANTRY.  621 

Our  column  entered  Camden  about  sundown  and  took  quiet  possession  of 
the  strong  works  which  had  been  constructed  by  the  rebels.  There  was 
but  one  casualty  in  the  Thirty-third  this  day — Marion  Woods  of  Company 
G  had  his  leg  broken  by  a  shell.  I  believe  it  was  on  this  day,  too,  that  mis 
fortune  came  near  the  major  commanding.  As  he  was  marching  through 
a  deep  swamp  on  his  gray  scarecrow,  the  animal  stumbled  and  gave  the 
major,  of  Falstaffian  proportions,  an  unceremonious  baptism  of  mud. 

Until  the  arrival  of  the  supply  train  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mackay, 
on  the  20th,  the  army  was  entirely  without  regular  rations.  The  destroying 
mania  had  seized  the  rebels,  who  for  several  days  previous  to  our  occupation  of 
the  town  had  been  burning  cotton  and  grain.  Our  troops,  during  the  whole 
march  from  Prairie  D'Anne  saw  in  all  directions  the  clouds  of  smoke  from 
these  fires,  whilst  by  night  the  whole  heavens  were  illuminated  by  reflec 
tions  of  the  devouring  flames.  There  was  little  left  to  forage.  Besides,  a 
heavy  forage  train  was  captured  on  the  18th.  The  troops  lived  on  four 
ears  of  corn  apiece  per  day,  which  they  ground  in  hand  mills,  and  made 
into  cakes.  Here  General  Steele  remained,  and  by  a  series  of  misfortunes, 
supplied  the  rebels  with  trains  nearly  as  generously  as  General  Banks  ever 
did  Stonewall  Jackson,  till  the  night  of  April  27th.  Then  he  commenced 
his  retreat. 

On  the  morning  of  the  26th,  the  men  of  the  Thirty- third,  by  a  common 
impulse  which  moved  the  whole  army,  rose  with  the  sun,  quietly  folded 
their  blankets,  and  made  other  preparations  for  a  march.  Knowledge  of 
retreat  seemed  to  be  borne  on  the  air.  No  man  spoke  of  it ;  all  knew  of  it. 
During  the  day,  subsistence  was  delivered  to  the  troops.  Each  man  had 
two  crackers,  a  pint  of  meal,  a  small  piece  of  meat,  and  some  coffee.  The 
troops  remained  quiet  all  day,  lounging  on  the  ground — simply  waiting  for 
night  to  come.  At  sundown  tattoo  was  beat  as  usual.  Command  was 
passed  around  that  at  the  "  taps"  of  the  bass  drum,  the  regiment  should 
silently  fall  in  ranks  and  move  off.  So  after  tattoo  the  men  all  sat  together, 
talking  only  in  whispers,  for  an  hour  which  seemed  like  an  age.  At  last 
the  taps  of  the  drum,  sounding  in  the  deep  stillness  of  the  night  to  the 
anxious  troops,  like  the  booming  of  cannon,  announced  the  retreat,  and  the 
column  moved  through  town,  across  the  pontoon  on  the  Washita,  and 
several  miles  on  the  road  to  Princeton  before  stopping  to  rest.  At  the 
simple  command  "Halt!"  the  men  fell  upon  the  ground  and  went  to 
sleep. 

The  rebels  came  up  with  our  rear  guard  at  noon  of  the  29th,  and  there 
was  skirmishing  till  dark,  and  on  the  following  day  the  battle  of  Jenkins' 
Ferry  was  fought  on  the  muddy  banks  of  the  Saline  River.  It  was  during 
this  engagement,  principally  directed  on  the  Union  side  by  him,  that  Gene 
ral  Rice  received  a  wound  in  his  foot,  from  the  effects  of  which,  after  se- 


622  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

vere  but  patient  suffering,  he  died  on  the  6th  day  of  July.  His  loss  was 
most  sincerely  lamented  by  the  army,  and  especially  by  his  old  regiment. 
It  was  his  command  which  suffered  most  at  this  battle,  the  loss  of  the 
Thirty-third  regiment  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing  being  one  hundred 
and  twenty-nine.  Colonel  Mackay  was  here  severely  wounded,  and  the 
command  of  the  regiment  devolved  upon  Captain  Boydston.  Major  Gib 
son  had  resigned  at  Camden,  and  returning  with  the  command  which  was 
defeated  at  Mark's  Mills,  was  there  captured  by  the  enemy.  In  their 
hands  he  suffered  incredible  hardships,  but  was  released  in  a  few  months, 
afterwards  returned  to  his  home  in  Marion  county,  and  was  appointed  by 
the  President,  Commissary  of  Subsistence.2 

The  Thirty-third  participated,  of  course,  in  the  privations  and  hardships 
of  the  retreat  to  Little  Rock.  It  remained  there  during  the  summer  on 
garrison  duty,  but  all  the  time  daily  drilling,  under  command  of  Lieuten- 

2  In  the  campaign  of  Arkansas,  the  Thirty-third  regiment  lost  more  than  an  hundred  and  thirty 
officers  and  men.  They  are  thus  officially  stated :  March  23d  to  April  26th— Killed,  William  P. 
Funk.  Wounded,  Enos  M.  Woods,  William  H.  Anderson,  John  Burgess,  William  H.  Withrow. 
April  26th  (when  Colonel  Mackay  assumed  command)  to  May  3d,  and  mostly  at  the  battle  of  Jen- 
kins'  Ferry — commissioned  officers  wounded — Colonel  Cyrus  H.  Mackay ;  Captains  A.  J.  Comstock, 
Paris  T.  Totten  (died  of  wounds);  Lieutenants  Thomas  R.Connor  (mortally),  Wilson  De  Garmo, 
Oliver  I.  Kindig. 

ENLISTED  MEN. — Killed,  Sergeants  John  N.  Ewing,  Jasper  Skinner;  Privates  H.  Hinkle,  G.  W. 
Shanafelt,  J.  M.  Roland,  Smith  Banta,  John  M.  Henderson,  William  A.  Trowbridge. 

Wounded,  Sergeant  Major  John  R.  Crawford. 

Company  A— Corporal  John  S.  Johnston ;  Privates  James  T.  Duncan,  Jonathan  S.  Tindall,  Hiram 
P.  Henry,  Alfred  Hagar. 

Company  S — Dennis  Decker,  John  E.  Nichols,  Francis  M.  Wertz. 

Company  C—  Sergeants  Joshua  B.  Wells,  John  T.  Gaunt ;  Corporal  Reuben  Coomes ;  Privates  Mor 
timer  Jackson,  John  Dove,  William  B.  Walker,  Owen  Bartlett,  William  Osborn,  R.  W.  B.  Curry, 
Edward  Graham. 

Company  D — Corporals  John  W.  Jones,  Samuel  Doughman;  Privates  Samuel  L.  Deweese,  Riley 
Mitchell,  David  Adams,  William  M.  Thorp,  Morris  A.  Quaintance. 

Company  ^-Sergeant  John  M.  Finney;  Corporal  David  G.  Wilson;  Privates  Willis  S.  Bird,  Wil 
liam  J.  Bowers,  Amos  Corns,  Wheeler  Chadwick,  Benjamin  Cruzen,  Lewis  H.  Cochran,  Adam 
Eichelbarger,  James  W.  Grover,  John  B.  Harris,  Anthony  Hawk,  Philander  M.  Miller,  John  H. 
Miller,  Samuel  S.  Robertson,  Joseph  Redpath,  Levi  Shaw,  Daniel  Baun. 

Company  J51— Corporal  S.  B.  Montgomery ;  Private  W.  Gibson. 

Company  G— Corporals  John  K.  Fidler,  Lucien  Reynolds;  Privates  William  0.  Downs,  John 
Henry,  John  Nurmeyer,  Isaac  N  Ritner,  Jacob  Taylor,  George  W.  Towne,  Thomas  D.  Wallace, 
Stephanus  Dekock. 

Company  H—  Sergeants  Philip  L.  Suiter,  John  Wightman,  (mortally);  Corporals  T.  J.  Lawler, 
James  Garrett,  C.  J.  Goldthwait,  David  Hollaway ;  Privates  Hiner  Dorman,  John  Shoff,  William  M. 
Rodman,  William  T.  Disor,  James  D.  Compton,  Thomas  Lantry,  William  J.  Parke,  (mortally),  M.  A. 
Peck,  A.  A.  McNeil,  William  R.  Hoyt,  0.  P.  McNeil. 

Company  /—Sergeants  Oscar  L.  Jones,  Peter  K.  Bonebrake;  Corporal  James  W.  Strong;  Privates 
Joseph  Brobst,  Smith  Dunlap,  John  M.  McClelland,  Eri  Goodenough,  Enoch  Palmer,  William  G. 
Reed,  John  S.  Snyder,  James  I.  Welch,  John  Bruett. 

Company  JL— Corporals  George  B.  Stratton,  William  R.  Cowan ;  Privates  D.  T.  Evans,  E.  F.  Hen 
derson,  J.  C.  Roberts,  John  N.  Martin,  F.  M.  Playel,  William  H.  Coulburn,  Samuel  Smith,  Alexander 
Jones,  H.  C.  Haskell,  Ephraim  S.  Smith. 

Nathaniel  H.  Richardson,  Company  A,  David  Dunbar,  Company  E,  Daniel  A.  Wisir,  Company  Gt 
and  Samuel  M.  Tennis,  Company  H,  were  taken  prisoners  with  train  near  Mark's  Mills,  April  23d, 
1864. 


THIRTY-THIRD     INFANTRY.  323 

ant- Colonel  Lofland,  with  the  exception  of  such  days,  and  they  were  not 
infrequent,  as  the  command  was  required  to  perform  fatigue  and  guard  du 
ties  so  wholly  as  to  make  drill,  and  even  dress  parade,  impracticable. 
Here  the  regiment  remained  till  October  30th,  when  it  marched  for  Fort 
Smith,  guarding  a  supply  train,  and  accompanied  by  a  section  of  the  Third 
Iowa  Battery,  the  whole  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Mackay.  The 
march  was  on  the  north  side  of  the  Arkansas  River.  At  Lewisburg  the 
command  was  reenforced  by  the  Second  Arkansas  Infantry,  some  two 
hundred  cavalry,  and  a  company  or  two  of  colored  troops.  At  Clarksville, 
it  was  again  reenforced.  It  arrived  at  Van  Buren,  a  few  miles  below  Fort 
Smith,  on  the  15th  of  November,  and,  the  Arkansas  not  being  fordable, 
the  train  was  there  unloaded.  The  regiment  started  back  on  the  17th,  and 
reached  Little  Rock  on  the  27th,  where  it  remained  in  quiet  during  the 
rest  of  the  year,  and  until  about  a  month  of  the  next  had  passed. 

At  the  close  of  1864,  the  regiment  numbered  seven  hundred  and  eighty- 
eight  men.  Having  been  nine  hundred  and  eighty  strong  when  mustered 
into  the  service,  and  having  received  two  hundred  and  fourteen  recruits  its 
losses  by  sickness,  by  a  few  transfers,  and  by  the  casualties  of  battle  had 
been  more  than  four  hundred.3 

In  February,  1865,  the  Thirty-third  bade  good-bye  to  Arkansas,  and 
moved  to  the  Department  of  the  Grulf  to  join  in  its  last  campaign,  that 
against  Mobile.  Having  taken  honorable  part  in  those  brilliant  operations, 
it  was  not  many  weeks  afterwards  mustered  out  of  the  service.  Officers 
and  men  returned  to  Iowa  to  lay  down  their  arms.  They  had  everywhere 
well  done  their  duty,  and  some  of  the  finest  achievements  of  the  war  must 
be  forgotten  before  our  people  can  cease  to  cherish  grateful,  admiring  recol 
lections  of  the  Thirty-third  Iowa  Volunteers. 

3  The  roster  of  the  regiment  at  this  time  embraced  the  following  named  officers :  Colonel,  Cyrus 
II.  Mackay  ;  Lieutenant-Colonel,  John  Lofland;  Major,  Cyrus  B.  Boydston;  Surgeon,  John  Y.  Hop 
kins;  Assistant,  William  M.  Scott;  Quartermaster,  Eugene  W.  Rice;  Chaplain,  Reverend  Francis  M. 
Slusser;  Captains  Samuel  S.  Pierce,  William  S.  Parnilee,  Joshua  B.  Wells,  Riley  Jessup,  Cheny 
Prouty,  John  Bell,  George  R.  Ledyard,  William  H.  Gore,  Levi  Carrothers,  William  A.  Rankin;  First 
Lieutenants  James  M.  Cooper,  Joseph  J.  Harter,  Oliver  J.  Kindig,  Henry  C.  Leighton,  T.  L.  Seevers, 
Frederick  Sancheztereso,  Charles  H.  Sharman,  W.  De  Garno,  Oscar  L.Jones,  James  Loughridgo; 
Second  Lieutenants  Abijah  W.  Bishop,  Norman  B.  Hook,  Amos  Hiatt,  Lewis  P.  Cory,  David  0. 
Holland,  only  half  the  companies  at  this  time  having  second  lieutenants. 


CHAPTEE    XXXVIII. 

THIRTY-FOURTH  INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZED  IN  THE  FIFTH  CONGRESSIONAL  DISTRICT— RENDEZVOUS  AT  BUR 
LINGTON—SICKNESS  IN  "CAMP  LAUMAN"— THE  GOOD  SAMARITANS  OF  BUR 
LINGTON—VOYAGE  TO  HELENA— GENERAL  SHERMAN'S  UNSUCCESSFUL  ATTACK 
ON  VICKSBURG  BY  CHICKASAW  BAYOU— ARKANSAS  POST— GUARD  OF  PRISON 
ERS  TO  CHICAGO— REST  AT  ST.  LOUIS— HAINES'  BLUFF— IN  LOUISIANA— MOR- 
GANZA— IN  TEXAS— PROFICIENCY  IN  DRILL— BACK  TO  LOUISIANA— ADMIRAL 
FARRAGUT— CAPTURE  OF  FORTS  GAINJSS  AND  MORGAN—  RETURN 
TO  LOUISIANA— THE  REGIMENT  CONSOLIDATED  WITH  THE  THIRTY-EIGHTH— 
GENERAL  CANBY'S  SUCCESSFUL  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  MOBILE  — SUBSEQUENT 
HISTORY  OF  THE  REGIMENT. 

FOUR  counties,  namely,  Warren,  Lucas,  Decatur,  and  Wayne,  in  the 
Fifth  Congressional  District,  furnished  nearly  all  the  nine  hundred  and 
thirty-four  men  who  originally  formed  the  Thirty-fourth  regiment.  They 
were  recruited  in  response  to  the  proclamation  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  of  July  2d,  1862,  the  companies  being  all  organized,  and  ready  to 
move  to  regimental  rendezvous  during  the  following  month  of  August.  The 
city  of  Burlington  was  designated  as  the  rendezvous,  and,  though  it  was 
known  there  was  no  mustering  officer  of  the  regular  service  there  to  receive 
them,  the  companies  were  all  present  about  the  middle  of  September,  where 
they  remained  at  "Camp  Lauman,"  under  command  of  Colonel  George  W. 
Clark,  of  Warren  county.  Here  the  regiment  was  regularly  entered  the 
service  of  the  United  States,  on  the  15th  of  October.1 

i  ROSTER  OP  FIELD,  STAFF,  AND  LINE  OFFICERS:  Colonel,  George  W.  Clark;  Lieutenant-Colonel,  War 
ren  S.  Dungan ;  Major,  R.  D.  Kellogg ;  Adjutant,  William  M.  Bryant ;  Quartermaster,  John  D.  Sar- 
ver;  Surgeon, Charles  W.  Davis;  Assistant  Surgeons,  Henry  W.  Jay  and  Victor  H.Coffman;  Chaplain, 
Reverend  Uri  P.  Golliday. 

Company  A — From  Decatur,  Captain  E.  II.  Alexander ;  Lieutenants  Jonathan  R.  Waters,  R.  T. 
Sloan.  Company  B— From  Warren,  Captain  William  P.  Guthrie;  Lieutenants  John  C.  S.  Wosson, 
James  A.  Dunagan.  Company  C—  Warren,  Captain  D.  H.  Lyons ;  Lieutenants  H.  C.  Henderson, 
James  S.  Clark.  Company  D — Warren,  Captain  James  H.  Knox ;  Lieutenants  E.  W.  Perry,  John 
M.  Lee.  Company  E — Lucas,  Captain  N.  B.  Gardner;  Lieutenants  Francis  Nolen,  Jacob  Swank. 
Company  F—  Wayne,  Captain  J.  N.  McClanahan ;  Lieutenants  John  B.  Hatton,  B.  F.  Jared.  Com 
pany  G— mostly  from  Lucas  county,  but  with  some  men  from  Clarke  and  Marion,  Captain 
Stephen  B.  Low;  Lieutenants  William  Goltrv.  Milo  L.  Doty.  Company  .77— Warren,  Captain  John 
624 


THIRTY-FOURTH     INFANTRY.  625 

Before  this  time,  however,  the  measles  had  broken  out  in  camp,  and  it 
continued  to  keep  many  of  the  men  unfit  for  duty  during  their  entire  stay 
at  Burlington,  and  rendered  them  peculiarly  liable  to  disease  afterwards. 
There  were  not  less  than  six  hundred  cases  of  measles  in  the  regiment 
during  its  stay  of  about  two  months  at  Camp  Lauman.  The  silver  lining 
to  this  threatening  cloud  was  found  in  the  generous  kindness  with  which 
the  citizens  of  Burlington  administered  to  the  wants  and  alleviated  the 
sufferings  of  the  afflicted,  many  of  the  good  Samaritans  of  that  city  visit 
ing  camp  daily,  and  giving  their  personal  care  to  the  sick.  With  the  con 
stant  attention  of  these  good  men  and  women,  and  that  of  the  skilful 
surgeons,  most  of  the  patients  recovered.  As  many  of  the  soldiers  as  were 
able  to  endure  the  exercise,  were  daily  drilled  during  all  this  time. 

Fully  provided  in  all  respects  for  the  field,  the  men  mostly  recovered  or 
recovering  from  the  measles,  they  bade  farewell  to  the  hospitable  city  on 
the  22d  of  November,  and  steamed  down  the  Mississippi,  bound  for  Helena, 
Arkansas.  The  boat  was  crowded,  and  the  voyage  on  that  account  some 
what  disagreeable,  but  the  command  arrived  without  serious  mishap  at 
their  place  of  destination  on  December  5th,  and  reported  to  General 
Steele,  commanding  the  district.  The  regiment  had  been  here  but  a  few 
days,  when  the  small-pox  broke  out  among  the  men.  Nevertheless,  it 
joined  the  army  under  General  Sherman,  which  soon  afterwards  made  an 
attack  on  Yicksburg  by  Chickasaw  Bayou.  In  the  sufferings  and  bloody 
disaster  of  this  seemingly  hasty  and  ill-managed  campaign  the  Thirty-fourth 
participated  from  beginning  to  end,  being  all  the  time  with  Thayer's  Bri 
gade,  Steele' s  Division — a  command  which  bore  as  brave  and  creditable  a 
part  as  any  other.  With  the  terrible  repulse  from  Chickasaw  Bluffs  closed  the 
year  1862.  What  with  the  effects  of  this  severe  campaign  and  the  sickness 
with  which  the  regiment  had  been  visited,  and  was  at  this  time  suffering, 
its  short  period  of  active  service  had  mournfully  thinned  its  ranks  and  cast 
a  melancholy  shadow  over  the  spirits  of  all. 

But  the  fine  success  of  Major-General  McClernand  in  executing  the  plan 
of  General  Sherman  for  the  reduction  of  Arkansas  Post,  which  was  accom 
plished  early  in  the  year  1863,  our  regiment  bearing  a  brilliant  part  in  the 
operations,  brought  to  fresh  life  the  drooping  spirits  of  the  men,  and  again 
aroused  their  martial  enthusiasm  to  the  highest  pitch.  After  the  capture 
of  the  post  and  garrison,  Colonel  Clark  was  ordered  with  his  regiment  to 
guard  the  prisoners  to  Camp  Douglas,  near  the  city  of  Chicago.  The  men 
commenced  preparations  for  the  performance  of  this  duty  with  great  alacrity 
and  satisfaction.  Their  life  on  a  ricketty  old  transport  of  late,  especially 

Kern;  Lieutenants  Ebenezer  Herring,  Thomas  G.  Milligan.  Company  I—  Decatur,  Captain  Thomas 

Ward ;  Lieutenants  John  R.  Andrews,  William  K.  Maxwell.  Company  K—  Lucas,  Captain  William 
Boyle ;  Lieutenants  John  0.  Coles,  John  Chancy. 
79 


626  IOWA    AXD     THE     REBELLION. 

on  the  horrible  Yazoo  River,  had  been  enough,  of  itself,  even  without  other 
cumulative  evils,  to  have  made  any  body  of  civilized  men  rejoice  at  the 
prospect  of  returning  to  "God's  country."  But  their  hopes  of  better 
times  were  doomed  to  most  gloomy  disappointment.  Colonel  Clark,  as  a 
guard  for  the  prisoners  had  his  own  regiment,  and  five  companies  of  the 
One  Hundred  and  Thirteenth  Illinois.  The  prisoners  numbered  more  than 
five  thousand,  so  that  he  had  under  his  charge  not  less  than  six  thousand 
five  hundred  souls.  For  the  transportation,  in  mid  winter,  the  weather 
being  colder  than  it  had  ever  been  known  in  that  climate,  of  this  large 
number  of  men,  he  had  three  of  the  poorest  steamboats  in  the  fleet.  Fuel 
had  to  be  collected  along  the  river  as  it  could  be  found.  The  voyage  from 
Arkansas  Post  to  St.  Louis,  made  under  these  unfavorable  circumstances, 
occupied  two  weeks — a  period  every  moment  of  which  was  miserable  beyond 
expression  to  every  man  on  the  more  than  crowded  boats.  As  if  to  bring 
our  devoted  command  to  the  very  depth  of  misery,  small-pox  in  its  most 
loathsome  form,  attacked  the  prisoners.  When  the  little  fleet  at  last 
reached  St.  Louis,  the  men  had  suffered  all  the  horrors  of  the  Middle  Pas 
sage.  General  McClernand,  responsible  for  thus  crowding  men  together 
worse  than  a  humane  man  would  crowd  cattle  on  a  voyage  to  the  shambles, 
was  scarcely  less  blameworthy  than  the  savages  who  tortured  our  prisoners 
at  Andersonville,  and  had  his  cruelty  been  intentional  it  would  have  been 
equally  atrocious.  Colonel  Clark,  who  had  seen  the  sufferings  on  many 
battle-fields,  declared  that  the  human  suffering  during  this  trip  exceeded 
anything  he  had  ever  witnessed. 

Leaving  his  sick  at  St.  Louis,  Colonel  Clark  proceeded  to  Chicago  by  rail, 
and  having  delivered  his  prisoners  to  the  proper  custodians,  returned  to 
Benton  Barracks  with  the  regiment,  reaching  there  early  in  the  month  of 
February.  When  the  command  reached  the  Barracks,  it  was  totally  broken 
down.  The  officers  and  men  were  nearly  all  sick.  "When  we  reached 
there,"  says  the  Colonel,  "  we  were  the  most  sickly,  depressed,  and  melan 
choly  set  of  soldiers  I  ever  saw.  During  the  following  month  the  mortality 
in  the  regiment  was  frightful. "  During  the  stay  of  the  regiment  at  Ben- 
ton  Barracks — that  is,  from  the  5th  of  February  to  the  20th  of  April — 
many  were  discharged  on  account  of  ill  health.2  During  this  time  a  detach- 

2  Colonel  Clark,  in  speaking  to  this  point,  in  his  account  of  the  regiment  furnished  to  the  Adju 
tant  General,  says,  "  at  least  one  half  of  them  were  discharged  without  sufficient  cause.  I  judge 
from  their  speedy  recovery  and  healthy  condition  afterwards."  This  is  unjust  as  well  as  illogical. 
Many  a  man  has  died  in  the  army,  simply  because  he  was  there,  and  not  at  home.  Where  men  had 
such  experience  as  the  Thirty-fourth,  home-sickness  might  amount  to  a  positive  disease  not  only, 
but  prove  fatal  in  its  consequences.  The  men  had  become  sick  at  heart,  thoroughly  depressed  in 
spirit.  Their  minds  were  diseased,  so  to  say,  and  kept  their  bodies  diseased.  Being  discharged, 
their  thoughts  recurred  no  more  to  the  horrors  of  the  "  River  of  Death"  or  of  the  prison  boats. 
The  speedy  recovery  of  physical  strength  was  but  the  natural  result  of  the  recovery  of  mental 
elasticity  and  vigor. 


THIRTY-FOURTH      INFANTRY.  627 

meni  of  seventy  men,  Captain  Gardner,  assisted  by  Lieutenants  Dilley  and 
Rockwell,  escorted  several  hundred  prisoners  to  City  Point,  Virginia,  per 
forming  the  service  in  about  sixteen  days,  and  another  detachment  went  to 
Memphis,  as  an  escort  of  certain  paymasters. 

From  St.  Louis  the  regiment  went  by  rail  to  Pilot  Knob,  then  threatened 
by  Marniaduke  and  his  troopers.  Colonel  Clark  was  placed  in  command  of 
the  post,  and  soon  afterwards  in  command  of  the  sub-district,  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Dungan  commanding  the  regiment.  The  encampment 
here  was  in  a  pleasant,  healthful  locality,  and  the  men  soon  recov 
ered  their  natural  strength  and  spirits.  Their  number  increased  from 
three  hundred  to  four  hundred,  fit  for  duty.  Marmaduke  did  not 
come,  and  on  the  3d  of  June  the  regiment  received  orders  to  march  to  St. 
Genevieve,  on  the  Mississippi  River,  and  join  the  army  there  under  Major- 
General  Herron,  which  was  about  to  embark  for  Vicksburg  to  reenforce 
General  Grant  besieging  that  stronghold.  Proceeding  thither  by  steamer, 
it  took  position  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  line  of  investment,  and  there  re 
mained,  in  the  performance  of  very  heavy  fatigue  and  picket  duties,  until 
the  capitulation.  It  is  well  known  that  the  army  besieging  Vicksburg  suf 
fered  great  hardships,  from  onerous  labors,  crowded  encampments,  hot 
weather,  bad  water,  from  the  combined  effects  of  which  resulted  a  vast 
amount  of  sickness.  The  experience  of  the  Thirty-fourth  previously,  how 
ever,  had  been  so  much  rougher  than  this,  that  the  men  endured  it  with 
comparative  ease,  and  without  complaint.  It  was,  perhaps,  impossible  for 
any  body  of  men  to  be  cheerful  under  such  circumstances,  but  if  there  were 
in  all  the  army  besieging  Vicksburg  a  regiment  in  good  spirits,  it  was  the 
Thirty-Fourth  Iowa,  The  casualties  of  the  regiment  during  its  eighteen 
days'  service  here  were  four  killed,  and  six  wounded.3 

On  the  morning  of  July  10th,  Major- General  Herron  received  orders  to 
reenforce  General  Banks,  then,  as  it  was  supposed,  laying  siege  to  Port 
Hudson.  Accordingly  he  embarked  his  division  on  transports,  and  was 
ready  to  move  on  the  morning  of  the  llth,  when  intelligence  of  the  uncon 
ditional  surrender  of  the  stronghold  was  received.  Whereupon  General 
Herron' s  orders  were  countermanded,  and  he  was  ordered  to  proceed  to, 
and  up  the  Yazoo  River.  The  change  of  destination  made  necessary  a 
change  of  transports,  on  account  of  which  the  movement  did  not  commence 
till  noon  of  the  12th,  when  all  got  under  way,  convoyed  by  the  iron-clad 
gun-boat  De  Kalb,  and  two  other  armored  vessels.  The  objective  point  of 
the  expedition  was  Yazoo  City,  about  fifty  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the 
river  on  a  direct  line,  but  twice  as  far  by  the  course  of  the  stream.  About 
noon  of  the  13th,  General  Herron  arrived  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city.  Dis- 

*  Sergeant  Finley,  of  Company  E,  "  than  whom,"  says  Colonel  Clark,  "  I  never  saw  a  better  soldier," 
was  killed  by  caup-df-soUd. 


628  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

embarking  a  small  body  of  cavalry  on  the  west,  and  a  considerable  number 
of  infantry  on  the  east  bank,  he  moved  directly  on  the  city,  which  had 
just  been  evacuated.  General  Herron  himself  proceeded  up  the  river  on 
the  De  Kalb,  which,  when  nearly  in  front  of  the  city,  struck  a  torpedo, 
and  almost  immediately  sank  in  fifteen  feet  water,  but  fortunately  without 
loss  of  life.  On  the  morning  of  the  16th,  General  Herron  with  a  part  of 
his  command  marched  across  the  country  in  the  direction  of  Canton,  cross 
ing  the  Big  Black  River  at  Moore's  Ferry,  for  the  purpose  of  protecting 
the  flank  and  rear  of  General  Sherman  besieging  Jackson.  That  night, 
however,  Johnston  evacuated  the  place,  and  Herron  returned  through  the 
heat  and  dust  to  Yazoo  City,  arriving  there  on  the  19th.  He  reached 
Vicksburg  again  on  the  evening  of  the  21st,  having  during  his  absence 
captured  three  hundred  prisoners,  six  pieces  of  heavy  artillery,  and  large 
quantities  of  public  property,  including  one  steamer,  nearly  one  thousand 
horses  and  mules,  and  two  thousand  bales  of  cotton.  He  had  also  com 
pelled  the  rebels  to  burn  five  steamers,  to  prevent  their  capture.  In  these 
important  operations,  the  Thirty-fourth  participated  throughout,  but  with 
out  casualties,  except  that  on  the  rapid  march  from  Yazoo  City  toward 
Canton  and  on  the  return,  there  were  several  cases  of  sun-stroke. 

The  regiment  remained  at  Vicksburg  a  few  days  and  then  proceeded 
down  the  river  to  Port  Hudson,  where  it  halted  about  three  weeks  in  an 
unpleasant,  unhealthy  camp.  Thence  the  command  continued  its  course 
down  the  Mississippi  to  Carrollton,  not  far  distant  from  New  Orleans. 
Here  were  encamped  the  other  divisions  of  the  Thirteenth  Corps,  which 
the  division  under  Herron  now  joined.  It  was  a  beautiful,  healthful  place, 
and  the  men  who  had  become  sick  at  Port  Hudson  rapidly  recovered.  The 
stay  of  the  regiment  was  only  ten  days,  however — long  enough  for  two 
reviews  of  the  corps  by  General  Banks  and  one  by  General  Grant — at  the 
expiration  of  which  period,  it  was  again  embarked  on  transports,  bound 
for  Morganza,  a  town  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  not  many  miles 
below  the  mouth  of  Red  River,  and  some  thirty-five  miles  above  Port 
Hudson.  The  regiment  disembarked  at  this  insignificant  place  on  the  7th 
of  September,  and  remained  there,  without  tents  or  baggage,  in  all  the 
comforts  of  bivouac  and  dirt  until  the  9th  of  the  following  month.  On 
the  29th  of  September,  however,  the  advance  of  the  Second  Division, 
Thirteenth  Corps,  posted  on  the  Atchafalaya,  was  attacked  by  the  rebels, 
and  the  Nineteenth  Iowa,  Twenty-sixth  Indiana,  and  detachments  from 
several  other  regiments  were  cut  off  from  the  main  body  and  captured. 
In  this  disaster,  the  Thirty-fourth  lost  Lieutenant  Walton,  and  five  men 
captured,  and  one  mortally  wounded.  "Just  about  the  time  this  disaster 
occurred,"  remarks  Colonel  Clark,  with  the  most  provoking  coolness" 
"  General  Herron  was  relieved  by  General  Dana,  and  I  believe  it  has  never 


THIRTY-FOURTH     INFANTRY.  629 

been  determined  who  was  responsible  for  the  loss  of  those  men. ' '     Leaving 
Morganza,  our  regiment  returned  to  their  fine  encampment  at  Carrollton. 

On  the  18th,  Major-General  N.  J.  T.  Dana,  commanding  division,  issued 
a  General  Order,  commencing  with  the  following  brilliant  prediction :  "Sol 
diers  of  Pea  Ridge,  of  Prairie  Grove,  and  of  Vicksburg !  Your  record 
which  is  already  written  is  not  more  glorious  than  the  one  you  have  to 
make. ' '  This  was  but  the  eloquent  exordium  to  the  announcement  of  the 
expedition  to  Texas,  and  if  the  sequel  of  results  made  somewhat  of  a  lame 
and  impotent  conclusion  to  a  campaign  inaugurated  with  so  sublime  a 
manifesto,  it  was  by  no  means  the  only  occasion  during  the  war  wherein 
the  pen  was  mightier  than  the  sword.  Of  this  expedition,  the  Thirty- 
fourth  formed  a  part,  and  set  sail  from  New  Orleans  on  the  afternoon  of 
October  25th.  The  voyage  was  unusually  long  and  rough.  The  debarka 
tion  was  made  at  Brazos  Santiago,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande,  on 
the  4th  of  November.4 

*  LIEUTENANT  T.  L.  DILLEY,  in  a  letter  to  Captain  Knox,  then  editing  the  Indianola  (Iowa)  Visitor, 
thus  describes  the  voyage  across  the  gulf: 

"  ON  BOARD  SHIP,  '  BELVADIEB,'  ON  GULF  OF  MEXICO,  | 
"  October  31*«,  1863.  J 

"  DEAR  CAPTAIN  : — As  the  sea  is  not  very  rough  to-day,  I  embrace  the  opportunity  to  write  you 
another  prosy  epistle,  hoping  the  same  may  have  a  salutary  effect  upon  the  good  people  generally. 
We  set  sail  from  New  Orleans  on  Sunday,  25th  inst.,  at  3  P.  M.  A  large  concourse  of  citizens 
assembled  upon  the  wharf  to  witness  our  departure;  and  as  the  vessel  pushed  off  and  headed  down 
stream,  a  farewell  salute  was  fired  which  made  the  welkin  ring  with  everything  but  melody.  After 
passing  the  city  the  first  object  which  engaged  our  attention,  was  the  battle  ground  upon  which 
General  Jackson  defeated  the  British  forces  under  command  of  Packingham.  We  saw  the  monu 
ment  erected  upon  the  battle-field,  in  honor  of  that  patriot  and  hero,  General  Jackson ;  we  saw  the 
house  which  Packingham  used  as  his  head-quarters ;  we  saw  the  green  trees  which  now  shade  the 
grave  of  that  ambitious  general,  and  yet  we  experienced  no  unusual  emotions ;  we  regarded  them 
as  things,  events  and  facts  which  make  and  mark  the  advance  and  history  of  a  great  nation,  and 
not  as  things  of  emotion  or  excitement.  On  Sunday  night,  we  anchored  at  the  head  of  the  Balize, 
where  we  remained  until  Tuesday  morning.  At  nine  A.  M.,  Tuesday,  we  passed  over  the  bar  and 
anchored  near  the  delta  of  the  southwest  pass  of  the  Mississippi  River.  After  arranging  the  pre 
liminaries  of  the  voyage  and  firing  thirteen  guns  in  honor  of  General  Banks,  we  raised  anchor  and 
eet  sail  in  a  southwesterly  direction.  We  soon  found  ourselves  sailing  on  the  bosom  of  the  great 
briny  substance,  far  from  home,  land,  and  everything  pleasant  or  desirable.  Nothing  occurred  to 
mar  our  joy,  until  after  several  hours'  sailing,  when  suddenly  a  score  or  more  of  men  and  officers, 
were  seized  with  a  violent  upheaving  of  the  great  alimentary  depository,  which  resulted  in  the 
summary  ejection  of  all  that  had  been  deposited  during  the  day.  As  we  felt  no  disposition  to  'up 
heave,'  we,  of  course,  laughed  at  those  who  did,  which,  to  them,  was  indeed,  cold  comfort. 

"  On  Wednesday  morning  we  had  but  few  upon  board  who  were  not  prostrated  by  'sea-sickness.' 
Lieutenant  Martin,  Swank  and  myself,  were,  in  fact,  the  only  lieutenants  who  were  able  for  duty. 
The  sea  during  Wednesday  and  part  of  Thursday  was  rather  rough,  but  not  enough  so  to  terrify  the 
timid  or  unsophisticated.  The  barometer  on  Tuesday  evening  indicated  that  a  change  was  going 
on  in  the  elements  above,  and  that  a  storm  would  probably  overtake  us  ere  we  entered  port  of  des 
tination.  This  proved  to  be  no  mistake ;  for  at  five  o'clock  on  Friday  morning,  there  was  a  sudden 
and  heavy  gale  from  the  north,  accompanied  with  rain.  The  sea  began  to  move  with  great  vio 
lence,  the  ship  rolled  to  and  fro  as  if  in  great  agony,  the  inmates  were  awakened  from  their  slum 
bers  and  arose  from  their  beds,  only  to  be  dashed  from  one  side  of  the  ship  to  the  other,  or  to  wit 
ness  the  increased  fury  of  an  angry  ocean.  The  waves  loomed  like  mountains ;  and  as  they  lashed 
against  the  ship  and  swept  over  fore-castle,  she  trembled  as  if  shaken  by  an  earthquake.  The 
heavens  grew  more  dark,  the  wind  raged  with  greater  fury,  the  ocean  groaned  with  greater  anger, 


630  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

The  regiment  remained  on  the  island  of  Brazos  Santiago  two  days,  then 
proceeded  to  the  mainland  by  Boca  Chica  Bayou,  and  taking  the  general 
direction  of  the  river,  marched  to  Brownsville,  opposite  the  city  of  Meta- 
moras,  in  Mexico.  Having  here,  so  near  the  extreme  southwestern  border 


and  the  waves  lashed  with  greater  violence;  and  as  the  deep,  solemn  roar  of  the  sea  greeted  our 
ears,  and  the  waves  rolled  on  in  whitened  madness,  as  the  ship  quivered,  rolled  and  plunged  like  a 
mountain  in  labor,  as  she  rode  on  the  top  of  a  towering  wave  and  then  with  quickened  speed 
descended  into  the  opening  chasms  below,  we  thought  all  would  be  lost — that  the  next  moment  or 
the  next  wave  might  carry  us  down  to  a  watery  grave.  Thoughts  of  the  future,  of  home,  of  friends, 
of  a  watery  grave  far  out  at  sea,  rushed  across  our  minds  like  an  electric  flash,  and  can  you,  dear 
Captain,  imagine  our  feelings  at  that  moment?  Nay;  they  are  beyond  the  description  of  an  angel, 
and  can  only  be  comprehended  by  those  who  have  witnessed  a  storm  at  sea.  The  storm  continued 
unabated  until  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  clouds  became  broken,  the  winds  hushed  and  the  sea 
calmed.  As  our  terror  and  fright  in  the  storm  was  great,  so  was  our  joy  when  the  storm  ceased 
and  the  sea  resumed  its  former  calmness.  We  have  often  heard  and  talked  of  a  'calm  cerulean 
sea,'  '  a  life  on  the  ocean  wave,'  '  a  home  on  the  roaring  deep,'  but  such  poetic  phrases  are,  with  us, 
'  played  out,'  and  the  sea  has  no  charms  for  us  except  that  of  grandeur.  We  often  thought,  when 
we  were  young  and  had  matrimony  in  our  head,  that  when  we  became  so  fortunate  as  to  get  a  wife, 
we  would  indulge  in  a  wedding  tour,  across  the  ocean,  but  alas!  for  such  boyish  thoughts,  they  are 
gone ;  gone  to  the  moles  and  bats.  With  the  light  of  age,  wisdom  and  experience,  we  are  prepared 
to  say  that  when  we  marry,  yes  marry,  we  would  prefer  spending  a  fortnight,  or  even  a  month,  in  a 
lonely  and  deserted  cabin  in  a  western  prairie,  rather  than  cross  the  ocean  with  all  the  pomp  and 
paraphernalia  of  an  Emperor.  We  are  heartily  tired  of  that  thing  called  a  gulf,  sea,  or  ocean,  and 
long  to  plant  our  feet  upon  old  mother  earth. 

"The  ships,  being  eighteen  or  twenty,  kept  together  until  separated  by  the  storm,  and  up  to  this 
time,  they  have  not  all  been  gathered  together;  probably  some  have  perished.  We  expect  to  land 
to-morrow  at  some  point  not  far  from  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande  River. 

"  November  1st. — The  ships,  during  last  night,  wandered  about  as  if  lost,  and  of  course,  made  but 
little  head-way.  We  have  been  out  at  sea  five  days,  and  have  not  even  seen  land  in  the  dim  dis 
tance.  How  long  we  are  to  remain  out  of  sight  of  land  and  rebels,  Deity  only  knows.  From  the 
Delta  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande,  is  a  distance  of  five  hundred  miles,  which 
ought  to  be  sailed  in  forty-eight  hours,  but  we  are  occupying  three  times  as  many  hours.  There  is 
a  strong  gale  blowing  from  the  south  to-day,  which  will  keep  us  from  landing,  as  we  cannot  ven 
ture  in  shallow  water  while  the  wind  blows  to  the  land.  Before  embarking  upon  this  expedition, 
our  Division  was  augmented  by  the  addition  of  two  Maine,  one  New  York,  and  two  Corps  d'Afrique 
(negro)  regiments,  and  one  Battalion  of  Texas  Cavalry,  which,  no  doubt,  will  add  much  to  our  effi 
ciency.  The  East,  the  West,  and  the  Ethiopians  are  now  united  and  fighting  in  one  common  cause. 
We  do  not  feel,  by  this  association,  that  we  have  made  the  negro  our  compeer,  but  only  that  we 
have  availed  ourselves  of  his  services  to  accomplish  certain  ends,  viz :  the  subjugation  of  their 
rebellious  masters. 

"  Six  O'CLOCK,  P.  M. — At  two  and  a-half  P.  M.,  the  fleet  came  in  sight  of  land,  and  if  you  possess  a 
comprehensive  imagination,  and  a  vivid  conception,  you  can,  perhaps,  realize  to  some  extent,  at 
least,  the  joy  which  filled  our  hearts  and  ravished  our  souls.  Columbus,  and  his  mutinous  crew, 
could  not,  when  he  first  discovered  land  on  the  Western  Continent,  have  felt  more  joyous  than  we, 
when  the  sandy  coast  of  Texas  peered  above  the  dashing  waves.  The  ships  are  now  at  anchor  near 
the  west  end  of  the  Island  of  Patre.  We  will  land,  perhaps,  on  the  Island  of  Brazos  Santiago,  being 
the  Island  on  which  General  Taylor  landed  most  of  his  forces  during  the  Mexican  War. 

" November  Zd. — We  are  still  at  anchor,  but  are  preparing  to  disembark  to-day.  Four  ships,  viz: 
Pocahontas,  Zephyr,  Union,  and  Bagley,  have  not  made  their  appearance.  The  Zephyr  and  Union 
are  said  to  be  lost,  and  others  supposed  to  have  suffered  the  same  fate.  How  unfortunate  1  How 
dreadful  1  Those  brave  soldiers,  who  were  upon  the  vessels,  had  often  braved  the  cannon's  mouth, 
had  passed  through  the  trying  ordeal  of  heated  battle,  had  confronted  the  enemy  in  the  hour  of 
peril  with  the  sabre  and  bayonet;  but  alas!  unfortunate  souls!  The  enemy  which  rides  the  seas 
and  rules  in  the  heavens  proved  their  deadliest  foe,  and  with  one  mighty  surge,  he  swept  them 
down  to  the  ocean's  bed,  never  to  rise  to  light  and  life. 


THIRTY-FOURTH     INFANTRY.  631 

of  the  Republic,  taken  a  few  days'  rest,  our  regiment  was  ordered  to  return 
to  the  gulf.  In  obedience  to  which  it  marched  on  Point  Isabel.  On  the 
night  of  November  14th,  it  encamped  on  the  battle-field  of  Resaca  de  la 
Palma,  and  on  the  next  day  marched  over  that  of  Palo  Alto.  Taking  ship 
at  Point  Isabel  the  command  made  a  coastwise  voyage  to  Aranzas  Pass,  a 
narrow  inlet  between  the  islands  of  Mustang  and  St.  Joseph,  and  more  than 
an  hundred  miles  distant  from  Point  Isabel.  A  landing  was  made  on  St. 
Joseph  Island,  where  Major-General  Washburne  soon  arrived  with  a  brigade 
of  troops,  when  the  whole  marched  in  a  northeasterly  direction  to  the  head 
of  the  island,  and  thence  crossed  Cedar  Bayou  to  Metagorda  Island,  being 
the  fourth  of  a  series  of  long,  low,  sandy  islands  which  stretch  along  the 
coast  of  Texas  from  its  extreme  southern  point  for  a  distance  of  nearly  two 
hundred  miles.  At  the  head  of  Metagorda  Island  the  rebels  had  a  strong 
work,  called  Fort  Esperanza,  defended  by  about  eight  hundred  men  and 
ten  heavy  guns.  General  Washburne  marched  against  this  work,  and  at 
tacked  it  on  the  last  day  of  November.  Our  regiment,  in  the  advance, 
drove  in  the  enemy's  pickets,  and  the  fort  was  soon  afterwards  warmly  at 
tacked  by  our  infantry  in  hastily  made  rifle-pits  and  by  artillery.  The 
attack  was  energetically  continued  through  the  remainder  of  the  day,  but 
the  rebels  spiked  their  guns,  blew  up  the  magazine,  and  evacuated  the 
work  on  the  approach  of  night.  The  garrison  escaped,  only  because  a  gale 
prevented  the  gun-boats  from  cutting  off  their  retreat. 

The  regiment  encamped  near  Fort  Esperanza,  at  times  on  the  Island, 
and  at  others  on  the  peninsula  of  Metagorda  nearly  five  months.  The 
duties  of  the  men  during  this  long  period  of  military  quiet  were  light  and 
pleasant.  They  had  nothing  to  do,  during  most  of  it,  but  drill  and  catch 
oysters.  For  about  a  month  after  the  middle  of  February  they  were  at 
work  building  a  line  of  heavy  fortifications  from  one  side  of  the  island  to 
the  other,  but  as  the  right  wing  of  the  regiment  worked  six  hours  in  the 
morning  and  the  left  the  same  time  in  the  afternoon,  the  labor  was  easy 
and  pleasant.  Nothing  occurred,  during  the  whole  period,  to  seriously  in- 

"  We  sadly  mourn,  yea,  sadly  weep, 

That  hearts  so  free,  so  true  and  brave, 
Should  fall  so  soon,  in  death  to  sleep, 
And  sink  beneath  the  ocean  wave. 

"  We  hope  the  lost  may  yet  be  found.  There  is  now  a  French  fleet  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  vessels 
in  sight,  and  lying  near  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande.  They  are  there,  we  suppose,  to  protect  the 
Mexicans,  or  to  enforce  obedience  to  French  rule.  Their  force  must  be  several  thousand  strong; 
but,  of  course,  we  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  them,  except  as  friends.  As  we  are  now  about  to 
disembark,  we  must  conclude  for  the  present. 

"T.  L.  BILLET. 

"  P.  S. — Navembrr  3d. — The  vessels  supposed  to  have  been  lost,  have  just  arrived  all  safe.  Wo  are 
now  disembarkirg;  have  been  on  board  since  the  23d  of  October. 

«T.  L.  D." 


632  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

terfere  with  the  men  in  the  performance  of  a  duty  in  which  they  all  took  a 
lively  interest — the  drill.  Whilst  here,  Company  C  competed  in  a  prize 
drill,  with  five  of  the  best  companies  in  the  division.  The  spectacle  was 
witnessed  by  Generals  McClernand,  Warren,  and  Lawler,  and  a  large  crowd 
of  troops.  The  company  of  the  Thirty-fourth,  Captain  J.  S.  Clark,  re 
ceived  the  second  prize,  a  company  of  the  Sixty-ninth  Indiana  carrying  off 
the  first  honors.  In  many  respects,  the  Iowa  company  was  superior  to  that 
of  Indiana,  but  the  latter  had  the  advantage  of  being  dressed  in  uniform 
coats,  the  former  wearing  blouses — the  best  their  wardrobes  just  at  that  time 
afforded.  The  Indiana  company  stood  number  thirty  five  in  grade,  the 
Iowa  number  thirty-four.  One  of  the  competing  companies  was  as  low 
as  seven,  but  they  all  did  much  better  than  is  usual  on  regular  drill,  and 
the  display  elicited  great  praise  from  all  the  spectators.  There  were  some 
particulars  in  which  the  Thirty-fourth  Iowa  was  not  surpassed  by  any  regi 
ment  ever  organized,  and  its  attainments  in  drill  amounted  almost  to  abso 
lute  perfection. 

On  the  20th  of  April,  1864,  our  regiment,  with  the  other  "soldiers  of 
Pea  Ridge,  of  Prairie  Grove,  and  of  Yicksburg,"  embarked  for  New 
Orleans,  and  reaching  there  by  due  course,  at  once  reembarked  on  river 
steamers  and  moved  to  the  reenforcement  of  General  Banks,  whose  Red 
River  expedition  had  just  failed  miserably.  The  reenforcing  army  reached 
Alexandria  on  the  27th,  and  there  met  the  forces  under  Banks.  It  parti 
cipated  in  the  skirmishing,  and  witnessed  the  panics,  without  being  abso 
lutely  unsympathetic  spectators  either,  of  the  next  three  weeks,  and  then 
joined  in  the  retreat  which  followed. 

The  retreat  at  last  came  to  an  end,  and  the  division  to  which  our  regi 
ment  belonged  proceeded  to  Baton  Rouge,  and  there  remained  in  great 
ease  and  comfort,  for  about  six  weeks.  In  July,  Colonel  Clarke  received 
notice  that  his  regiment  would  be  among  those  which  were  to  go  to  Vir 
ginia.  The  regiment  accordingly  went  to  Algiers,  opposite  New  Orleans, 
to  embark  there  on  ocean  steamer  for  Fortress  Monroe.  Whilst  there, 
awaiting  transportation,  the  expedition  under  General  Gordon  Granger, 
against  the  forts  at  the  mouth  of  Mobile  Bay  was  organized,  and  the 
Thirty-fourth  made  a  part  thereof,  whereby  it  happened  the  regiment  never 
made  the  voyage  to  Virginia. 

The  forces  under  General  Granger  landed  on  the  western  end  of  Dauphin 
Island,  on  the  evening  of  August  2d,  and,  marching  to  within  two  miles  of 
Fort  Gaines,  bivouacked  for  the  night  on  the  sand,  having  first  thrown 
up  rude  intrenchments,  of  more  real  than  seeming  efficacy  against  attack. 
In  the  operations  which  immediately  followed,  and  which  resulted  in  such 
valuable  and  glorious  triumph  to  the  Union  powers,  the  navy  bore  the  most 
important  part.  And  this,  not  only  because  the  scene  of  the  conflict  was 


THIRTY-FOURTH     INFANTRY.  633 

one  where  a  naval  force  could  operate  with  great  power,  but  because  Admi 
ral  Farragut,  in  command  of  the  fleet,  had  quite  enough  genius  for  warfare 
to  prevent  him,  without  thinking  about  it  himself  or  any  one  else  thinking 
about  it,  from  performing  any  but  a  principal  part. 

The  object  of  the  movement  was  to  attack  and  capture  the  forts  which 
commanded  the  entrance  to  Mobile  Bay.  This  bay  is  about  thirty  miles 
long  by  an  average  width  of  twelve  miles.  The  city  of  Mobile,  near  the 
head  of  the  bay,  was  the  principal  metropolis  of  the  South,  after  New 
Orleans  came  into  our  possession,  and  its  blockade  runners  were  of  great 
service  to  the  rebels.  The  forts  on  Dauphin  Island  and  Mobile  Point 
were  of  incalculable  service  to  the  blockade  runners.  Dauphin  Island  is 
situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  bay,  extending  westward,  in  little  more  than 
a  strip  of  barren  sand,  several  miles,  but  being  wider  at  the  eastern  extre 
mity,  where  Fort  Gaines  is  situated.  Fort  Morgan  is  about  three  miles 
east  of  Gaines,  on  the  western  extremity  of  Mobile  Point,  a  peninsula 
stretching  out  into  the  gulf  from  the  main  land  of  Alabama.  The  two  forts 
completely  command  the  channel  through  which  ships  must  pass  on  enter 
ing  the  bay.  There  is  a  channel  for  light  draft  vessels  west  of  Dauphin 
Island,  and  this  was  commanded  by  Fort  Powell,  on  the  northwest  point  of 
Little  Dauphin  Island.  There  was  a  rebel  fleet  within  the  bay,  under 
Admiral  Buchanan,  consisting  of  the  famous  iron-clad  ram  Tennessee,  and 
the  gun-boats  Gaines,  Morgan,  and  Selma.  There  was  enough  here,  it  will 
be  seen,  to  require  a  considerable  force,  both  naval  and  military,  to  defeat. 

Rear  Admiral  DAVID  G.  FARRAGUT,  at  this  time  commanding  the  "West 
Gulf  .Squadron,  cooperated  most  earnestly  with  Generals  Canby  and  Gran 
ger.  He  was  exceedingly  popular  with  all  the  troops  in  the  southwest, 
especially  with  those  who  had  been  with  Admiral  Porter.  "Farragut," 
said  the  army,  making  a  distinction  with  a  marked  difference,  "  is  an  iron 
man,  and  is  satisfied  with  wooden  ships,  but  Porter  is  a  wooden  man  who 
can  do  nothing  without  iron-clads. ' '  Many  more  refined  and  studied  con 
trasts  have  been  drawn,  but  few  in  the  main  more  just  or  philosophical. 
The  most  of  the  troops  under  General  Granger  had  served  in  connexion 
with  Porter.  They  had  not  served  with  Farragut,  but  they  knew  him  by 
heart  as  well  as  they  knew  George  Washington,  and  respected  him  as  much 
as  they  revered  the  memory  of  the  Father  of  his  country.  It  was  to  them 
all  a  positive  happiness  to  serve  in  an  enterprise  which  should  be  made  im 
mortal  by  his  genius  and  his  achievements,  and  there  was,  perhaps,  not  a 
man  in  the  army  who  did  not  have  unmixed  pleasure  in  the  thought  that 
the  navy,  under  Farragut,  here  won  honors  which  eclipsed  the  renown  of 
all  former  victories  by  ships. 

On  the  morning  of  the  5th  of  August,  the  Admiral,  with  a  fleet  of  four 
teen  wooden  vessels  and  four  iron-clad,  ran  by  the  forts  and  into  Mobile 
80 


634  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Bay  proper,  where  lie  soon  vanquished,  in  the  most  remarkable  naval  com 
bat  of  history,  the  ram  Tennessee,  captured  the  gun-boat  Sclma,  drove  the 
Gaines  ashore,  where  she  was  soon  destroyed,  and  compelled  the  Morgan 
to  show  her  heels  in  speedy  and  ignominious  flight  into  waters  where  our 
vessels  could  not  pursue  her.  The  Admiral  directed  this  splendid  fight, 
lashed  to  the  top-mast  of  his  flag-ship.  The  army,  meanwhile,  investing 
Fort  Gaines,  took  so  deep  an  interest  in  the  naval  fight  that  the  troops 
scarcely  thought  of  their  own  labors,  though  they  pursued  them  mechani 
cally,  and  with  a  vigor  which  afterwards  seemed  wonderful,  forming  a  com 
plete  line  of  breastworks  across  the  island  in  rear  of  the  fort  and  within 
short  range  of  its  guns.  The  siege  was  most  handsomely  conducted,  but 
with  scarcely  any  loss  to  the  army.  The  Thirty-fourth  lost  but  one  man — 
Corporal  Gra}r,  of  Company  H,  shot  through  the  head  with  a  minie  ball. 
The  garrison  surrendered  on  the  morning  of  the  8th,  and  Fort  Powell 
having  been  abandoned,  all  that  was  left  to  the  army  and  navy  to  make  a 
complete  success  of  the  expedition  was 

THE  CAPTURE  OF  FORT  MORGAN. 

This  was  a  strong  work,  of  pentagonal  form,  built  of  brick,  and  had  been 
constructed  by  the  best  engineering  skill  of  the  army,  regardless  of  cost  to 
the  government,  with  the  design  of  making  it  as  nearly  impregnable  as  any 
fortification  could  be.  At  this  time,  it  mounted  forty-six  heavy  guns, 
thirty-five  smooth  bores  and  eleven  rifles,  including  three  Blakely  eight- 
inch  rifles,  two  Brooks'  seven-inch  rifles,  six  eight-inch  columbiads,  and 
two  ten-inch  columbiads — the  remaining  guns  being  mostly  thirty-two- 
pounders,  some  of  which  had  been  banded  and  rifled.  This  formidable 
complement  of  artillery,  in  position  in  one  of  the  most  formidable  works 
which  had  ever  been  constructed,  was  manned  by  a  garrison  of  between  six 
hundred  and  seven  hundred  men,  under  command  of  General  Page,  who 
had  boasted  that  he  could  hold  the  fort  for  six  months  against  the  armies 
and  navies  of  the  world. 

To  invest  it,  the  Union  army  moved  from  Dauphin  Island,  immediately 
after  the  disposition  of  the  prisoners  who  had  composed  the  garrison  of 
Fort  Gaines,  and  took  position  across  the  peninsula,  some  three  miles  in 
rear  of  Morgan.  The  comparatively  easy  capture  of  Fort  Gaines  and  the 
consequent  destruction  of  Fort  Powell  led  to  the  belief  that  Fort  Morgan 
would  also  speedily  fall,  on  the  exhibition  of  the  strength  of  Farragut's  vic 
torious  fleet,  aided  by  a  show  of  investment  by  the  forces  under  Granger. 
But  Morgan  proved  to  be  a  formidable  and  obstinate  foe,  and  events  soon 
revealed  the  necessity  of  a  regular  siege.  General  Granger  accordingly  sent 
to  New  Orleans  for  heavy  artillery  and  a  fair  proportion  of  engineer  troops. 
General  Richard  Arnold,  Chief  of  Artillery  of  the  Department  of  the  Gulf, 


THIRTY-FOURTH      INFANTRY.  635 

came  in  charge  of  the  siege  artillery,  and  was  placed  in  command  of  the 
investing  forces.  The  siege  material  was  landed  at  Pilot  Town,  three  miles 
in  rear  of  Fort  Morgan,  on  the  17th  of  August,  and  during  the  following 
night  the  greater  portion  of  it  was  floated  by  an  immense  barge  up  the 
beach  to  within  eight  hundred  yards  of  the  fort,  and  placed  in  depot,  the 
sand  hills  on  the  peninsula  affording  excellent  cover  for  that  purpose. 
Meantime,  batteries  were  in  process  of  construction,  and  by  the  afternoon 
of  the  20th,  all  our  guns,  thirty-four  in  number,  were  in  position,  maga 
zines  constructed,  and  ammunition  deposited  for  a  bombardment  of  at  least 
twenty-four  hours.  Meanwhile,  the  forces  more  directly  under  Granger 
gradually  approached  with  their  intrenchments  and  embrasures,  most  cheer 
fully  assisting  the  besieging  corps  proper,  all  working  with  alacrity  and 
cheerfulness  until  the  line  of  investment  was  within  five  hundred  yards  of 
the  fort.  The  fort  occasionally  sent  shells  among  the  besieging  troops,  but 
they  accomplished  very  little  damage.  ' '  Lie  down !  lie  down !  Grab  a  root ! ' ' 
the  boys  would  cry  to  each  other  when  one  of  these  screaming  missiles  was 
seen  coming,  and,  though  there  were  no  roots  to  "  grab,"  there  were  holes 
in  the  sand,  and  hills  of  sand  also,  which  served  a  good  purpose  for  pro 
tection.  Only  four  men  of  the  Thirty-fourth  were  wounded  during  the 
entire  siege,  and  they  but  slightly. 

On  Monday  morning,  August  22d,  at  daylight,  the  army  and  navy 
opened  the  bombardment.  The  earth  never  was  the  scene,  perhaps,  of  a 
more  terrible  cannonading.  The  blockading  squadron,  three  or  four  miles 
out  in  the  gulf  threw  in  solid  shot  and  shell  with  wonderful  accuracy,  con 
sidering  the  distance.  The  fire  from  the  ships  and  monitors,  and  the  cap 
tured  rani  Tennessee  within  the  bay,  was  constant,  terrible ;  whilst  the 
mortars  and  heavy  guns  on  land  disgorged  their  fearful  missiles  with  a 
rapidity  and  destructiveness  which  would  not  have  permitted  so  much  as  a 
fly  to  live  on  any  exposed  part  of  the  doomed  fort.  The  firing  was  so  effec 
tive  that  not  a  gun  was  fired  from  the  fort.  It  was  a  fearful  spectacle.  ' '  It 
seemed,"  says  a  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  "as  if  the  earth 
and  heavens  had  come  together  with  a  mighty  noise.  Solid  shot  went 
crashing  through  earth  and  masonry,  followed  by  shells  bursting  open  and 
tearing  wide  the  fractures  they  made.  Great  mortars  threw  their  heavy 
globes  skyward,  many  exploding  in  mid  air,  and  scattering  their  fragments 
through  space  like  that  mighty  world  that  burst  in  pieces  to  form  the 
Asteroids."  The  mighty  work  continued  all  day  long,  with  unabated  gran 
deur.  The  gunners  seemed  to  perform  their  duties  with  a  wild  enthusiasm. 
Stripping  themselves  of  all  superfluous  clothing,  and  blackened,  begrimed 
with  the  smoke,  and  dirt,  and  sweat  of  battle,  their  eyes  sparkling  through 
the  hazy  air  with  the  glare  of  enthusiasm  amounting  almost  to  frenzy. 


636  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

they  might  well  have  been  taken  for  so  many  Vulcans  forging  thunderbolts 
for  the  gods. 

At  nightfall  the  fleet  drew  off,  but  the  firing  from  the  army  continued 
with  unabated  fury.  The  darkness  added  to  the  sublimity  of  the  scene, 
and  when  about  ten  o'clock,  the  flames  burst  forth  from  the  citadel,  which 
had  been  set  on  fire  by  one  of  our  shells,  and  the  smoke  of  the  conflagra 
tion  ascended  to  heaven  like  the  smoke  of  a  furnace,  it  was  grand  beyond 
description.  At  this  time,  the  besieged  made  signal  of  surrender  to  the 
navy,  but  being  either  unseen,  or  not  understood,  it  was  disregarded,  and 
the  bombardment  continued  throughout  the  night. 

At  daylight  on  the  morning  of  the  23d,  the  signal  of  surrender  appeared, 
and  our  guns  at  once  ceased  firing.  So  great  was  the  contrast  for  a 
moment,  that  the  silence  was  such  that  it  might  almost  have,  been  felt.  It 
was  suddenly  broken  by  the  cheers  of  our  troops  and  sailors,  whose  thou 
sands  of  voices  in  long  continued  shoutings  came  near  equaling  the  noise 
of  the  bombardment. 

There  being  some  questions  of  etiquette  to  be  settled,  the  formal  sur 
render  did  not  take  place  till  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The  Thirty- 
fourth  had  the  honor  of  being  selected  as  the  regiment  before  which  the 
garrison  should  surrender.  "Precisely  at  the  hour  designated  for  the 
surrender, ' '  says  Colonel  Clark,  ' '  I  marched  up  in  front  of  the  fort,  the 
band  playing  'Hail  Columbia.'  Formed  line  of  battle  in  front  of  the 
sally-port,  through  which  the  prisoners  soon  commenced  issuing.  They 
formed  line  parallel  and  ten  paces  in  front  of  mine.  The  scene  was  intensely 
interesting  and  imposing.  Rebel  officers  were  ordered  to  the  front  and 
centre ;  men  ordered  to  stack  arms  and  officers  to  surrender  their  swords 
into  the  hands  of  a  staff  officer  detailed  for  that  purpose.  During  these 
ceremonies  a  national  salute  was  being  fired  by  army  and  navy,  the  band 
playing  national  airs,  and  just  as  the  rebel  officers  began  to  surrender  their 
swords,  the  rebel  flag  was  hauled  down  and  the  stars  and  stripes  again 
unfurled  to  the  breeze  where  they  had  proudly  waved  for  many  years  prior 
to  this  rebellion. ' ' 

These  brilliant  victories  were  received  by  the  country  with  enthusiastic 
admiration.  The  fame  of  the  battle  of  Atlanta,  fought  on  the  same  day 
as  the  bombardment  in  no  degree  detracted  from  the  fame  of  the  great 
success  in  Mobile  Bay.  It  was  just  three  weeks  from  the  time  the  army 
landed  on  Dauphin  Island  till  the  surrender  of  Fort  Morgan.  In  that 
short  period  we  had  captured  three  forts,  with  their  armaments  of  nearly 
an  hundred  heavy  guns,  one  thousand  five  hundred  prisoners,  vast  quanti 
ties  of  stores  and  ammunition,  and  destroyed  the  only  formidable  fleet  of 
the  enemy,  including  his  vessel  of  boasted  impregnability.  We  had 
inflicted  a  blow  upon  the  rebel  cause  from  which  it  was  never  able  to  recover. 


THIRTY-FOURTH     INFANTRY.  637 

The  same  number  of  troops  and  sailors  never  accomplished  so  much  in  so 
short  a  time. 

A  few  days  after  the  surrender  of  Fort  Morgan,  the  Thirty-fourth  was 
ordered  across  the  bay  to  Cedar  Point,  about  fifteen  miles  distant  from 
Mobile.  It  was  found  impracticable  to  occupy  it,  however,  and  the  regi 
ment  returned  to  the  vicinity  of  the  fort,  and  was  there  engaged  about  a 
fortnight  in  reducing  the  works  which  had  been  used  by  the  army  during 
the  siege.  On  the  16th  of  September  the  regiment  embarked  for  New 
Orleans,  but  upon  reaching  that  city  the  next  day  was  ordered  to  Mor- 
ganza,  whither  it  immediately  proceeded,  and  there  disembarking,  formed 
encampment,  and  for  several  weeks  performed  outpost  duty  on  the  Atcha- 
falaya  River.  Colonel  Clark,  and  other  officers  of  the  regiment,  soon  after 
went  to  Iowa  on  recruiting  service,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Dungan  being 
on  duty  at  New  Orleans,  Major  Kern  was  left  in  command  of  the  regiment. 
There  was  a  considerable  force  of  rebels  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Atcha- 
falaya,  and  there  was  occasional  firing  between  the  two  armies.  During 
one  of  these  artillery  duels,  Lieutenant  Walton,  of  Company  A,  was 
severely  wounded — the  only  casualty  which  occurred  in  the  regiment. 

On  the  1st  of  November,  the  regiment  went  up  the  Mississippi  to  the 
mouth  of  White  River,  and  there  went  into  camp.  On  the  12th,  Major- 
General  J.  J.  Reynolds  promulgated  an  order,  reducing  the  regiment,  now 
numbering  less  than  half  the  maximum,  to  a  battalion  of  five  companies.  Ac 
cording  to  this  order,  Major  John  Kern ;  Captains  J.  A.  Dunagan,  J.  M. 
Lee,  Thomas  Ward,  J.  B.  Hatton ;  Adjutant  W.  M.  Bryant ;.  Lieutenants 
T.  L.  Dilley,  C.  F.  Boyd,  C.  J.  Comins,  William  Goltry,  and  W.  P.  Kelly, 
with  a  number  of  non-commissioned  officers,  were  mustered  out  of  service. 
Colonel  Clark  was  also  included  in  the  order,  but  a  consolidation  of  the  regi 
ment  with  the  Thirty-eighth  having  been  soon  afterwards  agreed  upon,  the 
order  for  consolidation  was  issued  by  General  Canby  on  the  12th  of  Decem 
ber,  and  fully  carried  into  effect  on  the  first  of  the  following  month.  By 
that  order  the  Thirty-fourth  and  Thirty-eighth  Iowa  regiments  were  consol 
idated  into  the  Thirty-fourth  Iowa  Volunteer  Infantry.6  For  the  purpose 
of  consolidation  both  regiments  proceeded  to  Morganza,  shortly  after  the 

6  The  roster  of  the  Field,  Staff,  and  Line  officers  of  the  consolidated  regiment  -was  as  follows : 
Colonel  George  W.  Clark ;  Lieutenant-Colonel  Warren  S.  Dungan ;  Major  Hinckley  F.  Beebe ; 
Adjutant  Charles  F.  Loshe ;  Surgeon  Victor  H.  Coffman  (one  of  the  best  of  surgeons  and  of  men) ; 
Quartermaster  Henry  A.  Maydole ;  Captains  William  Boyle,  J.  S.  Clarke,  B.  Rockwell,  J.  R.Waters, 
E.  Hessing,  0.  F.  Avery,  G.  R.  Humphrey,  C.  H.  Miller,  J.  H.  B.  Harris,  and  T.  R.  Crandall ;  First 
Lieutenants  John  Chancy,  R.  E.  Martin,  S.  H.  Clauson,  Henry  Walton,  John  McAndrew,  E.  Crosby, 
E.  C.  Dougherty,  N.  Richards,  H.  M.  Shoemaker,  L.  M.  Bunton,  Benjamin  F.  Dora ;  Second  Lieu 
tenants  M.  F.  Clark,  R.  G.  Arnold,  Albert  S.  Ellis,  and  A.  R.  Henry. 

The  Colonel,  by  the  order  of  consolidation  was  directed  to  recommend  to  the  Governor  a  suffi 
cient  number  of  names  from  the  Thirty-eighth,  for  promotions  to  fill  the  vacancies  in  Second  Lieu 
tenants.  All  supernumerary  staff  and  non-commissioned  officers  were  ordered  to  be  mustered 
out. 


638  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

promulgation  of  the  order  by  General  Reynolds  which  has  been  re 
ferred  to,  where  the  commands  were  formally  merged  into  one  about  the 
close  of  the  year.  The  regiment,  as  thus  re-formed,  numbered  in  the  aggre 
gate  nine  hundred  and  fifty  men,  being,  no  doubt,  the  largest  in  the  De 
partment  of  the  Gulf.  The  men  were  nearly  all  present  for  duty,  in  fine 
health  and  spirits,  so  that  Colonel  Clark  might  well  have  said  as  in  fact  he 
did,  that  he  was  proud  of  the  regiment,  and  should  take  great  pride  in  com 
manding  it.  The  consolidation  being  thus  happily  effected,  had  a  happy 
effect.  The  two  regiments,  each  of  whose  previous  history  had  been 
honorable  and  useful,  fused  into  one  without  a  particle  of  difficulty,  and 
officers  and  men  ever  served  together  as  one  man — as  though  animated  by 
one  spirit. 

Not  long  after  the  consolidation,  the  regiment  went  by  steamer  to  New 
Orleans  and  thence  to  the  village  of  Kenner,  some  eight  miles  distant  on 
the  Jackson  railroad.  The  encampment  here  was  on  ground  considerably 
lower  than  the  Mississippi  River,  and  was  by  no  means  dry.  The  bank  of 
the  river,  not  far  distant,  was  lined  with  troops  for  miles  above  and  below 
our  regiment.  ' '  Since  coming  here, ' '  says  "  H.  S. "  in  the  State  Register, 
"  we  have  put  on  style  enough  to  kill  any  body  but  an  old  soldier.  We 
have  inspection  of  arms  once  and  sometimes  twice  a  day,  roll-call  twice  a 
day,  target  practice  and  company  drill  each  once  a  day.  '  Coming  events 
cast  their  shadows  before,'  and  as  we  have  learned  some  of  the  omens  by 
which  to  judge  of  movements  to  be  made,  we  infer  from  the  pomp  and 
pageantry  displayed,  that  with  the  opening  of  spring  you  may  reasonably 
hope  to  hear  of  a  vigorous  campaign  of  which  Mobile  will  probably  be  the 
objective  point.  So  far  as  we  are  concerned  we  make  but  little  difference 
in  putting  down  the  rebellion  by  fighting  and  this  endless  style,  though  we 
believe  the  former  to  be  the  only  sure  and  effective  mode." 

The  regiment  embarked  at  Lakeport,  a  harbor  of  Lake  Pontchartrain,  on 
the  26th  of  January,  1865,  and  sailed  thence  to  Pascagoula,  Mississippi, 
where  Colonel  Clark  reported  for  orders.  Without  disembarkation,  the 
command  sailed  thence  for  Barrancas,  Florida,  and  went  into  camp  there 
on  the  evening  of  the  27th.  It  was  a  beautiful  encampment,  about  one 
mile  from  the  harbor,  on  the  outskirts  of  a  pine  forest,  "whose  foliage 
never  withers  and  whose  verdancy  is  like  one  eternal  spring. ' '  It  was  in 
plain  view  of  Forts  Pickens,  Barrancas,  and  McRae.  Here  the  command 
remained,  in  excellent  health  and  spirits  for  more  than  a  month,  awaiting 
the  complete  preparations  of  the  forces  under  Canby  for  the  movement 
against  Mobile.  When  that  movement  commenced  the  regiment  marched 
on  Blakeley,  and  though  the  distance,  by  a  straight  line,  was  only  about 
sixty  miles,  a  fortnight  was  consumed  on  the  march,  on  account  of  the  hor 
rible  roads  and  considerable  cautioa 


THIRTY-FOURTH     INFANTRY.  639 

In  the  siege  which  followed,  and  the  assault  of  April  9th,  the  regiment 
bore  its  part  well ;  with  becoming  patience  during  the  siege,  and  with  con 
spicuous  gallantry  on  the  assault,  but  though  it  occupied  a  front  position, 
it  escaped  with  a  loss  throughout  the  whole  operations  of  three  killed  and 
nine  wounded.6 

With  the  assault  on  Blakeley,  the  fighting  history  of  the  regiment  closed. 
But  it  afterwards  marched  to  Selma,  then  to  Mobile,  whence  it  sailed  to 
G-alveston,  Texas,  and  from  there  marched  to  Houston,  with  the  forces 
under  Major-General  Steele,  and  was  there  mustered  out  of  service  on  the 
15th  of  August,  in  obedience  to  orders  from  the  Department  of  War.  At 
this  time,  the  roster  of  the  regiment  was  the  same  as  that  I  have  already 
noted,  when  speaking  of  the  consolidation,  with  the  addition  of  Assistant 
Surgeon  I.  King,  and  subalterns  B.  D.  Everingham,  Edward  Easton,  E.  W. 
Carson,  J.  M.  Dennis,  and  Orland  J.  Clark.  Colonel  Clark  had  meantime 
been  brevetted  Brigadier- General  for  gallant  and  meritorious  conduct  in 
the  field. 

The  command  at  once  proceeded  homeward,  and  reached  Davenport  for 
final  pay  and  discharge  on  the  29th  of  August,  at  that  time  numbering  an 
aggregate  of  eleven  hundred  and  thirty-one,  nearly  three  hundred  recruits 
of  the  Twenty-first  and  Thirty-third  regiments  having  been  transferred  to 
the  regiment,  upon  the  muster-out  of  those  organizations  a  short  time  before 
that  of  the  Thirty-fourth.  "The  Thirty-fourth,"  said  the  Gazette,  "is  a 
noble  regiment  of  soldiers.  They  have  dealt  powerful  and  telling  blows  to 
the  confederacy  and  now,  when  their  great  work  is  done,  covered  with  the 
scars  of  many  battles,  and  possessed  of  undying  laurels,  they  return  to 
their  homes  with  the  satisfaction  of  having  performed  their  whole  duty 
toward  their  country.  We  bid  them  a  hearty  welcome. ' '  During  its  term 
of  service  the  regiment  had  traveled  fifteen  thousand  and  thirty-five  miles, 
but  nowhere  throughout  their  long  journeying  had  they  met  with  such  grate 
ful  reception  as  the  bronzed  men  received  as  they  passed  from  Davenport 
to  their  prairie  homes.  I  bid  them  farewell  with  feelings  akin  to  those 
with  which  we  part  forever  from  an  old  and  valued  friend. 

8  H.  C.  Beltz  and  James  C.  Bell  were  severely  wounded  during  the  siege.  In  the  assault,  Milton 
Hutchinson,  William  A.  Wise,  and  Burton  Adkins  were  killed.  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  a  list 
of  the  wounded.  There  were  none  severely  hurt  however,  and  all  able  to  report  for  duty  iu  a  very 
short  time,  as  I  learn  from  the  correspondence  of  the  Register. 


CHAPTER   XXXIX. 

THIRTY-FIFTH     INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZED  AT  THE  CITY  OF  MUSCATINE—  MOVE  TO  CAIRO— SERVICES  IN  SOUTH- 
ERN  ILLINOIS  AND  KENTUCKY— CAMPAIGNS  OF  VICKSBURG  AND  JACKSON- 
QUIET— OPERATIONS  IN  TENNESSEE— RED  RIVER  EXPEDITION— BRILLIANT  SUC 
CESS  AT  HENDERSON'S  HILL— BATTLE  OF  OLD  RIVER  LAKE— MAJOR  JOHN  COM 
MANDING  IS  SLAIN— CAMPAIGN  OF  TUPELO— CAMPAIGN  OF  MISSOURI— MOVE  TO 
TENNESSEE— BATTLE  OF  yrASHriLLE— COLONEL  HILL  SLAIN— WINTER 
QUARTERS  IN  NORTHERN  ALABAMA— CAMPAIGN  OF  MOBILE— CONCLUSION. 

THE  county  of  Muscatine,  ever  most  generous  in  patriotic  offerings  to  the 
government,  contributed  about  eight  companies  to  this  regiment,  afterwards 
so  distinguished,  and  Cedar  county  filled  up  the  rolls  from  her  intelligent 
and  thrifty  population.  The  different  companies  were  recruited  during  the 
latter  part  of  the  summer  of  1862,  and  ordered  into  rendezvous  at  "  Camp 
Strong,"  on  Muscatine  Island — famous  for  its  melons — a  short  distance 
from  the  city  of  the  many  hills.  There  they  were  organized  into  the 
Thirty-fifth  regiment  of  Iowa  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  sworn  into  the  ser 
vice  of  the  United  States  on  the  18th  of  September.  There  were  nine 
hundred  and  fifty-seven  officers  and  men  in  the  regiment.  Colonel  Sylves 
ter  Gr.  Hill  was  in  command;  James  H.  Rothrock  was  Lieutenant-Colonel ; 
Henry  O'Connor,  Major.  The  staff  had  been  before  commissioned,  and 
consisted  of  Frederick  L.  Dayton,  Adjutant,  Heiskell  Lofland,  Quarter 
master,  Charles  L.  Chambers,  Surgeon,  Stephen  M.  Cobb,  Emanuel  C. 
Reigart,  Assistants,  and  Reverend  Francis  W.  Evans,  Chaplain.1 

Having  had  a  little  more  than  a  month  for  drill  and  discipline  at  Camp 
Strong,  the  regiment  moved  by  rail  to  Cairo,  Illinois,  arriving  November 
24th.  The  regiment  performed  duty  at  Cairo,  Mound  City,  Columbus,  Ken- 

i  The  line  officers  were :  Captains  William  B.  Keeler,  Abraham  John,  George  C.  Burmeister,  Wil 
liam  Dill,  Felix  W.  Doran,  Abraham  N.  Snyder,  Simon  H.  Dixon,  John  Flanagan,  William  D.  Conn, 
Hiram  A.  McKelvy;  First  Lieutenants  Romulus  Hawley,  Charles  S.  Porter,  Joseph  Mayer,  William 
A.  Clark,  William  C.  Kennedy,  George  W.  Baxter,  Lewis  F.  Creitz,  George  K.  Spencer,  Benjamin  F 
Randall,  William  M.  Dugan;  Second  Lieutenants  John  A.  Kyrk,  William  M.  Stewart,  Conrad 
Kranz,  Henry  Hoover,  Patrick  F.  Anson,  George  W.  H.  Lucas,  Abram  Shane,  Philip  Hyde.  Jackson 
A.  Evans,  Cephas  Park*er. 
640 


THIRTY-FIFTH     INFANTRY.  641 

% 

tucky,  and  Island  No.  Ten,  during  the  winter.  A  detachment  first  moved 
to  Columbus,  to  assist  in  repelling  a  threatened  attack,  and  was  soon  fol 
lowed  by  the  remainder  of  the  regiment.  The  whole  command  remained 
at  Columbus  about  one  month,  and  then  moved  to  Island  No.  Ten,  but  soon 
moved  back  to  Cairo.  In  March,  1863,  a  heavy  detachment  went  to  Fort 
Heiman,  on  escort  duty,  and  about  the  same  time  two  companies  proceeded 
to  the  interior  of  Southern  Illinois  in  search  of  deserters. 

The  winter  and  early  spring  having  been  thus  spent  in  these  uninterest 
ing  operations — but  not  without  considerable  improvement  in  soldierly  du 
ties — the  regiment  embarked  on  the  12th  of  April,  and  in  due  course  of 
time  joined  the  army  under  Grant  in  the  vicinity  of  Vicksburg.  Remain 
ing  in  an  unspeakably  disagreable  encampment  about  a  fortnight,  the  regi 
ment  took  up  line  of  march  in  the  grand  campaign,  being  attached  to 
General  Mathies'  Third  Brigade  of  Tuttle's  Third  Division,  of  Sherman's 
Corps.  The  regiment  took  part  in  the  capture  of  Jackson,  and  on  the  18th 
of  May  went  into  line  in  front  of  Vicksburg.  It  was  in  the  line  of  reserves 
during  the  assault  of  the  22d.  The  command  took  direct  part  in  the  siege 
till  the  middle  of  June,  when  it  retired  from  the  trenches,  and  a  few  days 
afterwards  joined  the  Army  of  Observation,  and  marched  to  Black  River. 
Here  the  regiment  was  engaged  on  unusually  heavy  picket  duty  till  the 
capitulation,  whereupon  it  moved  with  the  Expeditionary  Army  against 
Jackson.  In  the  campaigns  both  of  Vicksburg  and  of  Jackson,  Colonel 
Hill's  command  performed  every  duty  assigned  it  with  credit,  but  its  casu 
alties  were  not  heavy.  They  numbered  less  than  a  score,  killed,  wounded, 
and  captured. 

From  Jackson  the  regiment  returned  to  the  vicinity  of  Vicksburg  in  the 
latter  part  of  July  and  went  into  camp  on  Bear  Creek.  Here  it  remained 
in  perfect  quiet  about  three  months.  There  were,  meanwhile,  several 
changes  among  the  officers  of  the  command.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Rothrock 
and  Major  O'Connor  had  resigned,  and  had  been  succeeded  by  Captains 
William  B.  Keeler  and  Abraham  John  respectively.  There  had  been,  also, 
several  changes  in  the  line  officers.  The  latter  part  of  October,  the  com 
mand  joined  in  a  reconnoissance  to  Brownsville,  in  which  it  had  slight  skir 
mishing  with  the  enemy,  but  sustained  no  loss. 

Early  in  November  the  regiment  broke  camp  near  Vicksburg  and  moved 
up  the  river  to  Memphis.  It  marched  thence  to  La  Grange,  whence  the 
right  wing,  Major  John  commanding,  moved  to  Middleton,  and  the  left 
wing,  Captain  Burmeister,  to  Pocahontas,  Colonel  Hill  at  this  time  being 
absent  on  leave,  and  Lieutenant- Colonel  Keeler  on  special  duty  at  General 
Tuttle's  head-quarters.  The  operations  of  the  regiment  in  Tennessee, 
where  it  remained  until  the  latter  part  of  January,  1864,  were  unimportant, 
consisting  rather  of  scouts  made  by  small  parties  than  of  movements  of 
81 


642  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

the  command  at  large.  The  25th  of  January  Colonel  Hill  moved  to 
Memphis,  and  thence  at  once  began  the  voyage  to  Vicksburg,  but  did  not 
arrive  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  Meridian  Expedition.  The  command 
pitched  tents  on  Black  River  and  awaited  the  return  of  the  army. 

On  the  10th  of  March,  the  regiment  embarked  on  the  steamer  "Baltic," 
at  Vicksburg,  and  moved  with  the  forces  under  General  A.  J.  Smith  to  the 
Department  of  the  Gulf  to  take  part  in  the  Red  River  Expedition.  Colonel 
Hill  commanding  brigade,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Keeler  had  command  of  the 
regiment.  Colonel  Hill's  Brigade  was  in  General  Mower's  Division,  whict 
in  the  general  disasters  of  the  expedition,  after  the  junction  with  Banks, 
did  more,  perhaps,  than  any  other  command  to  save  the  army  from  the  in 
efficiency  of  the  commander-in-chief,  which  inefficiency  would  have  proved 
entirely  fatal  on  at  least  one  occasion  during  the  campaign  but  for  the  skill 
and  valor  of  "Smith's  guerrillas"  under  Mower.  The  Thirty-fifth  regi 
ment  did  not  bear  a  prominent  part  in  the  capture  of  Fort  de  Russey,  being 
in  the  reserve  on  that  occasion,  but  in  all  the  principal  operations  of 
the  division  after  that,  during  the  entire  campaign,  it  was  conspicuously 
engaged. 

It  gained  distinguished  honor  by  the  aifair  at  Henderson's  Hill,  on  the 
22d.  This  place,  some  forty  miles  from  Alexandria,  was  held  by  a  garrison 
of  three  hundred  and  fifty  rebels,  with  four  guns.  The  regiment,  with  its 
associate  in  the  brigade — the  Thirty-third  Missouri — marched  against  the 
position.  It  was  a  cold,  stormy  day.  First  it  rained,  and  then  it  hailed. 
But  the  troops  trudged  steadily  on  without  a  murmur.  Night  found  them 
still  at  a  distance  from  the  enemy.  The  darkness  became  black  as  pitch, 
but  still  the  troops  felt  their  way  toward  Henderson's  Hill.  Approaching 
the  enemy's  position,  the  Thirty-fifth,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Keeler,  made  a 
detour  around  it,  officers  and  men  groping  their  way  through  the  darkness 
and  rain  as  best  they  could.  They  effected  a  complete  surprise.  There 
were  a  few  random  shots,  a  few  confused  orders,  but  in  a  short  time,  three 
hundred  and  fifty  prisoners,  four  pieces  of  artillery,  with  carriages,  caissons, 
horses,  harness,  everything  complete,  were  the  trophies  of  the  Thirty-fifth. 
In  honor  of  Lieutenant- Colonel  Keeler  commanding  the  regiment,  the  cap 
tured  guns  were  henceforth  called  ' k  The  Keeler  Battery. ' '  The  command 
received  the  public  encomiums  of  General  Mower  for  its  brilliant  achieve 
ment. 

Returning  to  Alexandria,  the  regiment  soon  joined  in  the  further  move 
ment  up  Red  River.  It  took  part  in  one  or  two  operations  of  no  great 
importance  in  the  vicinity  of  Comti,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river  some  dis 
tance  above  Grand  Ecore,  and  on  the  9th  of  April  was  heavily  engaged  at 
the  battle  of  Pleasant  Hill,  where  it  lost  many  gallant  officers  and  men. 
Captain  Henry  Blanck  was  here  slain  by  the  same  ball  which  killed  private 


THIRTY-FIFTH     INFANTRY.  643 

Peter  Harrison.  Lieutenant  Dugan  afterwards  died  of  wounds  received  on 
the  same  field.  The  regiment  fought  with  the  greatest  courage  through 
out,  and  formed  an  honored  part  of  those  troops  which  gained  a  victory 
which  the  commander-in-chief  did  not  know  how  to  make  valuable.  In 
the  many  skirmishes  of  the  retreat  to  Alexandria,  in  those  about  Governor 
Moore's  plantation,  the  Thirty-fifth  had  its  due  share,  but  without  loss  ex 
cept  a  few  men  slightly  wounded.  But  at  the  battle  of  Yellow  Bayou, 
May  18th,  the  regiment  was  hotly  engaged,  and  lost  nearly  forty,  killed  and 
wounded.  It  was  here  that  Captain  Burmeister  received  a  mortal  wound  ; 
here  that  young  Frederick  Hill,  the  Colonel's  son,  a  brave  and  generous 
youth,  fell  dead  by  his  father's  side,  his  head  pierced  with  a  ball.  An  ex 
pression  of  deep  sorrow  escaped  the  Colonel,  and  he  continued  in  the  per 
formance  of  his  duties  till  the  rebels  had  met  with  as  thorough  a  defeat  as 
ever  befell  an  army.  Five  days  afterwards  the  regiment  went  into  camp  at 
Vicksburg,  having  lost  on  the  Red  River  Expedition  nearly  an  hundred 
officers  and  men,  killed  and  wounded. 

The  4th  of  June,  General  Smith  put  his  troops  aboard  transports  and 
moved  up  the  Mississippi,  one  of  his  objects  in  view  being  the  raising  of 
Marmaduke's  blockade  of  the  river  at  Point  Chicot.  Two  days  afterwards 
the  battle  of  Lake  Chicot,  or  Old  River  Lake,  as  the  engagement  is  more 
generally  called  by  the  troops,  took  place.  It  was  a  short  but  severe  com 
bat,  resulting  in  the  complete  defeat  of  the  enemy.  Perhaps  no  com 
mand  ever  exhibited  more  admirable  gallantry  than  the  Thirty-fifth  Iowa 
at  the  combat  of  Old  River  Lake.  Coming  suddenly  upon  the  enemy  in 
force,  it  stood  like  a  barrier  of  stone  to  its  position.  The  combat  lasted 
only  a  few  minutes,  during  which  the  regiment  lost  about  twenty  killed  and 
wounded.  Major  Abraham  John,  commanding,  was  mortally,  and  Captain 
William  Dill,  severely  wounded.  Major  John  died  the  same  evening, 
deeply  lamented  by  the  whole  command. 

The  regiment  proceeded  to  Memphis,  and,  after  more  exercise  in  repair 
ing  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  railroad  than  was  agreeable  in  hot 
weather,  joined  the  column  under  Smith  which  defeated  Forrest  in  the  fine 
battle  of  Tupelo.  In  this  engagement,  the  Thirty-fifth  lost  thirty-eight 
men  Tiors-de- combat.  The  regiment  returned  to  Memphis  with  the  army, 
and  in  less  than  a  fortnight  was  again  on  the  move  in  Mississippi  on  what 
has  been  called  the  Oxford  Expedition.  It  met  the  enemy  in  skirmish  be 
yond  the  Tallahatchee,  but  had  no  loss.  The  last  of  August,  it  was  again 
in  Memphis. 

Early  in  September  the  regiment  left  Memphis  for  Brownsville,  Arkansas. 
From  this  time  until  the  middle  of  November  it  was  engaged  in  most 
energetic  marching  after  Price,  first  in  Arkansas,  and  then  in  Missouri. 
During  this  period  it  marched  several  hundred  miles,  many  of  the  men 


644  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

much  of  the  time  without  shoes,  and  all  of  them  frequently  without  suffi- 
cient  food.  It  was  a  campaign  of  great  severity  as  to  marching — the  com 
mand  traversing  nearly  the  whole  length  of  Arkansas,  and  marching  and 
countermarching  across  Missouri — but  not  of  fighting  so  far  as  foot  soldiers 
were  concerned.  Hence,  when  the  regiment  returned  to  St.  Louis,  Novem 
ber  15th,  there  were  no  casualties  to  report.  The  23d,  the  regiment  em 
barked,  and  with  General  A.  J.  Smith's  forces  moved  to  the  re'enforcement 
of  Major-General  Thomas  in  Tennessee. 

THE  BATTLE  OF  NASHVILLE. 

Major-General  GEORGE  H.  THOMAS,  if  it  can  be  so  put  with  due  respect, 
may  be  called  the  elephant  of  our  army  animals— slow,  ponderous,  saga 
cious,  not  easily  aroused  to  wrath,  but  when  aroused  terrible  and  invincible. 
When  the  rebel  Hood  crossed  the  Tennessee,  Thomas  was  ill  prepared  to 
meet  him.  The  Battle  of  Franklin,  finely  fought  by  Schofield  on  the  30th 
of  November,  was  practically  an  Union  victory,  though  the  Unionists  aban 
doned  the  field.  It  delayed  the  rebel  army,  and,  above  all,  effectually 
destroyed  the  ardor  with  which  the  troops,  inflamed  by  passionate  promises 
of  spoil,  had  entered  upon  the  campaign.  Their  bright  visions  of  easy 
victory,  of  plundering  Kentucky,  and  of  thundering  through  the  gates  of 
Cincinnati,  vanished  forever  on  the  field  of  Franklin.  They  were  most 
emphatically  cowed.  Nevertheless,  Hood  pushed  on,  and  not  only  invested 
Nashville,  but  gave  trouble  to  many  garrisons  over  a  wide  extent  of  country. 

Thomas,  meanwhile,  with  the  utmost  imperturbability — unmoved  even 
when  Grant  was  alarmed — prepared  to  hurl  the  invader  from  Tennessee. 
General  A.  J.  Smith's  Sixteenth  Corps  was  brought  up  to  his  reenforce- 
ment.  Troops  from  a  number  of  garrisons  in  Tennessee  and  elsewhere 
were  concentrated  at  Nashville.  The  troopers,  who  had  been  so  actively 
engaged  of  late,  that  their  horses  were  nearly  all  unfit  for  service,  were 
remounted,  many  of  them  on  blooded  animals  from  noted  studs  of 
Kentucky.  Everything  yielded  to  the  military  necessity  of  the  hour,  and 
there  was  a  "  ruthless  proscription"  of  horses  in  all  the  region  roundabout 
Nashville  for  many  leagues.  There  was  great  activity,  even  heavy  skir 
mishing,  all  along  the  lines  from  a  score  of  miles  below  Nashville  to  Chat 
tanooga  on  the  Tennessee.  In  front  of  the  capital  there  was  continuous 
firing. 

At  Nashville,  the  Cumberland  makes  a  sharp  bend  north,  and  within 
the  bend,  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  the  city  is  situated.  South  of  the 
city,  and  distant  some  two  or  three  miles  therefrom,  our  forces  were  posted 
behind  considerable  works.  Hood  took  position  on  a  range  of  hills  some 
two  miles  beyond,  and  extending  from  the  river  on  his  right  to  the  river  on 
his  left.  Instead  of  at  once  attacking,  he  contented  himself  with  fortifying, 


THIRTY-FIFTH     INFANTRY.  645 

and  merely  feeling  our  lines,  sending  off  his  cavalry  to  cut  our  communica 
tions  and  harass  our  garrisons.  Thomas  would  probably  have  delivered 
attack  on  the  5th  or  6th  of  December,  but  for  his  lack  of  cavalry.  Having 
mounted  his  troopers  by  means  of  the  ruthless  horse-proscription  before 
mentioned,  he  was  ready  to  move  against  the  enemy  on  the  12th.  But  the 
weather  had  meantime  made  an  insurmountable  difficulty.  It  had  turned 
suddenly  cold,  and  the  whole  country  was  covered  with  ice.  Neither  man 
nor  horse  could  stand  on  his  feet.  Both  armies  were  ice-bound. 

But  on  the  14th  there  came  a  thaw.  Thomas,  who  had  been  nursing  his 
wrath  to  keep  it  warm,  ordered  the  attack  to  begin  early  the  next  morning. 
And  it  was  begun  and  carried  out  just  as  he  ordered,  or  as  nearly  so,  at 
any  rate,  as  any  order  of  the  kind  ever  was  carried  out.  The  flanks  of  the 
Union  line  rested  on  the  Cumberland,  both  covered  by  gun-boats.  The 
right  especially  was  also  covered  by  a  heavy  cloud  of  cavalry.  The  Fourth 
Corps,  General  Wood  temporarily  commanding,  joined  on  Smith's  left. 
Next  came  Schofield,  with  the  Twenty-third  Corps,  but  held  in  reserve  so 
as  to  operate  on  his  right  or  left  as  circumstances  might  require.  A  provi 
sional  organization,  largely  composed  of  colored  troops,  held  the  left,  Gene 
ral  Steedman  commanding.  General  Thomas'  plan  was  to  demonstrate 
boldly  on  the  left,  but  to  deliver  his  real  attack  from  the  right.  Steedman 
accordingly  moved  a  heavy  force  of  white  and  black  troops,  under  General 
Cruft,  against  the  enemy  early  on  the  morning  of  the  15th.  They  were 
supported  by  a  quasi  military  organization  of  the  quartermaster's  depart 
ment,  Brevet  Brigadier-General  J.  L.  Donaldson,  commanding..  They 
made  an  impetuous  attack,  causing  Hood  to  heavily  reenforce  his  left, 
where  he  doubtless  supposed  he  was  to  be  principally  assailed.  The 
assailants  were  repulsed  with  heavy  loss. 

But  the  plan  of  General  Thomas  at  once  began  to  develop  itself  splen 
didly.  Smith  advanced  on  the  right.  Supported  by  Wood  and  covered 
by  the  cavalry  under  Wilson,  the  whole  right  wing  made  a  grand  left 
wheel,  sweeping  like  an  avalanche  over  the  enemy's  feeble  left.  The  troops 
moved  with  enthusiastic  spirits,  and  quickly  crushed  the  enemy's  first  line, 
stormed  and  carried  his  batteries,  flanked  his  positions,  and  had  his  whole 
line  doubled  up  and  rolling  over  on  the  centre  in  the  greatest  disorder.  The 
troopers,  dismounted,  joined  in  the  charges,  and  it  was  not  long  till  the 
whole  rebel  left  wing  was  substantially  hors-de-combat.  Hood  saw  the  mistake 
he  had  made  in  sending  his  masses  to  his  left,  and  he  now  hurried  long 
lines  of  infantry  and  artillery  from  that  part  of  his  lines  to  support  his 
centre.  He  still  held  a  strong  position,  protected  by  breastworks,  fringed 
with  rifle-pits  and  abatis,  and  bristling  with  artillery,  that  swept  all  ap 
proaches.  Smith  prudently  halted  to  reconnoitre.  Wood  came  up  on  his 
left,  and  Schofield  swung  round  to  his  right,  the  cavalry  being  still  to  the 


646  IOWA     AND     THE      REBELLION. 

right  of  him,  and  well  on  to  the  enemy's  rear.  The  army  made  a  further 
advance,  feeling  the  enemy's  position  under  a  heavy  fire  of  artillery  and 
musketry,  and  about  nightfall  Wood  made  a  splendid  dash  against  a  bat 
tery,  and  carrying  it  closed  the  battle  for  the  day.  Many  guns,  large  num 
bers  of  prisoners  had  been  captured.  So  far,  the  Unionists  had  been  most 
gloriously  successful. 

During  the  night  both  armies  made  dispositions  for  a  renewal  of  the 
battle  on  the  morrow.  The  rebel  commander  drew  back  his  right  centre 
and  right,  so  as  to  straighten  the  new  line  he  had  been  forced  to  assume. 
It  was  some  two  miles  in  rear  of  his  original  line,  and  only  about  half  as 
long.  He  occupied  the  wooded  crests  of  closely  connecting  hills,  the  line 
being  about  three  miles  in  length,  and  admirably  adapted  for  defence  as 
well  by  nature  as  by  the  work  of  industrious  troops.  General  Thomas 
pursued  a  plan  similar  to  that  which  had  proved  so  successful  on  the  day 
before.  Steedman  on  the  left  and  Wood  on  the  centre  strongly  demonstrated 
against  the  enemy,  and  the  roar  of  battle  was  continuous  all  the  morning 
on  the  left  of  our  lines.  On  the  right  it  was  comparatively  quiet.  Wil 
son's  Cavalry  was  seeking  the  enemy's  rear,  whilst  Schofield's  and  Smith's 
impatient  troops  were  lying  perdu.  About  four  o'clock  the  sharp  rattle  of 
carbines  rang  lively  behind  the  enemy's  left.  Schofield  and  Smith  knew 
well  what  it  meant.  ' '  Simultaneously,  with  leveled  bayonets  and  ringing 
cheers,  their  lines  swept  superbly  forward,  up  to,  and  over,  and  around  the 
rebel  works,  while  Wood  and  Steedman  on  their  left,  catching  up  the 
inspiration,  pressed  gallantly  forward,  and  almost  in  a  twinkling  our  general 
movement  carried  all  before  it.  For  a  moment  there  was  hot  work.  The 
whole  rebel  line,  from  end  to  end,  was  ablaze  with  musketry  and  aroar  with 
cannon.  The  hills  shook,  the  earth  trembled,  and  the  whole  field  was  like 
1  the  sulphurous  and  gaping  mouth  of  hell. '  But  in  thirty  minutes  or  so, 
the  conflict  was  mainly  over."  The  rebels  were  in  disordered  rout,  flying 
southward  as  fast  as  their  legs  could  carry  them.  Except  a  small  rear 
guard,  Hood's  army  was  destroyed.  Except  that  rear  guard,  it  made  no 
further  resistance  to  our  arms,  but  fled  to  and  beyond  the  Tennessee, 
where  our  pursuit  was  stayed,  rather  by  the  exhaustion  of  our  own  troops 
than  because  of  any  resistance  offered  by  Hood. 

The  results  of  this  great  victory,  one  of  the  completest  of  the  war,  were 
eight  thousand  prisoners,  including  five  generals,  and  a  great  many  commis 
sioned  officers,  fifty-six  guns,  small  arms  by  the  acre,  and  a  large  number 
of  flags.  What  the  Union  losses  in  the  battle  were  it  would  be  difficult  to 
tell.  The  entire  loss,  during  the  whole  campaign  of  Nashville,  embracing 
all  the  operations  of  General  Thomas'  forces  for  more  than  a  month,  was 
less  than  ten  thousand  killed,  wounded,  and  missing.  It  is  probable  the 
loss  at  Nashville  was  about  five  thousand.  The  fierceness  and  duration  of 


THIRTY-FIFTH     INFANTRY.  647 

the  battle,  and  its  tremendous  results  considered,  the  casualties  were 
admitted  to  have  been  remarkably  small  on  the  side  of  the  Unionists. 

The  State  of  Iowa  was  represented  in  this  battle  by  eight  organizations 
actively  engaged — the  Second  Battery,  the  Second,  Fifth,  and  Eighth 
Cavalry,  and  the  Twelfth,  Twenty-seventh,  Thirty-second,  and  Thirty-fifth 
Infantry.  The  artillery  and  infantry  fought  under  Smith,  the  cavalry  under 
Wilson  on  the  extreme  right.  Of  the  cavalry,  General  Edward  Hatch 
commanded  a  division,  which  received  the  warm  encomiums  of  General 
Thomas.  It  received  no  more  than  it  deserved,  for  the  cavalry  at  Nash 
ville  exhibited  the  novel  spectacle  of  moving,  dismounted,  in  assault  of 
heavy  earth-works,  and  capturing  battery  after  battery  of  artillery.  Nor 
was  there  any  regiment,  whether  of  horse  or  foot,  which  won  more  dis 
tinguished  honor  on  the  field  of  Nashville  than  our  Second  Cavalry. 
Colonel  Coon  being  in  command  of  the  brigade,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Horton,  commanding  the  regiment,  highly  commends  officers  and  men  for 
good  conduct,  and  especially  mentions  Adjutant  Sydenham,  Major  Schnitger, 
and  Captains  Foster  and  Bandy.  The  Fifth  and  Eighth  Cavalry  were  less 
conspicuously,  but  honorably  engaged.  The  Twenty-seventh  and  Thirty- 
second  Infantry  were  in  a  brigade  commanded  by  Colonel  Gilbert  of  the 
former  regiment,  and  which  brigade  did  some  of  the  most  dauntlessly 
intrepid  fighting  of  the  battle. 

The  Twelfth,  Lieutenant-Colonel  John  H.  Stibbs,  and  the  Thirty-fifth, 
Major  Dill  commanding,  were  in  the  brigade  commanded  by  Colonel  Hill, 
of  the  former  regiment.  Chaplain  Frederick  Humphrey,  of  the  Twelfth, 
after  finely  describing  the  operations  of  Hubbard's  and  McMillan's  brigades, 
thus  speaks  of  Hill's  troops.  "  Meantime  Hill's  men,  Third  Brigade  of  the 
First  Division,  who  had  borne  the  brunt  of  the  battle  of  Tupelo,  and  had 
now  witnessed  the  splendid  charges  of  their  comrades,  were  eager  to  emu 
late  their  heroism  and  storm  the  formidable  redoubts  far  in  their  front.  As 
the  corps  continues  wheeling  to  the  left,  an  opportunity  is  soon  presented 
to  gratify  their  importunate  demands.  About  six  hundred  yards  in  advance 
of  the  brigade,  near  the  Hillsboro  Pike  on  a  high  and  bastion-like  ridge  is 
another  strong  redoubt  whose  rebel  Napoleons  redouble  their  fire  and  seem 
striving  to  make  good  the  loss  of  the  two  first  redoubts,  and  hurl  back  our 
advancing  columns.  Shot  and  the  fragments  of  shell  fill  the  air.  The  roar 
of  artillery,  like  Niagara's,  is  incessant,  and  the  flashes  of  exploding  shells 
quickly  follow  each  other  like  the  vivid  flashes  of  lightning.  An  oificer  in 
another  brigade  says  to  me,  '  Those  guns  are  more  annoying  to  our  lines 
than  any  other  rebel  battery.  The  guns  must  be  silenced  and  the  redoubt 
captured  without  delay. '  Colonel  Hill  saw  that  it  could  only  be  carried  by 
direct  assault  in  front,  and  immediately  ordered  a  charge.  The  boys  wel 
comed  the  order  with  a  battle-cheer — fix  bayonets,  and  under  a  terrific  fire 


648  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

of  shot,  minie-balls  and  bursting  shell — with  uniform  step  and  steady 
columns,  they  descend  a  gentle  slope  ;  cross  a  ravine,  and  on  the  double- 
quick  move,  in  front  of  the  enemy's  fire,  up  the  hill  to  their  works.  Ser 
geants  Clark  and  Grrannis  of  the  Twelfth  Iowa,  in  advance  of  the  charging 
line,  first  plant  the  regimental  banner  and  the  national  colors  upon  the  rebel 
battlements.  The  brave  Colonel  Hill,  mounted  on  horseback  and  gallantly 
leading  his  brigade  to  the  assault,  fell  from  his  horse,  shot  through  the  head, 
just  as  his  troops  were  carrying  the  breastworks  of  the  enemy.  The  men 
rushed  forward  to  avenge  the  death  of  their  lamented  commander.  The 
enemy  had  hastily  limbered  up  the  guns  of  the  fort,  withdrawn  them  to  a 
redoubt,  distant  about  three  hundred  yards,  and  again  opened  with  grape, 
cannister,  and  musketry  upon  our  men  just  as  they  entered  the  first  redoubt. 
Continuing  to  advance,  without  orders,  the  brigade  charged  across  the  Hills- 
boro  Pike,  in  the  face  of  another  torrent  of  fire,  up  to  the  second  redoubt, 
captured  its  guns,  caissons,  horses,  one  head-quarters,  and  thirteen  baggage 
wagons,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  prisoners.  The  wings  of  the  brigade  in 
storming  the  redoubts,  had  wheeled  in  towards  the  central  point  of  attack, 
thus  creating  some  confusion.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Stibbs,  of  the  Twelfth 
Iowa,  mounting  a  captured  artillery  horse,  quickly  reformed  the  brigade  in 
line  of  battle,  and  dispatched  Sergeant-Major  Burch  forward  to  inform 
Colonel  Marshall,  of  the  Seventh  Minnesota,  of  the  death  of  Colonel  Hill. 
Colonel  Marshall,  not  stopping  to  look  after  captured  property,  nor  even  to 
receive  the  swords  presented  to  him  by  rebel  officers,  and  Adjutant  Reed, 
of  the  Twelfth  Iowa,  with  about  one  hundred  men  from  each  of  their  regi 
ments,  had  not  stopped  in  the  second  redoubt,  but  pressed  on  after  the  flying 
fugitives  to  a  third  redoubt  in  front  of  the  right  of  the  Fourth  Corps. 
Adjutant  Reed  entered  it  from  the  rear ;  with  him  a  few  men  of  the  Seventh 
and  Twelfth,  just  as  those  of  the  Fourth,  came  over  the  works  in  front."2 

2  The  Daily  Journal  of  Muscatine  thus  speaks  of  the  death  of  Colonel  Hill. 

The  following  dispatch  to  S.  G.  Stein  from  Major  Dill,  conveying  the  painful  intelligence  of  the 
death  of  Colonel  Hill,  was  received  Saturday  : 

NASHVILLE,  December  16, 1864.— Colonel  Hill  was  killed  yesterday.  Remains  will  start  for  Musca 
tine  to-morrow.  Eleven  of  the  Thirty-fifth  wounded  and  one  killed— Kennedy,  of  Co.  F.  Hard 
fighting  to-day.  Will  write  particulars. 

WILLIAM  DILL. 

Our  lamented  fellow-townsman,  Colonel  Sylvester  G.  Hill,  was  born  in  East  Greenwich,  Rhode 
Island,  on  the  10th  of  June,  1820,  and  was  left  an  orphan,  at  the  age  of  four  years,  by  the  death  of 
his  father.  He  had  from  early  life  to  struggle  for  himself,  and  literally  fight  his  way  through  the 
world.  He  learned  his  trade,  a  cabinet  maker,  in  his  native  village,  and  in  1839.  when  only  nineteen 
years  of  age,  emigrated  to  the  West,  and  soon  after  settled  in  Cincinnati,  where,  with  the  exception 
of  a  year  spent  in  California,  he  resided  and  did  business,  until  the  spring  of  1851,  when  he  re 
moved  to  Iowa  and  located  in  Muscatine.  During  his  residence  here  of  over  thirteen  years,  his 
history  is  known  to  every  citizen,  and  especially  to  every  business  man  in  the  community.  Upright 
and  prompt  in  all  his  dealings,  generous  and  public-spirited  beyond  the  measure  of  his  ability,  he 
was  justly  esteemed  one  of  our  most  valued  citizens.  As  a  patriot,  Colonel  Hill  had  few  equals  and 
none  excelled  him.  Burning  with  indignation  at  the  insult  offered  to  the  flag  of  the  Republic  when 


THIRTY-FIFTH     INFANTRY.  649 

The  Thirty-fifth  marched  in  pursuit  of  the  rebels  as  far  as  Pulaski. 
There  turning  to  the  right,  it  marched  to  Clifton  on  the  Tennessee  and  went 
into  camp  January  2d,  1865.  Six  days  afterwards  the  command  embarked 
for  Eastport,  Mississippi,  where  it  encamped  for  about  a  month,  the  troops 
living  on  "shelled  corn"  part  of  the  time,  for  which  there  was  no  good 
reason,  communication  being  all  the  time  open  to  Cairo.  The  encampment 
was  in  a  pine  forest,  where  the  men  constructed  rude  quarters  for  the  rest 
of  the  winter  as  they  supposed.  There  had  been  many  changes  among  the 
officers  of  the  regiment  by  this  time.  The  roster  of  field,  staff,  and  line 
officers  now  was  as  follows :  William  B.  Keeler,  Lieutenant-Colonel  com 
manding  ;  Major  William  Dill ;  Adjutant  Frederick  L.  Dayton ;  Surgeon 
Stephen  M.  Cobb,  Assistants  E.  J.  B.  Statler,  N.  S.  Smith ;  Quartermas 
ter  H.  Lofland  ;  Chaplain  Reverend  William  M.  Bagley ;  Captains  Isaac  B. 
Sloan,  William  M.  Stewart,  Joseph  Mayer,  William  A.  Clark,  F.  W.  Doran, 
Abraham  N.  Snyder,  Simon  H.  Dixson,  George  K.  Spencer,  William  D. 
Conn,  Hiram  A.  McKelvey  ;  First  Lieutenants  Charles  Washburn,  Charles 
S.  Porter,  F.  S.  Krehler,  Henry  Hoover,  William  C.  Kennedy,  George  W. 
Baxter,  Lewis  F.  Creitz,  W.  M.  Wetherell,  Jackson  A.  Evans ;  Second 
Lieutenants  Benjamin  F.  Hershe,  Oscar  F.  Wright,  George  W.  H.  Lucas, 
Abram  Shane,  William  T.  Knight,  Cephas  Parker. 

The  5th  of  February,  the  regiment  embarked  on  steamer  "Magenta," 
and  moved  by  the  Tennessee,  Ohio,  and  Mississippi  to  Vicksburg.  Having 

the  rebellion  raised  its  head  in  1861,  it  was  by  the  most  urgent  remonstrances  of  friends  he  was  pre 
vented  from  joining  the  *'  Iowa  First."  In  1862,  when  the  government  called  for  troops,  although 
his  oldest  son  was  then  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels,  he  would  wait  no  longer,  but  leaving 
a  lucrative  business,  he  recruited  a  company,  was  unanimously  chosen  its  captain,  and  upon  the  or 
ganization  of  the  Thirty-fifth  regiment,  without  the  solicitation  of  friends  and  against  his  own  pro 
test,  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  regiment  by  Governor  Kirkwood.  How  nobly  and  bravely 
he  has  discharged  the  duties  in  that  responsible  position,  and  the  still  higher  one  of  brigade  com 
mander,  his  brilliant  history  of  two  and  a  half  years  tells  much  better  than  it  could  be  related 
here.  Equally  attentive  to  the  humblest  camp  duty,  and  the  severest  requirements  of  the  battle 
field,  he  was  a  soldier  whom  his  superiors  found  could  always  be  trusted  and  relied  on.  He  has 
probably  seen  as  much  if  not  more  active  service  than  any  field  officer  who  went  from  Iowa,  never 
having  sought  or  enjoyed  a  single  day's  detail  from  active  service.  He  went  through  the  memor 
able  campaign  which  resulted  in  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  was  in  all  the  battles  of  the  Red  River 
campaign,  and  but  a  little  over  six  months  ago  had  to  mourn  the  loss  of  his  second  son,  who  was 
killed  by  his  side  at  the  battle  of  Pleasant  Hill.  He  marched  his  regiment  over  five  hundred  miles 
in  the  late  Missouri  campaign  after  Price,  and  at  last,  ended  his  brilliant  and  faithful  career  in  help 
ing  to  achieve  the  glorious  victory  which  has  just  crowned  the  national  arms  in  front  of  Nashville. 

The  private  and  social  virtues  of  Colonel  Hill  are  too  tenderly  cherished  by  the  writer  of  this 
nrticle  and  by  Colonel  Hill's  kindred  to  be  made  the  subject  of  eulogy  here.  Amongst  the  many 
sacrifices  which  Muscatine  has  been  called  on  to  make  for  the  country  during  the  war,  none  has 
fallen  more  heavily  on  family  or  friends,  or  cast  a  deeper  gloom  over  our  whole  community,  than 
the  loss  of  the  brave  and  patriotic  man  who  has  just  fallen  in  defence  of  his  country.  Esteemed 
and  respected  by  all  who  knew  him,  and  loved  by  those  who  had  the  happiness  of  a  personal  inti 
macy  with  him,  his  memory  will  be  cherished  as  his  loss  will  be  felt,  so  long  as  friends  and  acquaint 
ances  shall  survive  him.  As  a  son,  a  brother,  a  husband,  father,  friend,  patriot  and  soldier,  he  has 
left  a  character  which  all  may  well  emulate,  but  none  need  hope  to  excel. 

Colonel  Hill  leaves  a  wife  and  nine  children  to  mourn  his  loss — his  oldest  son,  now  only  twenty 
years  of  age,  having  just  completed  a  service  of  three  years,  in  the  Seventeenth  Iowa  Infantry. 
82 


650  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

encamped  near  that  city  a  few  days  it  moved  to  New  Orleans,  and  on  the 
anniversary  of  Washington's  birth-day  pitched  tents  on  the  very  field  where 
Andrew  Jackson  had  defeated  the  British  Army  a  little  more  than  fifty 
years  before.  From  this  historic  ground  the  Thirty-fifth  moved,  early  in 
March,  to  take  part  in  the  campaign  of  Mobile,  the  last  in  which 
the  regiment  joined,  as  it  was  the  last  important  operation  of  the  war.  In 
this  campaign  the  regiment,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Keeler  commanding,  bore 
honorable  share  throughout,  but  with  remarkably  small  loss. 

After  the  occupation  of  Mobile,  the  regiment  marched  to  Montgomery, 
where  it  remained  about  a  fortnight,  and  then  moved  by  steamer  to  Selma. 
Here  the  command  remained  till  the  21st  of  July,  when  it  received  the 
welcome  order  to  start  for  home.  It  was  mustered  out  at  Davenport, 
August  10th,  but  disbanded  and  finally  paid  at  Muscatine  six  days  afterwards, 
on  which  occasion  there  was  a  happy  reunion  of  all  the  old  soldiers  of 
Muscatine  county,  and  as  hearty  a  reception  as  volunteers  ever  received 
anywhere.  Thus  the  Thirty-fifth  regiment,  reduced  greatly  in  numbers, 
closed  its  career  of  honor,  in  a  blaze  of  joy  and  gladness.  It  had  marched 
and  traveled  about  ten  thousand  miles,  had  unflinchingly  fought  in  a  dozen 
engagements,  and  had  always  carried  its  banner  in  honorable  victory.  It 
was  eminently  fitting,  therefore,  that  its  reception  at  Muscatine  should  be 
in  the  highest  degree  patriotic  and  grateful.3 

8  By  an  unfortunate  loss  in  the  mails,  I  am  unable  to  give  lists  of  casualties  suffered  by  the 
gallant  Thirty-fifth  in  its  various  engagements.  Such  lists  were  most  kindly  directed  to  me  by 
Lieutenant  Frederick  L.  Dayton,  long  adjutant  of  the  regiment,  and  a  distinguished  officer,  to 
whom,  by  the  way,  I  am  indebted  for  much  valuable  information  pertaining  to  the  Thirtj'-fifth. 
From  his  Manuscripts  and  Lieutenant  Henry  Hoover's  well  written  history,  published  in  the  Musca 
tine  Journal,  I  have  mainly  compiled  the  foregoing  account  of  a  regiment,  whose  services  were 
second  in  value  to  none  of  our  three-years'  regiments.  Should  this  work  be  so  generously  received 
as  to  justify  the  publication  of  a  second  edition,  I  hope  to  be  able  to  append  full  lists  of  casualties 
Buffered  by  the  Thirty-fifth. 


CHAPTER    XL. 

THIRTY-SIXTH  INFANTRY. 

SMALL-POX  AND  MEASLES— RENDEZVOUS  AT  KEOKUK— ORDERED  SOUTH— STOP  TO 
ASSIST  IN  REPELLING  THREATENED  ATTACKS,  AT  COLUMBUS  AND  MEMPHIS- 
BARN  QUARTERS  —  HELENA  —  THE  YAZOO  PASS  EXPEDITION— DISEASE— FIRST 
UNDER  FIRE  AT  FORT  PEMBERTON— RETURN  TO  HELENA— CELEBRATE  THE 
NATIONAL  ANNIVERSARY  IN  BATTLE— JOIN  THE  LITTLE  ROCK  EXPEDITION- 
GENERAL  STEELE'S  "  SOUTHERN  CAMPAIGN"— BA  TTLE  OF  MARK'S  MILL- 
IRE  REGIMENT  CAPTURED— ITS  ORGANIZATION  CONTINUED  AT  LITTLE  ROCK. 

THE  Thirty-sixth  Infantry  was  not  fully  organized  till  sickness  and  death 
commenced  melancholy  havoc  in  its  ranks.  The  regiment  had  its  rendez 
vous  at  "  Camp  Lincoln,"  near  Keokuk,  where  it  was  organized  during  the 
latter  part  of  the  summer  of  1862,  and  where  it  remained  several  months. 
Here  both  small-pox  and  measles  attacked  the  men,  and  prevailed  to  such 
an  extent  that  about  one  hundred  were  lost  from  the  command.  It  was  a 
gloomy  beginning,  having  a  depressing  effect  upon  the  troops,  from  which 
only  the  best  and  long-continued  sanitary  regulations  could  relieve  them. 
From  the  contagious  diseases  of  the  camp  of  Keokuk,  the  regiment  passed 
rapidly  into  the  malarial  atmosphere  of  the  Yazoo  River,  and  from  that 
into  the  fogs  of  Helena,  reeking  with  all  ailments.  Before  the  command 
had  entirely  recovered  physical  tone  and  vigor,  it  was  compelled  to  surrender 
to  superior  numbers,  leaving  but  a  remnant  to  continue  the  organization. 
Its  field  of  operations  was  not  where  our  arms  achieved  many  brilliant  suc 
cesses.  Nevertheless,  the  history  of  this  body  of  men  will  be  found  to  be 
creditable,  and  not  wanting  in  instances  of  courage,  fortitude,  and  patient 
endurance  of  suffering. 

The  field  officers  were  Charles  W.  Kittredge,  of  Wapello  county,  colonel ; 
Francis  M.  Drake,  of  Appanoose,  lieutenant-colonel;  Thomas  C.  Wood 
ward,  of  Wapello,  major;  A.  Gr.  Hamilton,  of  Wapello,  was  appointed 
adjutant.1  When  the  regiment  went  into  camp  it  numbered  nine  hundred 
and  thirty  men,  rank  and  file,  but  more  than  a  score  had  died  before  it 

1  Colonel  Kittredge  had  been  a  captain  in  the  Seventh  Infantry.    He  was  severely  wounded  at 

651 


652  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

embarked  for  Benton  Barracks,  Missouri,  on  November  24th.  Having  re 
mained  there  till  the  19th  of  December,  it  embarked  on  two  steamers  for 
Helena,  the  right  wing  under  the  command  of  the  Colonel,  the  left  under 
that  of  the  Lieutenant-Colonel. 

The  voyage  down  the  Mississippi  was  made  during  the  period  of  rebel 
cavalry  raids  in  the  west,  and  when  Columbus,  in  Kentucky,  was  suffering 
with  a  chronic  fear  of  attack  from  confederate  troopers.  At  that  place  the 
Thirty-sixth  debarked,  and  stood  under  arms  all  night  to  assist  in  repelling 
one  of  these  mythical  attacks.  The  alarm  speedily  subsided,  and  as  the 
sun  came  up  on  the  morning  of  the  22d,  he  shone  upon  the  men  of  our 
regiment  comfortably  sleeping  on  the  decks  of  the  steamers  quietly  cours 
ing  down  the  river.  When  the  command  reached  Memphis,  on  the  after 
noon  of  the  next  day,  there  were  rumors  of  an  attack  upon  that  post. 
Again  the  regiment  debarked,  formed  line  upon  the  wharf,  and  marched 
through  the  city  to  the  public  park,  where  the  men  laid  on  their  arms  all 
night  through  a  drenching  rain.  The  rebels  did  not  come,  and  in  the  morn 
ing  the  regiment  marched  out  to  Fort  Pickering,  where  the  men  were  quar 
tered  in  a  barn,  or  rather  a  stable  which  had  recently  been  occupied  by  those 
"patient  government  soldiers  of  the  mule  persuasion,"  and  which  was  none 
of  the  cleanest,  though  nearly  as  well  ventilated  as  our  grand  prairies. 
Here  it  remained,  a  portion  of  the  garrison  of  the  fort,  till  the  evening  of 
the  30th,  when  orders  came  to  embark  again  for  Helena.  Early  on  the 
following  morning  it  bade  good-bye  to  Memphis  and  the  airy,  aromatic 
stables,  and  reached  Helena  on  the  eve  of  the  new  year. 

A  camp  was  pitched  on  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  where  the  regiment 
remained,  till  General  Gorman  left  on  his  fruitless  but  laborious  White 
River  Expedition,  when  the  command  moved  to  the  barracks  near  Fort 
Curtis,  to  the  rear  of  the  town.  For  a  time  the  Thirty-sixth  was  the  only 


Belmont,  November,  1861.    His  quartermaster  was  Stevens  W.  Merrill ;  Surgeon  Moses  Cousins, 
with  Colin  G.  Strong,  Sylvester  II.  Sawyers,  assistants ;  Rev.  Michael  H.  Hare,  chaplain. 

Company  A,  from  Monroe  county,  was  commanded  by  Captain  Martin  J.  Varner  ;  Lieutenants 
John  Walker,  John  M.  Porter.  Company  B,  from  Wapello  county,  was  in  command  of  Edmund  L. 
Joy,  with  Samnel  A.  Swiggette,  Josiah  II.  McVay,  lieutenants.  Company  C,  Appanoose  county, 
Captain  James  G.  Philips ;  Lieutenants  Allen  W.  Miller,  K.  P.  Morrison.  Company  Z>,  Wapello  and 
Marion  counties,  Captain  Thomas  B.  Hale  ;  Lieutenants  Ripley  Baylies,  Charles  Birnbaum.  Com- 
pany  E,  Wapello  county,  Captain  William  Mahon;  Lieutenants  Richard  II.  Warden,  Jacob  Houk. 
The  latter  resigned  before  the  regiment  reached  the  theatre  of  war,  and  was  succeeded  by  Second 
Lieutenant  E.  McLean  B.  Scott,  promoted  from  First  Sergeant.  Company  F,  from  Appanoose, 
Wayne,  Monroe,  and  Lucas  counties,  Captain  William  P.  Vermillion;  Lieutenants  Humphrey  G. 
May,  John  N.Wright.  Lieutenant  May  resigning  early  in  1863,  was  succeeded  by  First  Sergeant 
John  W.  May,  promoted  to  First  Lieutenant.  Company  G,  Appanoose  county,  Captain  Thomas  M. 
Fee ;  Lieutenants  William  M.  McCreary,  Benjamin  F.  Pearson.  Company  IT,  chiefly  from  Wapello 
and  Mahaska  counties,  Captain  John  E.  Wright ;  Lieutenants  W.  H.  Clifton,  William  P.  Sharp. 
Company  7,  Appanoose,  Captain  Joseph  B.  Gedney ;  Lieutenants  George  R.  Huston,  Walter  S.  John- 
gon.  Company  K,  Monroe  county,  Captain  George  W.  Noble ;  Lieutenants  John  Webb,  Jr.,  John 
Lambert. 


THIRTY-SIXTH     INFANTRY.  653 

infantry  remaining  at  the  post,  in  consequence  of  which  its  garrison  duties 
were  constant  and  severe.  This,  added  to  the  unhealthfulness  of  the 
locality,  brought  many  to  the  hospital,  so  that  when  the  regiment  embarked, 
February  24th,  1864,  on  the  Yazoo  Pass  Expedition,  there  were  but  six 
hundred  and  thirty,  officers  and  men,  fit  for  duty. 

This  expedition  was  in  all  respects  sui  generis.  There  never  has  been 
anything  like  it.  It  was  an  amphibious  expedition,  and  amphibious  not 
only  as  to  land  and  water,  but  sometimes  as  to  water  and  air.  The  Twenty- 
ninth,  Thirty- third,  and  Thirty-sixth  Iowa  Infantry  regiments,  accom 
panied  this  wonderful  expedition,  seeing  the  same  things,  sharing  very 
nearly  the  same  privations,  and  performing  very  nearly  the  same  duties. 
The  fleet,  consisting  of  thirty-six  transports,  two  iron-clads,  several  gun 
boats  for  musketry,  and  mortar-rafts,  left  Helena  on  the  evening  of 
February  24th.  The  objective  point  of  the  expedition,  so  far  as  we  are 
now  concerned,  was  Fort  Pemberton,  a  strong  work,  situated  at  the  junc 
tion  of  the  Tallahatchee  and  Yalobusha  Rivers,  whose  mingled  waters  there 
form  the  Yazoo.  There  is  a  "Yazoo  Pass"  from  the  Mississippi  to  a 
crescent-shaped  body  of  water  not  far  distant,  called  Moon  Lake,  and 
thence  to  Cold  Water  River,  which  flows  into  the  Tallahatchee.  The  pass 
is  so  narrow  that  the  branches  of  the  trees  on  the  banks  embrace  each 
other  above  the  channel.  It  had  become  so  obstructed  that  troops  had 
been  engaged  some  time  in  preparing  it  for  navigation  before  the  expedi 
tion  started.  Being  cleared  out,  the  levee  of  the  Mississippi  was  cut,  and 
its  waters  rushed  through  to  the  lake  with  fearful  rapidity.  On  the  morn 
ing  of  the  26th,  whilst  a  dense  mist  covered  the  lake,  the  advance  was 
sounded,  and  the  fleet  commenced  at  once  to  cross  along  the  main  Pass 
toward  the  Cold  Water.  The  channel  is  deep,  but  narrow,  and  ' '  unearthly 
crooked. ' '  It  is,  perhaps,  the  best  representation  of  the  life  of  an  intriguing 
politician  on  the  face  of  the  eartfc,  and  it  abounds  with  reptiles.  At  the 
time  of  the  expedition,  the  waters  were  very  high,  and  the  rain  continued 
to  pour  down  in  torrents  almost  constantly  during  the  first  two  weeks.  By 
means  of  steam,  ropes,  and  poles,  the  fleet  dragged  Its  slow  length  along, 
making  but  three  or  four  miles  a  day.  Sometimes,  though  this  distance 
had  actually  been  overcome,  the  winding  of  the  stream  had  been  such  that 
the  place  of  mooring  (tying  up  to  trees,  that  is)  for  the  night  was  in  plain 
view  of  the  previous  stopping-place.  Thus  for  five  days  the  boats  nudged 
along,  sometimes  browsing  among  the  trees,  as  it  were,  sometimes  splurg 
ing  through  the  rapid  current,  smashing  the  overhanging  limbs,  and  tear 
ing  off  their  own  wood-work,  when  the  Cold  Water  was  reached,  and  the 
troops  had  an  opportunity  to  go  ashore  and  make  coffee.  The  navigation 
of  this  stream  was  not  so  difficult  as  that  of  the  Pass,  whilst  the  browsing 
on  the  Tallahatchee  was  still  a  very  little  less  difficult.  The  channel  was 


654  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

somewhat  wider,  but  it  was  more  crooked,  if  possible,  than  the  Cold  Water. 
The  whole  voyage  was  a  desperate  undertaking.  The  troops  must  have 
been  utterly  miserable.  The  country  was  flooded,  so  that  landing-places 
were  infrequent,  the  boats  were  densely  crowded,  the  water  was  unwhole 
some  and  nauseating,  the  scenery  lead-colored,  dull,  and  monotonous. 
Such  a  voyage  would  have  chilled  and  killed  the  enthusiasm  of  Christopher 
Columbus  himself.  It  brought  disease  and  death  to  hundreds  of  the  brave 
men  who  made  it.  There  were  but  few  exciting  incidents  during  the  voy 
age.  Guerrillas  occasionally  fired  upon  the  transports,  and  a  few  men  were 
wounded.  The  chase  of  the  rebel  steamer  "  Cotton-Plant,"  laden  with  the 
fibre  of  her  namesake,  which  took  place  on  the  Tallahatchee,  was  a  noted 
event.  Seeing  that  she  would  be  overtaken,  she  was  set  fire  to  and  aban 
doned  by  the  crew.  The  burning  vessel  and  cotton  floating  down  the 
stream  in  a  dark  night,  the  cotton  falling  off  and  burning  as  it  floated, 
presented  a  magnificent  spectacle,  seeming  to  be  nothing  less  than  the  river 
itself  on  fire. 

About  noon  of  the  llth  of  March,  the  transports  reached  Shell  Mound, 
some  two  or  three  miles  above  Fort  Pemberton.  Here  the  troops  at  once 
disembarked.  The  Thirty- sixth  was  immediately  formed  in  line  of  battle 
and  marched  to  the  support  of  a  brigade  skirmishing  with  the  enemy. 
The  men  remained  under  fire  from  the  fort  more  than  two  hours  with  the 
coolness  of  veterans,  and  were  handsomely  complimented  for  good  conduct 
on  their  first  experiment  in  actual  engagement.  They  stayed  at  Shell 
Mound,  doing  picket  duty,  scouting  the  interminable  canebrakes  which 
there  abound,  and  sadly  burying  their  dead  at  the  base  of  the  little  hill 
which  this  wonderful  expedition  has  made  historic,  till  the  morning  of  the 
20th,  when  the  army  embarked,  baffled  of  its  purpose,  and  commenced  to 
retrace  its  winding  way  to  the  Mississippi.  Meantime,  however,  General 
Quinby's  Division,  in  which  were  the  Fifth,  Tenth,  and  Seventeenth  Iowa 
regiments,  had  followed  the  original  expedition  and  met  it  shortly  after  the 
retreat  commenced.  The  whole  returned  to  Shell  Mound,  debarking  on 
the  22d,  the  gun-boats  at  once  moving  down  and  engaging  the  fort.  It 
was  here  that  one  of  the  guns  of  the  "De  Kalb"  was  struck  directly  in 
the  muzzle  by  a  shell  from  the  fort,  causing  the  gun  to  burst,  whereby  four 
men  were  killed,  ten  wounded,  and  the  boat  itself  so  disabled  as  to  be  com 
pelled  to  withdraw  from  the  combat.  Cannon  from  the  gun-boats  and  from 
batteries  on  shore  hammered  away  at  the  fort  till  the  morning  of  April  4th, 
the  infantry  meanwhile  scouting  and  standing  picket  as  before,  when  not 
in  camp,  or  engaged  during  the  night  in  assisting  to  plant  the  land  bat 
teries,  labor  always  done  under  fire  of  the  guns  from  the  rebel  work.  On 
the  morning  of  the  5th,  the  whole  expedition  was  returning.  The  retreat 
was  much  more  pleasant  to  the  troops  than  the  advance.  Navigation,  on 


THIRTY-SIXTH     INFANTRY.  655 

account  of  a  better  knowledge  of  the  channel  and  the  removal  of  obstruc 
tions,  was  more  easy  and  rapid.  The  scenery,  besides,  because  of  the 
advancing  spring,  was  more  agreeable.  The  forests  had  begun  to  look 
more  cheerful,  the  bright  green  holly  could  be  seen  scattered  profusely 
through  the  woods,  whilst  the  fruit  orchards  of  the  plantations  lent  their 
buds -and  blossoms  to  enliven  the  scene  and  perfume  the  air.  The  health 
and  spirits  of  the  men  improved.  As  the  fleet,  all  mangled  and  torn, 
reached  the  broad  Mississippi  on  the  afternoon  of  the  8th,  an  involuntary 
shout  of  gladness  came  from  all  the  troops,  and  a  general  salute  of  fire 
arms  instantly  followed.  The  whole  army  was  agitated  by  enthusiasm  on 
seeing  the  magnificent  river,  after  their  cramped  campaign  of  forty-two 
days,  very  much  as  were  the  Ten  Thousand  Greeks  at  sight  of  the  sea  in 
the  olden  time  long  ago. 

The  Thirty-sixth  at  once  fell  into  the  old  routine  of  garrison  duty,  with 
the  variations  of  digging  ditches  and  building  breastworks.  It  celebrated 
the  national  anniversary  in  the  battle  of  Helena,  and  remained  at  that 
place  till  the  llth  of  August,  when  it  accompanied  the  Arkansas  Expedi 
tion  under  Major-General  Steele.  Major  Woodward,  on  account  of  disease 
contracted  during  the  expedition  into  Mississippi,  had  resigned ;  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Drake  was  absent,  sick ;  Colonel  Kittredge  had  command  of  the 
brigade.  Captain  Yarner,  of  Company  A,  commanded  the  regiment  on 
its  march  toward  Little  Rock,  till  Lieutenant- Colonel  Drake  came  up  and 
assumed  command,  on  Rock  Rae  Bayou,  between  the  White  and  Arkansas 
Rivers.  Major  Hamilton,  promoted  from  Adjutant,  rejoined  the  regiment 
at  Duvall's  Bluff.  Here,  Captain  Varner,  Captain  Webb,  and  Lieutenant 
Spooner,  obtained  leave  to  go  home,  on  account  of  sickness,  but  they  all 
died  on  the  way.  Shortly  before  reaching  Little  Rock,  Colonel  Kittredge 
resumed  command  of  the  regiment,  which  now  marched  in  hourly  expec 
tation  of  a  battle,  but  entered  the  capital  with  the  repossessing  column 
without  having  been  gratified  with  an  engagement. 

The  regiment  soon  went  into  camp  on  a  beautiful  hill  not  far  from  the 
arsenal,  where  winter  quarters  were  erected.  The  cantonment  was  remark 
able  for  neatness  and  cleanliness.  There  never  yet  had  been  a  time  since 
the  organization  of  the  regiment  when  disease  was  not  thinning  its  ranks 
and  depressing  its  spirits.  Almost  all  the  time  at  unhealthy  localities,  the 
best  skill  and  attention  of  the  medical  staff  had  been  exerted  in  vain. 
Sickness  and  death  had  followed  the  devoted  command  everywhere.  Now 
improvement  came.  Speaking  of  its  encampment  on  the  hill  near  the  Lit 
tle  Rock  arsenal,  Medical  Inspector  Allen  said,  "The  camp  of  the  Thirty- 
Sixth  Regiment  Iowa  Infantry,  Colonel  Kittredge,  is  a  model  of  order, 
cleanliness,  and  comfort."  Doctor  Joseph  R.  Smith,  Medical  Director  of 
the  Army  of  Arkansas,  in  a  note  to  Assistant  Surgeon  Strong,  quotes  the 


656        ,  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

above,  and  adds:  "In  a  division  where  all  the  surgeons  do  their  duty,  it 
may  be  a  source  of  pride  to  have  acquired  the  preeminence."  In  this  fine, 
healthy  camp,  the  regiment  remained  during  the  fall  and  winter  of  1863-4, 
regaining  vigor  and  enthusiasm,  and  performing  such  garrison  duties  as 
were  required. 

The  regiment,  numbering  six  hundred  and  thirteen,  accompanied  the 
column  under  Major-General  Steele  which  left  Little  Kock  toward  the  last 
of  March,  and  which  column  was  intended  to  co-operate  with  that  under 
Major-General  Banks  in  the  entire  destruction  of  the  rebel  forces  westward 
of  the  Mississippi.  The  main  army  having  been  shamefully  defeated,  Gen 
eral  Steele  proceeded  no  further  than  Camden,  nearly  fifty  miles  north  of 
the  Louisiana  line.  In  the  campaign  thus  far,  the  Thirty-sixth  bore  an 
honorable  part,  and  was  engaged  in  some  of  the  skirmishes  and  affairs 
which  took  place  during  the  advance,  and  especially  at  the  battle  of  the 
Little  Missouri,  where  it  repelled  a  rebel  attack  with  great  courage  and 
with  remarkable  accuracy  of  fire.  The  regiment  reached  Camden/on  the 
15th  of  April,  and  remained  there,  inactive,  except  during  one  day  of  corn 
grinding  at  a  mill  six  miles  from  the  town,  till  the  afternoon  of  the  22d. 

At  this  time  a  detachment  consisting  of  the  Thirty-Sixth  Iowa,  Major 
Hamilton,  Seventy-seventh  Ohio,  Captain  McCormick,  Forty-third  Indi 
ana,  Major  Norris,  and  two  sections  of  the  Second  Missouri  Light  Artillery, 
all  under  command  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Drake,  of  the  Thirty-sixth,  left 
Camden  for  Pine  Bluff  on  the  Arkansas,  as  escort  to  a  train  of  about  three 
hundred  wagons  in  which  it  was  purposed  to  bring  back  supplies  for  the 
army.  The  detachment  was  joined  on  the  following  morning  by  two  hun 
dred  and  forty  troopers  under  command  of  Major  McCauley  of  the  First  In 
diana  Cavalry.  The  road  taken  bore  considerably  north  of  west,  crossing  the 
Saline  River  near  Mount  Elba.  A  large  and  heavily-laden  train  had  lately 
passed  over  it  ;  there  had  been  recent  rain,  and  it  was  in  bad  condition. 
Nevertheless,  some  eighteen  miles  were  made  on  the  23d,  and  sixteen  the 
next  day.  About  sundown  the  Thirty-sixth  went  into  camp  on  the  western 
margin  of  what  is  called  "  Moro  Bottom,"  low,  marshy  ground  along  either 
side  of  the  bayou  of  the  same  name,  a  deep,  narrow,  sluggish  stream.  The 
bottom  is  from  two  to  three  miles  wide,  and  the  road  across  it  was  so  bad 
that  it  had  to  be  corduroyed  and  otherwise  repaired  for  the  passage  of  the 
train.  This  work  was  performed  by  negro  recruits  who  were  on  their  way 
to  rendezvous  at  Little  Rock,  and  was  completed  about  midnight 


BATTLE  OF  MARK'S 

On  the  evening  of  the  23d  the  little  army  escorting  the  train  heard  heavy 
cannonading  in  the  direction  of  Camden.  By  that  strange  intuition  which 
is  often  as  correct  as  the  deductions  of  demonstration,  Lieutenant-  Colonel 


THIRTY-SIXTH      INFANTRY.  657 

Drake  and  the  officers  of  his  command,  concluded  that  it  was  a  feint,  the 
real  attack  being  in  preparation  for  them.  Accordingly  their  march  had 
been  conducted  with  great  circumspection  and  wariness,  but  not  without 
rapidity.  On  the  morning  of  the  25th,  a  body  of  one  hundred  cavalry  was 
sent  forward  to  reconnoitre  the  road.  They  pushed  ahead  five  miles  and 
reported  no  enemy  in  sight.  Meantime,  the  Forty -third  Indiana  and  one 
section  of  the  battery  was  pushed  forward  across  the  bottom,  and  the  train 
put  in  motion.  Getting  word  from  the  cavalry  in  advance,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Drake  immediately  dispatched  another  body  of  cavalry  to  the  rear, 
fearing  the  enemy  might  come  in  from  the  south  on  the  Princeton  road. 
The  rest  of  the  troops  remained  at  the  west  side  of  the  bottom  till  two- 
thirds  of  the  train  had  passed,  when  they  moved  forward,  taking  the  sides 
of  the  road  so  as  not  to  be  in  the  way  of  the  train,  to  take  position  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  lowlands.  Hardly  had  the  advance  reached  this  posi 
tion  when  a  courier  rushed  from  the  front  and  announced  that  the  enemy 
were  in  force  about  two  miles  ahead.  The  Thirty-sixth  marched  on  double- 
quick  step  to  the  field,  and  hastily  but  coolly  formed  line  of  battle  on  the 
right  of  the  artillery,  the  cavalry,  now  reenforced  by  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  horse  and  one  howitzer  from  Pine  Bluff  under  command  of  Major 
Spellman,  taking  position  on  the  left.  The  other  troops  were  being  hurried 
up  as  rapidly  as  possible.  The  troops  in  line  were  posted  in  a  small,  narrow 
clearing,  with  skirmishers  thrown  out  about  one  hundred  yards  in  advance. 
It  was  a  rugged  country,  covered  for  the  most  part  with  dense  woods  and 
almost  impenetrable  undergrowth.  Not  less  than  five  thousand  rebels 
under  command  of  Fagan,  had  here  concealed  themselves  from  the  view 
of  our  cavalry  scouts,  and  were  now  confronting  our  little  front  of  one  thou 
sand  men.  The  Forty-third  Indiana  held  the  skirmish  line,  and  fought 
manfully  and  pertinaciously  till  overpowered  and  driven  back  by  superior 
numbers.  They  retired  through  the  thick  underbrush  in  considerable  con 
fusion,  but  each  man  fighting  bravely  on  his  own  account.  The  rebels  now 
came  on  in  heavy  force  against  the  main  line,  and  the  action  became  general. 
Our  troops  kept  up  a  constant  fire  for  two  hours  and  a  quarter,  without 
falling  back  a  foot.  From  some  unaccountable  cause  the  battery  was  de 
serted  by  its  own  men  during  the  action,  but  two  companies  of  the  Thirty- 
sixth  manned  the  guns  with  great  effect  during  the  rest  of  the  fight. 
Utterly  unable  to  make  headway  against  our  front,  the  rebels  extended 
their  lines,  and  surrounded  the  gallant  little  band.  Having  lost  about 
twenty  killed,  more  mortally  and  about  ninety  severely  wounded,2  and 

2  LIST   OF   KlLLKD   AND   WOO'DED: 

Killed,  Sergeant  Henry  Dodge;  Corporals  George  W.  Nicely,  Ezra  Wade;  Privates  Benjamin  Ben- 
net,  Benjamin  F.  Custer,  Obaiiion  0.  Custer,  Isaac  N.  Bells,  Amos  W.  Kent,  John  W.  Needham, 
Matthias  McCoy,  George  E.  H.  Ward,  Joel  Curtis,  Archibald  S.  Ewine,  Andrew  J.  Brayman,  Henry 
Cline,  Smith  V.  Walker,  Wesley  Banister,  Jordan  Pike,  Nathan  Hannuel. 
83 


658  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

being  hemmed  in  on  all  sides,  the  Thirty-sixth  surrendered,  with  the 
others.  The  rebels  immediately  hastened  to  the  rear,  attacked  the  Ohio 
regiment,  the  other  section  of  the  battery,  and  two  companies  of  the  In 
diana  Forty-third,  who  had  not  been  in  the  action  at  the  front,  and  after  a 
short  but  spirited  combat,  compelled  their  surrender. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Drake  was  severely  wounded  early  in  the  action. 
Major  Hamilton  exhibited  the  most  intrepid  courage.  After  he  saw  there 
was  no  hope  for  the  command,  he  directed  many  to  chances  of  escape,  but 
himself  shared  the  fate  of  the  regiment,  as  did  also  the  fighting  parson, 
Chaplain  M.  H.  Hare.  Few,  however,  escaped,  the  number  captured 
being  three  hundred  and  forty. 

The  rebels  were  savagely  exultant  over  their  spoils  and  their  success. 
They  shot  down  in  cold  blood  the  negro  servants  of  the  officers  before  those 
officers'  eyes,  and  to  all  protests  against  these  monstrous  acts  of  inhumanity 
they  replied  only  with  sneers  and  threats  of  exercising  the  same  treatment 
toward  the  officers  themselves. 

The  surrender  occurred  not  long  before  noon.  At  five  o'clock,  the 
prisoners  were  started  southward,  and  marched  the  first  fifty-two  miles  in 
twenty-four  hours  without  food  or  rest.  From  Moro  Landing  they  went  by 
way  of  Camden  to  the  prisoners'  corral  at  Tyler,  Texas,  reaching  that  sor 
rowful  place  on  the  15th  of  May.  From  here,  Major  Hamilton  and  Cap 
tains  Miller  and  Lambert  escaped  in  July,  and,  after  enduring  great 
hardships,  reached  Little  Rock  on  the  2d  of  September.  The  Major 
recovered  from  the  effects  of  his  imprisonment  and  the  privations  of  his 
journey.  Captain  Miller  received  leave  of  absence  and  went  home,  to  die. 

Wounded  (mortally),  Lieutenant  John  W.  May  ;  Sergeant  Thomas  G.  Robh,  Sergeant  Color-Bearer 
Lewis  Myers;  Corporal  Peter  Stuber ;  Privates  Peter  Boyer,  Isaac  Belles,  Robert  Martin,  William 
J.  Barker,  Daniel  Kirkpatrick,  John  A.  Stansberry,  Cyrcnius  Thomas,  James  A.  Miller,  Eli  Cum- 
mings,  Joseph  Keger,  David  M.  Wallace,  James  H.  Ryckman,  Wesley  Perigo,  Enos  Hocket,  Marcus 
Spurlack,  William  Stinson,  Samuel  E.  Peugh,  Byron  Richmond,  Abraham  P.  Waugh,  George  W. 
Brott. 

Wounded  (severely),  Lieutenant  John  A.  Hurlburt;  Corporals  Michael  E.  Jackson,  Henry  A. 
Adcock,  James  C.  Hartley;  Privates  Alexander  Elder,  Lucius  Bond,  Noyes  Chrisman,  James  II. 
Finley,  Poter  Good,  David  E.  Williams,  Daniel  W.  Williams,  Jesse  Clark,  John  P.  Goodwin,  James 
H.  Ilelverson,  Samuel  A.  Hays,  Uriah  Link,  George  W.  Philips,  Thomas  W.  Wallace,  Joseph  Peden, 
John  Harness,  John  A.  Vermulen,  George  C.  Carpenter,  John  Davis,  John  M.  Elgin,  Manoah 
Graham,  Thomas  Galbraith,  Albert  Gillman,  Ephraim  Nicholson,  Greenberry  Owen,  David  A. 
Stuart,  John  Standley,  Barney  S.  Sullivan,  William  H.  Atwell,  Samuel  T.  McFall,  Daniel  C.  Walfe. 
William  Morrill,  Martin  J.  Benge,  Smith  Bowen,  Dillman  Hutchison,  John  Kingsberry,  William  H. 
Thompson,  Horace  E.  Park,  Conrad  G.  Kerkendall. 

Wounded  (slightly),  Captain  John  M.  Porter;  Lieutenant  John  N.  Wright;  Sergeants  Davison  P. 
Bay,  George  W.  Dean,  Elias  Parke,  William  R.  Davenport,  Benjamin  S.  Vierling,  Josiah  T.  Young ; 
Corporals  Albert  Grimes,  William  L.  Palmer,  Isaac  W.  Powell,  Truman  E.  Gilbert,  James  W.  Taylor, 
Luther  C.  Bailey,  Jonathan  Witham ;  Privates  Joseph  Meadon,  Henry  C.  Brown,  Levi  Gates,  Thomas 
J.  McCormick,  John  Pence,  John  W.  Ruble,  Calvin  Smith,  Alexander  Kenedy,  Morris  Flock,  Isaac 
Smith,  Peter  Warner,  Watson  W.  Coder,  David  How-ell,  Eli  Bryant,  William  R.  Fisk,  John  Herring, 
Theodore  S.  Burns.  William  Hamilton,  William  H.  Hudson,  George  W.  Kitterman,  Levi  Overman, 
James  W.  Baker,  Josephus  Brown,  David  Conger,  Benjamin  F.  Guy,  Wallace  M.  Harvey,  Cyrus  B. 
Gibson,  James  M.  Odell,  Jackson  Maxwell. 


THIRTY-SIXTH     INFANTRY.  659 

He  became  delirious  on  the  way,  reached  his  home,  and  died  upon  the 
threshold.  Captain  Lambert  died  some  two  months  afterwards. 

On  the  evacuation  of  Camden,  the  little  squad  of  the  Thirty-sixth,  con 
sisting  of  two  officers  and  some  sixty  enlisted  men,  accompanied  the  retreat. 
At  the  battle  of  Jenkins'  Ferry,  twenty-nine  of  these  men,  and  Lieutenant 
Huston,  of  Company  I,  took  arms  and  fought  bravely.  The  Lieutenant 
and  seven  of  the  men  were  severely  wounded.  On  their  arrival  at  Little 
Rock,  they  found  a  number  of  recruits  for  the  regiment,  so  that  the  rolls 
showed  six  officers  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  men  present,  including  the 
sick  in  hospital,  and  the  convalescents  in  camp.  Colonel  Kittredge  soon 
afterwards  assumed  command  of  the  post,  and  the  regiment,  thus  reduced 
by  capture,  disease,  and  death,  remained  there  during  the  rest  of  the  year — 
a  melancholy  relic  of  those  stout  thousand  men  who  went  so  joyously  into 
Keokuk  during  the  autumn  of  two  years  before. 

The  services  of  the  regiment  during  the  remainder  of  its  term  of  enlist 
ment  were  of  an  uninteresting  character.  Post  duty  anywhere  is  usually 
monotonously  dull,  and  in  the  State  of  Arkansas  it  must  be  simply  horrible. 
The  Thirty-sixth  performed  such  duty  at  Little  Rock,  St.  Charles,  and  at 
Duvall's  Bluff  till  it  was  discharged  the  service.  The  men  made  several 
expeditions  in  the  nature  of  scouts,  in  one  of  which  a  certain  Morgan,  a 
noted  guerrilla,  and  the  person  who  had  wounded  G-eneral  Canby,  when  on 
his  way  southward,  was  captured.  Before  this  time,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Drake  had  been  brevetted  a  brigadier-general,  out  of  considerations,  no 
doubt,  of  a  political  nature,  as  well  as  those  of  "locality,"  for,  though  he 
was  well  enough  entitled  to  this  recognition,  there  were  more  than  a  score 
of  Iowa  colonels  and  lieutenant-colonels  who  had  performed  much  greater 
service  than  he,  and  were  not  promoted  brigadier-generals  by  brevet. 

In  April,  the  survivors  of  those  captured  at  Mark's  Mill  reported  to 
the  regiment  at  St.  Charles.  They  had  been  released  from  imprisonment 
in  Texas — where  they  suffered  incredible  hardships — in  the  latter  part  of 
February,  but  they  had  been  allowed  to  return  home  on  furlough,  so  that 
they  did  not  join  the  regiment  till  several  weeks  after  their  release.  It 
would  be  impossible  to  describe  the  joyous  meeting  of  these  old  comrades. 

The  command  moved  to  Duvall's  Bluff  the  9th  of  June,  and  remained  on 
duty  there  till  honorably  discharged,  on  the  24th  of  August.3  Moving  by 

3  The  officers  at  this  time  were :  Colonel,  C.  W.  Kittredge ;  Lieutenant-Colonel,  F.  M.  Drake,  Brevet 
Brigadier -General ;  Major,  A.  H.  Hamilton;  Adjutant,  S.  K.  Mahon;  Quartermaster,  S.  K.  Merrill; 
Surgeon,  G.  G.  Strong;  Assistant  Surgeon,  P.  A.  Smyth;  Chaplain,  M.  H.  Hare. 

Company  A — Captain  J.  M.  Porter :  First  Lieutenant  M.  Law.  Company  B — Captain  S.  A.  Swig- 
gette;  First  Lieutenant  F.  L.  McNair.  Company  C—  Captain  W.  F.  Vermilya;  First  Lieutenant  C. 
B.  Miller.  Company  D— Captain  C.  Burnbaum ;  First  Lieutenant  R.  Baylies ;  Second  Lieutenant 
S.  Leggett.  Company  E—  Captain  William  Mahon ;  First  Lieutenant  E.  M.  B.  Scott ;  Second  Lieu 
tenant  A.  A.  Smith.  Company  F— Captain  W.  F.  Vermillion ;  First  Lieutenant  J.  N.  Wright.  Com 
pany  G — Captain  T.  M.  Fee ;  First  Lieutenant  N.  Snedaker.  Company  H—  Captain  W.  H.  Clifton ; 


660  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

steamer  to  Davenport,  the  regiment  was  there  heartily  greeted  back  to 
Iowa  on  the  2d  of  September.  Soon  afterwards,  the  officers  and  men  of 
the  Thirty-sixth  Iowa  Volunteers  sought  their  homes  in  the  beautiful  val 
ley  of  the  Des  Moines,  whose  beauty  must  pass  away  and  whose  waters 
cease  to  flow,  ere  the  memory  of  the  services  or  the  sufferings  in  behalf  of 
our  nationality  of  the  officers  and  men  of  this  gallant  regiment  can  pass 
away  from  the  minds  of  our  people. 

First  Lieutenant  J.  H.  Thompson ;  Second  Lieutenant  W.  II.  Garlock.  Company  7— Captain  J.  B. 
Geduey;  First  Lieutenant  G.  R.  Huston;  Second  Lieutenant  W.  S.  Johnson.  Company  K — Captain 
J.  A.  Hurlburt;  First  Lieutenant  George  Ilickenloper. 


CHAPTER    XLI. 

THE  "GRAY-BEARD  REGIMENT."' 

THE  THIRTY-SEVENTH  INFANTRY  COMPOSED  OF  MEN  MORE  THAN  FORTY-FIVE 
YEARS  OF  AGE— ORGANIZED  AT  MUSCATINE  BY  SPECIAL  ORDER  OF  THE  WAR 
DEPARTMENT— BRIEF  ACCOUNT  OF  ITS  SERVICES— MUSTERED  OUT— THE  QUES 
TION  OF  BOUNTY. 

THE  organization  officially  known  as  the  Thirty-seventh  Regiment  of 
Iowa  Volunteer  Infantry,  was  universally  known  in  Iowa,  and  largely  over 
the  country,  as  the  " Gray-Beard  Regiment."  It  was  composed  exclu 
sively  of  men  over  forty-five  years  of  age,  and  who  were,  consequently, 
under  no  legal  obligations  to  take  upon  themselves  the  duties  of  soldiers. 
It  was  the  only  regiment  of  the  kind  in  the  service.  Iowa  alone  of  all  the 
States  had  its  "  Gray-Beards"  in  the  field. 

The  truth  is,  however,  that  though  the  men  who  composed  this  remark 
able  and  unique  command  had  arrived  at  an  age  which  common  experience 
and  the  general  law  united  in  declaring  them  released  from  military  obliga 
tions,  yet  were  they  stout,  hardy  soldiers,  and  would,  no  doubt,  have  been 
able  to  endure  ordinary  campaigning  in  the  field.  The  most  of  them  had 
lived  many  years  in  Iowa,  whose  healthful  climate  repels  the  ordinary 
effects  of  age  and  almost  keeps  old  men  young. 

But,  to  drop  generalities,  the  spirit  of  patriotism  burned  so  brightly  and 
warmly  among  our  citizens  that  many,  excluded  by  reason  of  age,  from  the 
ranks  of  the  ordinary  regiments  of  volunteers,  proposed  to  form  a  regiment 
of  healthy  old  men,  and  go  into  the  sendee  to  perform  such  duties  as  it 
might  be  supposed  they  could  well  perform.  Accordingly,  Secretary 
Stanton,  at  the  head  of  the  War  Department,  specially  authorized  the 
organization  of  such  a  regiment  for  the  performance  of  post  and  garrison 
duties.  This  authority  was  given  in  the  month  of  August,  1862,  and  it 
was  not  long  till  the  various  companies  were  recruited. 

They  were  ordered  into  rendezvous  at  "  Camp  Strong,"  near  Muscatine, 
but  the  regiment  was  not  mustered  into  the  service  until  the  middle  of 
December.  The  field  officers  were  G-eorge  W.  Kincaid,  Colonel,  George 
R.  West,  Lieutenant-Colonel,  Lyman  Allen,  Major.  The  staff  consisted  of 

661 


662  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

David  H.  Goodno,  Adjutant,  Prentice  Ransom,  Quartermaster,  John  W. 
Finley,  Surgeon,  with  George  S.  Dewitt,  and  Samuel  C.  Haynes,  assistants, 
Reverend  James  H.  White,  Chaplain.  Stephen  B.  Shellady,  who  had 
probably  presided  over  more  political  conventions  than  any  man  in  Iowa, 
was  the  first  Sergeant-Major.1 

The  fine  old  gentlemen  composing  this  command  were  from  a  large  num 
ber  of  counties.  Every  Congressional  District  of  the  State  was  represented 
in  its  ranks.  They  were  farmers,  mechanics,  business  men.  Many  of  them 
were  more  than  fifty  years  old,  but  when  they  marched  through  the  streets 
of  St.  Louis,  early  in  January,  1863,  General  Curtis,  who  had  seen  the 
volunteers  of  the  Union  in  more  than  one  war,  declared  he  had  never  seen 
a  finer-looking  body  of  men.  They  attracted  marked  attention  at  St.  Louis. 
They  served  at  that  city,  in  guard  of  military  prisons  till  the  latter  part  of 
May,  when  they  moved  out  on  the  Pacific  Railway,  along  the  line  of  which 
they  served  about  two  months,  when  they  were  ordered  to  Alton,  Illinois. 
They  remained  in  that  city,  in  guard  of  rebel  prisoners,  until  about  the 
middle  of  January,  1864,  when  they  moved  to  Rock  Island,  where  they  per 
formed  similar  duties  until  the  5th  of  June.  They  then  proceeded  to  Mem 
phis,  Tennessee,  in  the  vicinity  of  which  post  they  were  engaged  on  guard 
and  picket  duties  for  about  three  months  of  very  hot  weather.  On  the  5th 
of  July,  a  detail  of  fifty  men  from  the  regiment,  in  guard  of  a  supply  train 
on  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  Railroad,  was  attacked  by  guerrillas.  Cor 
poral  Charles  Young  and  Private  Samuel  Coburn  were  killed,  and  two 
others  of  the  Regiment  were  slightly  wounded.  The  guard  promptly 
returned  the  fire,  but  with  what  effect  was  not  known.  From  Memphis, 
the  command  moved  to  Indianapolis,  Indiana,  whence  five  companies, 
under  Colonel  Kincaid,  went  to  Cincinnati,  three,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel 
West,  to  Columbus,  and  the  other  two,  Major  Allen,  to  Gallipolis,  Ohio. 
At  these  posts  the  different  commands  remained  till  the  middle  of  May, 
1865,  when  Lieutenant-Colonel  West  and  Major  Allen  joined  the  regiment 
at  Cincinnati.  The  20th,  the  command  left  Cincinnati  for  Davenport, 
where  it  was  mustered  out  of  the  service  four  days  afterwards. 

When  final  pay-day  came,  the  men  were  astonished  to  find  they  did  not 

1  The  commanders  of  companies  were  :  John  Hogendobler,  James  G.  Wells,  E.  A.  M.  Swasey, 
soon  succeeded  by  Joel  A.  Hall,  Josiah  W.  McCaddon,  Resen  Banks,  Osmond  Bailey,  Joel  Stover, 
William  Henshan,  Caleb  Lamb,  James  G.  Crane ;  First  Lieutenants  E.  II.  Stedman,  Samuel  Tarr, 
Stephen  B.  Shellady,  (succeeding  Joel  A,  Hall,  promoted  early  in  1863),  C.  S.  Jennis,  Edward 
Gerard,  G.  W.  Cummins,  Henry  C.  Markham,  John  W.  Hillspaugh,  Ezra  Havens,  Thomas  G.  Daniels ; 
Second  Lieutenants  J.  C.  Bubbard,  Robert  Mills,  R.  L.  Barnum,  John  W.  Barnes,  Edwin  Davis, 
Hezekiah  Young,  Henry  Swan,  John  V.  Myers,  Thomas  E.  Belknap,  John  J.  Duncan. 

There  were  not  very  many  changes  in  the  officers  of  the  Gray-Beard  regiment  during  its  term  of 
service.  I  find  the  field  and  staff  officers  remaining  the  same  throughout — so  far  as  shown  by  the 
Adjutant-General's  Reports — except  that  Edward  Doru  and  Joseph  Orr  became  assistant  surgeons. 
The  following  names  also  appear  among  the  lieutenants :  John  C.  Corielle,  Charles  H.  King,  James 
C.  Stirlen,  John  Madden,  Samuel  B.  Burge. 


THE     GRAY-BEARD     REGIMENT.  663 

receive  the  bounty  given  to  other  three  years'  men.  They  had  received  it 
in  part,  before ;  the  paymaster  who  had  paid  them  had  been  credited  with 
the  amount,  as  a  proper  disbursement,  by  the  accounting  officers  of  the 
government ;  they  were  deeply  chagrined  to  find  not  only  that  they  were 
not  to  receive  the  balance  of  the  bounty  due,  but  that  the  sums  they  had 
received  on  that  account  were  to  be  deducted  from  their  pay !  There  were 
many  expressions  of  indignation.  The  Honorable  James  F.  Wilson, 
Representative  in  Congress,  has  introduced  a  bill  on  the  subject,  and  the 
Gray-Beards  will  doubtless  receive  the  bounty  which  never  should  have 
been  withheld  from  them. 

Their  services  were  not,  indeed,  rendered  in  the  tented  field,  in  the  face 
of  the  enemy,  except  during  the  attack  on  Memphis.  But  they  performed 
valuable,  onerous,  and  oftentimes  most  disagreeable  duties.  They  received 
many  favorable  expressions  from  commanding  officers  under  whom  they 
served.  General  Willich,  the  last  general  officer  under  whose  command 
they  served,  thus  wrote  to  the  Adjutant-General  of  the  army : 

"  HEAD-QUARTERS,  CINCINNATI,  OHIO,  May  ISth,  1865. 

"BRIGADIER-GENERAL  L.  THOMAS,  ADJUTANT-GENERAL  U.  S.  ARMY — GENERAL:  I  have  the  honor  to 
Bxibmit  to  your  consideration  the  following: 

"The  Thirty-seventh  Regiment  Iowa  Volunteer  Infantry,  called  the  '  Gray-Beards,' now  on  duty 
at  this  post,  consists  exclusively  of  old  men— none  under  forty-five,  many  over  sixty  years  of  age. 
After  the  men  of  this  regiment  had  devoted  their  sons  and  grandsons,  numbering  thirteen  hundred 
men,  to  the  service  of  their  country,  their  patriotism  induced  them  to  enlist  themselves,  for  garrison 
duty,  thus  enabling  the  government  to  send  the  young  men  to  the  front.  Officers  and  men  would 
cheerfully  remain  in  the  service  as  long  as  they  are  wanted,  though  they  are  very  badly  needed  at 
home  to  save  the  next  harvest,  most  of  them  being  farmers.  I  most  respectfully  submit  to  you 
whether  there  is  any  necessity  now  to  hold  these  old  men  under  such  heavy  sacrifices. 

"  They  have  received  the  commendations  of  their  former  post  commanders.  At  this  post  Ihey 
have  performed  very  heavy  duties,  which  to  perform  would  even  have  been  difficult  for  an  equal 
number  of  young  men.  The  high  patriotism  displayed  by  these  men  in  devoting  a  few  years  of 
their  old  age  to  their  country's  service  is  unparalleled  in  history,  and  commands  the  respect  of 
every  true  republican. 

"I  therefore  most  respectfully  recommend  that  the  Thirty-seventh  Iowa  Volunteer  Infantry  may 
be  mustered  out  of  the  service  immediately,  with  the  honors  and  acknowledgements  of  their 
services  due  to  the  noble  spirit  with  which  they  gave  so  glorious  an  example  to  the  youths  of  their 
country.  "  Very  respectfully,  &c., 

"  J.  WILLICH,  Brigadier-General  commanding." 

General  Willich' s  request  was  granted,  and  the  regiment  was  accordingly 
mustered  out  as  we  have  stated,  being  the  first  of  our  troops  who  had 
enlisted  for  three  years  to  be  discharged  the  service.  The  command  was 
disbanded  on  the  veiy  day  that  the  great  review  of  the  armies  took  place  at 
Washington  City,  and  all  was  joy  that  peace  had  again  dawned  upon  the 
land.  Then  the  venerable  men  who  had  come  down  to  us  from  a  former 
generation  sought  their  quiet  homes,  to  welcome  back  such  of  their  sons  as 
had  not  fallen  in  the  great  struggle. 


CHAPTER     XLII. 

THIRTY-EIGHTH  INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZATION  AT  DUBUQUE— "  CAMP  FRANKLIN  "-MOVE  TO  ST.  LOUIS-TO  KEN 
TUCKY—GARRISON  DUTY  AT  NEW  MADRID— SIEGE  OF  VICKSBURG— EXPEDITION 
TO  YAZOO  CITY— ENCAMPMENT  AT  PORT  HUDSON— SICKNESS— DEATH  OF  COLONEL 
HUGHES— THE  TEXAS  EXPEDITION— SIEGE  AND  CAPTURE  OF  FORT  MORGAN- 
RETURN  OF  THE  REGIMENT  TO  LOUISIANA— CONSOLIDATED  WITH  THE  THIRTY- 
FOURTH. 

THE  companies  of  the  Thirty-eighth  Regiment  Iowa  Volunteer  Infantry 
were  enrolled  in  five  counties  of  the  Third  Congressional  District — Fayette, 
Winneshiek,  Bremer,  Chickasaw,  and  Howard.  Fayette  county  alone  con 
tributed  four  full  companies,  Winneshiek  two,  and  Bremer  nearly  two. 
The  companies  were  recruited  for  the  most  part  during  the  month  of 
August,  1862,  and  were  ordered  to  Dubuque  for  regimental  organization. 
They  went  into  rendezvous  at  "Camp  Franklin,"  but  on  account  of  certain 
difficulties  touching  who  should  be  the  commanding  officer  of  the  regiment, 
and  because  of  the  delay  in  filling  up  one  of  the  companies,  the  command 
was  not  mustered  into  the  service  for  a  considerable  length  of  time. 

Meanwhile,  it  will  be  in  order  to  speak  of  the  camp,  in  which  the  men 
were  learning  the  motions  of  "the  awkward  squads"  and  the  virtue  of 
patience. 

Any  one  who  has  visited  the  city  of  Dubuque  must  have  admired  the 
beauty  of  the  surrounding  scenery.  There  are  many  fine  scenes  on  the 
Upper  Mississippi,  and  few  which  surpass  that  which  spreads  before  the 
vision  from  the  heights  of  Dubuque.  Immediately  opposite  is  northern 
Illinois,  here  rough  and  tumbled  like  New  England,  unfolding  in  the  dis 
tance  into  a  landscape  of  unusual  beauty.  To  the  left  is  Wisconsin,  Sinsin- 
awa  Mound  grandly  lifting  itself  up  in  the  distance  like  a  pyramid  of  God's 
own  building,  rounded  by  the  storms  of  ages.  Below  flows  the  Mississippi, 
up  and  down  which  the  eye  reaches  for  many  miles.  Right  under  one's 
feet  lies  the  fine  city,  stretching  down  the  river,  on  an  elevated  plateau,  for 
more  than  a  mile.  One  sees  the  steamers,  the  cars,  the  busy  life  of  a  pros 
perous  city.  There  are  few  places  where  one  can  better  see  at  a  glance  the 
664 


THIRTY-EIGHTH     INFANTRY.  66f5 

industry  of  civilized  man  and  the  impressive  majesty  of  God's  handiwork 
than  from  the  heights  of  Dubuque. 

It  was  there  that  "Camp  Franklin"  was  situated.  J.  K.  Graves,  Esq., 
a  banker  of  the  city,  was  post  quartermaster,  with,  I  believe,  the  rank  of 
captain.  Before  the  companies  of  the  Thirty-eighth  arrived  at  Dubuque, 
the  Twenty-first,  Twenty-seventh,  and  Thirty-second  regiments  had  been 
quartered  in  the  same  camp.  The  "  Forty- second  Infantry,"  before  its 
consolidation  with  the  Sixth  Cavalry,  was  also  for  some  time  at  Camp 
Franklin.  Captain  Graves'  duties,  as  post  quartermaster,  were  heavy  and 
varied.  The  barracks  at  the  camp,  which  he  had  caused  to  be  erected  at  a 
remarkably  small  expense,  were  probably  second  to  none  in  the  State,  in 
point  of  comfort;  but  the  providing  of  quarters  was  only  a  small  part  of 
his  labors.  He  had  to  supply  the  troops  coming  in  from  all  northern  Iowa 
with  rations,  and  to  procure  clothing,  equipments,  and  I  know  not  what  all 
for  the  troops  at  a  time  when  the  people  were  rushing  to  the  rescue  of  their 
imperilled  country  as  ardently  and  numerously  as  they  had  done  at  the  out 
break  of  the  rebellion.  Captain  Graves  fully  mastered  the  situation,  and 
provided  for  the  patriotic  soldiery  of  our  northern  counties  as  handsomely 
as  was  possible,  whilst  Major  S.  D.  Brodtbeck,  officiating  as  drill-master, 
gave  them  the  rudiments  of  military  learning.  It  is  a  noteworthy  fact, 
speaking  much  in  favor  of  the  good  management  of  Camp  Franklin  that 
of  the  thousands  who  there  rendezvoused,  only  six  or  seven  men  died 
there. 

In  these  comfortable  quarters,  so  finely  situated,  near  a  city  as  remarka 
ble  for  the  genial  hospitality  of  its  people  as  for  its  grand  surroundings,  the 
companies  of  our  Thirty-eighth  regiment  remained  several  weeks  before  the 
organization  was  completed.  At  length  Governor  Kirkwood  settled  the  diffi 
culties  which  had  arisen  touching  the  commanding  officer,  and  appointed 
David  H.  Hughes,  a  lawyer  of  considerable  repute,  colonel;  Joseph  0. 
Hodnutt,  lieutenant-colonel ;  and  Charles  Chadwick,  major.  H.  W.  Pettit 
was  commissioned  adjutant;  Mason  R.  Lyons,  quartermaster;  Henry  W. 
Hart,  surgeon;  Robert  McNutt  and  Edward  A.  Duncan,  assistants;  and 
Rev.  John  "Webb,  chaplain.  The  regiment,  about  nine  hundred  strong, 
was  mustered  into  the  service  on  the  4th  of  November.1 

1  The  line  officers  now  were :  Company  A — Captain  James  J.  Welsh,  Lieutenants  J.  J.  Berkey, 
John  Ilerriman.  Company  B — Captain  H.  F.  Beebe,  Lieutenants  Asbury  Leverick,  Orrin  F.  Avery. 
Company  C—  Captain  Henry  A.  Tinkham,  Lieutenants  Horace  C.  Baldwin,  John  A.  Green.  Company 
D — Captain  Edwin  Kirkup,  Lieutenants  0.  M.  Barrett,  George  R.  Humphrey.  Company  ^—Captain 
Henry  A.  Cleghorn,  Lieutenants  Aaron  C.  Ferren,  Theodore  R.  Crandall.  Company  F—  Captain 
Jacob  W.  Rogers,  Lieutenants  Henry  M.  Shoemaker,  David  P.  Campbell.  Company  G — Captain 
Charles  H.  Millar,  Lieutenants  L.  M.  Bunton,  Edmund  Elwell.  Company  -H"— Captain  Eliphalet 
Follett,  Lieutenants  Elisha  Hosmer,  Lewis  Armstrong.  Company  J— Captain  James  H.  B.  Harris, 
Lieutenants  W.  H.  Powell,  William  H.  Patterson.  Company  K — Captain  Charles  Allen,  Lieutenants 
George  H.  Stephens,  Platt  R.  Sanford. 
84 


666  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Having  remained  at  Camp  Franklin  several  weeks  for  drill  and  disci 
pline,  Colonel  Hughes  moved  by  rail  to  St.  Louis,  and  went  into  quarters  at 
Benton  Barracks.  The  regiment  there  remained  a  few  days,  during  which 
Colonel  Hughes  procured  complete  equipments  for  the  field.  During  the 
holidays  he  was  ordered  by  General  Curtis  to  report  with  his  command  at 
Helena,  Arkansas.  Arriving  at  Columbus,  Kentucky,  December  30th, 
Colonel  Hughes  was  ordered  to  disembark  and  proceed  by  rail  to  Union 
Cit}7,  threatened,  as  was  said,  by  the  enemy  in  force.  No  enemy  was  met, 
and  the  command  returned  to  Columbus,  whence  it  proceeded,  under  an 
order  countermanding  that  received  at  St.  Louis,  to  New  Madrid,  which 
had  recently  been  evacuated,  in  obedience  to  something  more  than  unneces 
sary  orders,  by  Colonel  John  Scott,  Thirty-second  Iowa.  The  Thirty- 
eighth  arrived  January  2d,  1863,  and  proceeded  at  once  to  re-garrison  the 
post,  rebuild  the  barracks,  unspike  the  guns,  and  in  all  ways  to  again  put 
the  place  in  a  state  of  defence.  Here  Colonel  Hughes  remained  entirely 
undisturbed  by  any  enemy  until  June. 

The  7th  of  this  month  the  regiment  left  New  Madrid  for  Vicksburg, 
joining  Major-General  Herron's  troops  on  the  way  thither.  The  15th,  the 
command  took  position  on  the  left  of  the  investing  army,  and  from  that 
time  until  the  capitulation  was  engaged  in  the  duties  of  the  siege.  The 
casualties  in  the  regiment  were  slight — one  slain  and  two  wounded,  one 
mortally — but  its  losses  from  the  effects  of  its  campaigning  before  Vicks 
burg  were  mournful  in  the  extreme.  The  position  of  the  regiment  was  on 
the  border  of  a  cypress  swamp,  whose  baleful  influences  brought  many  offi 
cers  and  men  to  beds  of  sickness,  and  finally  to  the  grave. 

On  the  12th  of  July,  the  regiment  embarked  under  orders,  to  move  to 
Port  Hudson,  with  General  Herron's  forces,  but  that  officer  made,  instead, 
the  expedition  to  Yazoo  City,  in  the  occupation  of  which  place  and  the 
severe  march  which  followed  in  the  direction  of  Jackson,  the  Thirty-eighth 
took  part.  General  Herron  returned  to  Vicksburg  the  21st,  and  a  few  days 
thereafter  moved  to  Port  Hudson.  Here  the  Thirty-eighth  regiment 
encamped  about  three  weeks.  It  was  during  this  period  that  the  effects 
of  the  regiment's  unfavorable  position  in  the  investment  of  Vicksburg,  and 
its  severe  labors  there,  became  most  painfully  evident.  The  command  was 
almost  entirely  prostrate,  there  being  at  one  time  only  eight  officers  and 
twenty  enlisted  men  fit  for  duty !  There  were  many  deaths.  The  encamp 
ment  was  a  hospital,  filled  with  the  sick  and  dying.  Colonel  Hughes,  who 
had  shown  himself  a  gallant  and  efficient  officer,  died  here,  as  did  Captain 
Henry  A.  Tinkham  and  Lieutenant  George  II.  Stevens,  valuable  officers, 
whose  untimely  death  the  men  of  the  Thirty-eighth  never  ceased  to  lament. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Hodnutt  being  absent,  sick,  the  command  of  the  regi 
ment  devolved  on  Major  Chadwick. 


THIRTY-EIGHTH     INFANTRY.  G67 

The  wasted  regiment,  the  mere  wreck  of  the  stout  command  which  had 
set  forth  from  Camp  Franklin  not  many  months  before,  moved  from  Port 
Hudson  the  middle  of  August,  and  went  into  convalescent  camp  at  Carroll- 
ton,  Louisiana,  on  the  16th.  Here  the  regiment  remained,  regaining 
health  and  strength  for  more  than  two  months.  Many  convalescents  re 
joined  the  command  from  the  hospitals  up  the  river,  and  when  Banks 
started  on  his  expedition  to  Texas,  the  Thirty-eighth  joined  Hcrron's  Divi 
sion,  now  the  Second  of  the  Thirteenth  Corps,  and  on  the  23d  of  October 
sailed  for  Brazos  Santiago.  Thence  it  joined  in  the  march  on  Brownsville, 
and  arrived  at  that  place  November  9th.  There  it  remained  on  garrison 
duty  till  the  latter  part  of  July,  1864,  when  the  town  was  evacuated  by  the 
Unionists. 

It  was  on  the  last  day  of  the  month  that  the  regiment  embarked  at 
Brazos  Santiago  for  New  Orleans,  where  it  arrived  in  due  time.  In  a  few 
days  it  embarked  for  Fort  Morgan,  and  went  into  camp  on  Mobile  Point, 
in  rear  of  that  work,  now  besieged,  on  the  9th  of  August.  Here  the  com 
mand  remained,  taking  part  in  the  siege,  until  the  work  fell  into  our  hands, 
and  afterwards  for  more  than  a  fortnight  of  quiet.  It  then  returned  to 
New  Orleans,  whence  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hodnutt  was  ordered  to  Donald- 
sonville,  Lafourche  District,  Louisiana.  On  the  12th  of  December,  Major- 
General  Canby  issued  an  order  for  the  consolidation  of  the  Thirty-fourth 
and  Thirty-eighth  Iowa  regiments  into  the  Thirty-fourth  Iowa  Volunteers. 
This  was  consummated  on  the  1st  of  January,  1865,  in  the  manner  which 
has  been  heretofore  related,  when  the  Thirty-eighth  Iowa  regiment  ceased 
to  exist  as  a  separate  organization.  Major  H.  F.  Beebe,  of  the  Thirty- 
eighth,  who  had  been  promoted  to  that  rank  in  the  month  of  April,  1864, 
was  continued  as  Major  of  the  Thirty-fourth.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hodnutt 
was  honorably  discharged  the  service.  Lieutenant  Charles  F.  Losche,  of 
the  Thirty-eighth,  was  appointed  Adjutant  of  the  Thirty-fourth,  and  H.  A. 
Maydole,  Quartermaster.  Captains  0.  F.  Avery,  George  R.  Humphrey, 
Charles  H.  Millar,  James  H.  B.  Harris,  and  T.  R.  Crandall,  and  Lieuten 
ants  Ezra  Crosby,  E.  C.  Dougherty,  Newton  Richards,  Henry  M.  Shoe 
maker,  L.  M.  Bunton,  and  Albert  S.  Ellis  also  continued  to  be  officers  in 
the  consolidated  command. 

Thus  the  Thirty-eighth  Iowa  Volunteers  passed  out  of  being.  Its  mem 
bers  forming  a  goodly  portion  of  the  Thirty-fourth,  Colonel  George  "W. 
Clark,  helped  to  continue  the  brilliant  record  of  that  noted  command,  and 
were  discharged  the  service  at  the  same  time. 

The  history  of  the  Thirty-eighth  is  the  saddest  of  all  our  regiments.  It- 
had  not  been  in  the  service  two  years,  when  more  than  three  hundred  of 
its  enlisted  men,  and  a  number  of  officers  had  died  of  disease.  More  than 
an  hundred  men  and  a  score  of  officers  during  the  same  period  had  been 


668  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

discharged,  on  account  of  ill  health.  There  were  long,  weary  weeks  when 
there  were  not  enough  well  men  to  take  care  of  the  sick,  not  even  enough 
to  bury  the  dead.  After  so  many  had  passed  through  the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death,  the  organization  itself  was  given  up.  When  its  old 
members,  returning  home  through  Dubuque,  saw  no  vestiges  of  Camp 
Franklin,  but  a  few  relics,  they  must  have  been  painfully  reminded  of  their 
own  lot.  Yet  the  Thirty-eighth  was  composed  of  as  gallant  men  as  any 
who  went  to  the  wars.  If  the  regiment  did  not  have  an  opportunity  to 
achieve  brilliant  renown  in  the  field,  it  did  have  an  opportunity  to  fulfill  a 
no  less  honored  destiny  than  many  whose  banners  were  covered  with  the 
names  of  battles.  It  did  all  that  men  could  do.  It  gave  itself  entirely  up 
for  the  good  of  the  service,  and  is  fairly  entitled  to  the  honor  of  being 
called  our  Martyr  Regiment. 


CHAPTER  XLIII. 

FORTIETH    INFANTRY. 

THE  LAST  OF  THE  THREE-YEARS  INFANTRY  REGIMENTS— "  COPPERHEADS  "—THE 
FORMATION  OF  THE  REGIMENT— ENCAMPMENT  AT  IOWA  CITY— DEPARTURE  FOR 
CAIRO— LONG  STAY  AT  COLUMBUS,  KENTUCKY— AT  PADUCAH— JOIN  THE  "  PRO 
VISIONAL  DIVISION"  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS  — MARCH  TO  LITTLE 
ROCK— THE  CAMDEN  EXPEDITION  UNDER  GENERAL  STEELE— THE  RETREAT  TO 
LITTLE  ROCK— BATTLE  OF  JENKINS'  -FjERKF— HARD  WORK  AGAIN— IN 
THE  INDIAN  COUNTRY— HOME. 

OF  those  regiments  from  Iowa  which  volunteered  for  three  years  or 
during  the  war,  the  Fortieth  Infantry  was  the  highest  in  numerical  order, 
but  not  the  last  to  leave  the  State.  Three  or  four  other  regimental  organiza 
tions,  too,  were  commenced,  but  not  completed.  Some  three  hundred  men 
were  enlisted  for  the  Forty-first,  who  united  with  the  three  companies  of 
the  Fourteenth  stationed  at  Fort  Randall,  Dacotah  Territory  ;  another  regi 
ment,  to  be  called  the  Forty-second  was  attempted  to  be  formed,  with  camp 
at  Dubuque ;  and  another  still  to  be  called  the  Forty-third,  at  Ottumwa. 
These  attempts,  however,  were  unsuccessful  in  so  far  as  the  complete  for 
mation  of  an  infantry  regiment  after  the  Fortieth  was  concerned.  It  was 
because  commissions  had  been  issued  to  persons  designated  as  officers  of 
the  regiments  here  spoken  of,  and  because  considerable  had  been  done  in 
the  way  of  their  formation  before  their  members  went  into  other  organiza 
tions,  that  when  the  Hundred-days  men  were  afterwards  organized,  the 
number  of  their  regiments  commenced  with  Forty-four. 

The  Fortieth  has  been  called  "the  Copperhead  Regiment,"  and  during 
times  of  high  political  excitement,  some  partizans,  more  distinguished  for 
narrow  views  and  dogmatic  utterances,  than  for  qualities  which  bring 
esteem,  have  less  or  more  publicly  attempted  to  cast  a  stigma  upon  the 
command  because  it  did  not  happen  to  vote  so  overwhelmingly  one  way  as 
most  regiments  from  the  State.  There  are  not  a  few,  indeed,  who  think 
that  the  regiment  has  given  what  they  call  a  "  copperhead"  majority,  and 
there  were  those  in  the  command  who  thought  this  fact  brought  about  a 
prejudice  against  it.  The  truth  is,  the  regiment  always  cast  a  small 

669 


670  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

majority  of  its  votes  for  the  candidates  of  the  Republican  party.  Upon 
this  subject  of  the  politics  of  the  Fortieth,  an  active  republican  member  of 
the  regiment  truthfully  and  somewhat  indignantly  writes  :  "In  the  sum 
mer  of  1862  our  party  friends  urged  that  the  Democrats  did  not,  but 
should,  enlist  and  bear  their  portion  of  the  burdens  of  the  war.  Under 
these  circumstances  the  men  of  this  Regiment — Democrats  as  well  as  Repub 
licans — left  their  homes,  and  responded  to  their  country's  call.  And,  with 
perhaps  a  few  exceptions  from  both  sides,  they  have  endured  every  hard 
ship,  braved  every  danger,  performed  every  duty  and  obeyed  every  order, 
with  a  hearty  and  unselfish  patriotism  which  might  be  beneficially  emulated 
by  those  who  denounce  them  as  copperheads  because  they  differ  in  the 
matter  of  politics.  As  between  those  who  enter  the  army,  and  fight  rebels 
whenever  opportunity  offers,  and  vote  the  democratic  ticket,  and  those  who 
stay  at  home  and  disparage  those  who  fight  because  they  cannot  control  their 
votes  at  the  polls,  it  is  not  difficult  for  me  to  make  choice.  I  hold  the  for 
mer  in  the  highest  possible  esteem  and  have  nothing  but  contempt  for  the 
latter.1' 

The  Fortieth  regiment  was  organized  of  companies  formed  in  the  coun 
ties  of  Marion,  Poweshiek,  Mahaska,  Jasper,  Keokuk,  and  Benton,  in  the 
Fourth  Congressional  District.  There  were  four  companies  principally 
from  Marion,  two  from  Jasper,  and  one  each  from  the  other  counties 
named.  They  went  into  camp  near  Iowa  City  during  the  months  of 
August,  September,  and  October,  1862.  The  Captains  were:  Company  A, 
M.  V.  B.  Bennett;  Company  B,  D.  W.  Robinson;  Company  C,  John  A. 
Carter;  Company  D,  Felix  W.  Cozad;  Company  E,  James  W.  Sennet; 
Company  F,  E.  W.  Ridlen ;  Company  Gr,  Thomas  Jenkins ;  Company  H, 
Peter  M.  Johnson;  Company  I,  Elisha  Sampson;  Company  K,  George 
W.  Sells.1  Of  these,  Captain  Bennett  was  the  most  noted  as  a  politician. 
He  had  represented  Marion  county  in  the  General  Assembly,  where  he  had 
gained  considerable  notoriety  as  a  ready  debater,  and  enthusiastic  partisan 
of  the  most  straightest  sect  of  democracy.  He  had  afterwards  been  a  can 
didate  for  elector,  in  which  capacity  he  had  stumped  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  State,  haranguing  the  people  with  great  vehemence  of  gesture,  many 
good  personal  hits,  and  much  looseness  of  expression.  Of  an  ardent  tem 
perament,  as  pugnacious  in  his  disputations  as  Worcester's  Dictionary,  and 
with  great  capacity  of  tongue,  he  resigned  before  the  regiment  had  been 
under  fire,  but  not  before  he  had  done  more  than  all  the  other  officers 
toward  giving  the  command  its  political  reputation  before  spoken  of. 

1  The  First  Lieutenants  were,  Thomas  J.  Anderson,  John  Morrison,  William  B.  Anderson,  David 
Edmundson,  Joseph  Hewitt,  0.  H.  S.  Kennedy,  David  C.  Jordan,  Caleb  J.  Amos,  De  Witt  C.  Baker, 
Jacob  R.  Christie.  Second  Lieutenants,  William  Blain,  Simeon  J.  Dalbey,  George  Lieurance,  John 
\V.  Smith,  Aaron  Adams,  Thomas  H.  Forsyth,  Henry  B.  Reefer,  E.  J.  Stamper,  James  W.  Ward, 
William  II.  Harding. 


FORTIETH      INFANTRY.  671 

Captain  Sells  was  another  politician  of  the  same  kind.  The  other  company 
commanders  were  more  quiet.  Captain  Robinson  was  commissioned  sur 
geon  of  the  regiment,  and  Frank  T.  Campbell  appointed  in  his  place.  In 
compliance  with  the  wishes  of  the  company,  Captain  Johnson  retired,  and 
Nathan  Richards  received  the  commission.  John  A.  Garrett,  of  Newton, 
was  appointed  colonel,  Samuel  F.  Cooper,  of  Grinnell,  lieutenant-colonel, 
and  Sherman  G.  Smith,  of  Newton,  major.  The  regimental  organization 
was  completed  about  the  middle  of  October,  when  L.  A.  Duncan,  of  Iowa 
City,  was  announced  as  adjutant,  and  A.  B.  Miller,  of  Knoxville,  quarter 
master;  David  W.  Robinson  was  surgeon,  with  A.  S.  Elwood,  H.  J. 
Scoles,  assistants ;  Reverend  S.  Hestwood,  chaplain. 

On  the  15th  of  November,  the  regiment,  about  nine  hundred  strong, 
was  formally  mustered  into  the  service  of  the  United  States,  but  it 
remained  at  Camp  Pope  for  a  little  more  than  a  month,  giving  both  officers 
and  men  an  opportunity  to  acquaint  themselves  with  the  practical  duties  of 
soldiers,  and  to  enjoy  themselves  with  the  hospitable,  sociable  people  of  the 
old  capital  of  the  State.  On  the  16th  of  December,  the  arms,  being  Enfield 
rifled  muskets,  were  distributed  to  the  men,  and  on  the  following  morning, 
a  cold  but  bright  Iowa  day,  the  regiment  took  the  cars,  and,  by  way  of  La 
Salle,  went  without  change  to  Cairo,  Illinois,  reaching  that  damp  city  on 
the  evening  of  the  18th,  but  stopping  only  long  enough  to  go  aboard  a 
steamer.  They  immediately  proceeded  on  their  journey,  and  arrived  at 
Columbus,  Kentucky,  the  same  night. 

This  rebel  stronghold,  long  their  boasted  Gibraltar  of  the  West,  had 
been  in  the  quiet  possession  of  Union  troops  for  many  months,  but  was 
now  threatened,  as  was  supposed,  with  attack  from  the  rebel  General  For 
rest,  a  supposition  far  removed  from  the  fact,  this  noted  trooper  being  very 
much  nearer  Cincinnati  than  Columbus  at  the  time,  having  captured  Lex 
ington  on  the  day  before  the  Fortieth  Iowa  reached  its  destination.  But 
Forrest  had  a  reputation  for  ubiquity,  and  the  camps  at  Columbus  had 
daily  alarms  of  attack  for  a  fortnight  after  our  regiment  reached  the  place. 
No  attack  was  made  by  Forrest  or  any  one  else. 

Here  the  regiment  remained  during  the  winter.  It  was  a  period  of 
gloom  for  the  command.  The  weather  was  most  disagreeable  to  the  men 
accustomed  to  the  colder,  but  more  dry  and  regular  climate  of  Iowa,  It 
was  "mud  yesterday  and  snow  to-day,  mud  to-day  and  snow  yesterday, 
with  a  probability  of  both  to-morrow,"  and  cold,  wet,  sleety  nights  sand 
wiched  in  between  the  days.  Many  of  the  men  had  but  just  recovered 
from  the  measles,  and  but  few  were  inured  to  hardships  and  exposure. 
They  had  only  such  shelter  as  was  offered  by  a  few  common  and  what  the 
boys  called  "dog"  tents.  Many  contracted  disease,  and  many  died.  The 
duties  to  be  performed  were  onerous,  and  were  not  relieved  by  any  of  that 


672  IOWA    AND     THE     EEBELLION. 

fine  excitement  which  accompanies  an  active  campaign,  or  by  any  event 
which  lightened  the  burden  of  dreary  monotony.  When  orders  came  to 
move,  they  were  received  by  the  men  with  inexpressible  delight.  They 
went,  on  March  3d,  1863,  to  Paducah,  seventy-five  miles  above  Columbus, 
making  the  journey  by  steamer.  Paducah  is  the  most  important  commer 
cial  point  on  the  left  bank  of  the  rivers  between  Louisville  and  Memphis. 
No  doubt  many  of  its  first  families  were  now  absent,  but  it  had  many  of  the 
blessings  of  civilization  left — good  society,  churches,  trade,  and  billiard 
saloons.  After  Columbus  it  was  like  Elysium.  Here  the  regiment  had 
every  comfort  and  convenience  that  soldiers  could  want,  and  they  speedily 
recovered  health  and  spirits.  They  remained  at  Paducah  nearly  three 
months,  and,  duty  being  light,  every  day  saw  the  regiment  more  and  more 
perfected  in  drill.  Officers  and  non-commissioned  officers'  schools,  com 
pany,  and  battalion  drills,  were  the  daily  programme. 

On  the  last  day  of  May  the  regiment  embarked  on  a  steamer,  under  orders 
from  General  Grant,  and  moved  down  the  river  to  join  the  army  operating 
against  Vicksburg,  of  which  it  formed  a  part  of  "Kimball's  Provisional 
Division,"  Sixteenth  Army  Corps.  The  boat  steamed  down  the  Mississippi 
as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo  River,  up  that  ' '  river  of  death' '  to  the 
town  of  Satartia,  where  the  troops  disembarked.  Hence,  on  June  4th, 
they  marched  in  light  fighting  trim  a  few  miles  to  the  village  of  Mechanics- 
ville,  where  General  Kiniball  was  engaging  the  rebels  under  Wirt  Adams. 
The  affair  was  over,  however,  and  the  enemy  in  retreat  before  the  Fortieth 
came  up.  On  the  6th  and  7th  they  marched  to  Haines'  Bluff,  where  they 
remained  a  week,  and  then  moved  to  Snyder's  Bluff,  three  miles  further. 
Here  they  tarried,  facing  the  mythical  army  of  one  hundred  thousand  men 
under  the  rebel  General  Johnston,  which  was  to  relieve  the  beleagured 
garrison  of  Vicksburg,  till  the  capitulation  of  that  stronghold.  They 
remained  on  the  Yazoo,  drinking  its  poisonous  waters,  and  inhaling  the 
miasma  of  that  unhealthy  region,  till  the  23d  of  July,  when  they  embarked 
for  pestilential  Helena,  Arkansas,  reaching  that  place  on  the  26th.  The 
unhealthfulness  of  the  Yazoo  country  had  fearfully  reduced  the  strength  of 
the  regiment.  The  bad  water  and  the  damp  bottoms  had  made  havoc  in 
the  ranks  equal  to  the  losses  of  a  hard-fought  battle.  For  the  larger  part 
of  the  period  during  which  the  regiment  was  on  the  Yazoo,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Cooper  was  in  command,  Colonel  Garrett  being  detailed  on  court- 
martial. 

During  the  latter  part  of  July  and  early  part  of  August,  Major-General 
Steele  organized,  at  Helena,  the  expedition  against  Little  Rock.  The 
strength  of  his  command  was  about  twelve  thousand  men  of  all  arms.  Of 
this  army  the  Fortieth  Iowa  formed  a  part.  The  regiment  left  Helena  on 
August  13th,  and  on  the  10th  of  the  following  month  entered  Little  Rock 


FORTIETH     INFANTRY.  673 

in  triumph.  On  the  day  of  the  capture  of  that  capital,  the  regiment  had 
the  advance  in  crossing  the  Arkansas  River  at  a  point  below  the  town  where 
the  enemy  was  thought  to  be  in  force  in  the  timber  opposite.  It  supported 
our  batteries  during  the  laying  of  the  pontoons,  a  part  of  the  time  under 
fire  of  the  enemy's  batteries,  but  it  received  no  damage  either  here  or  at 
the  crossing.  The  enemy  fled,  and  Little  Rock  was  almost  bloodlessly  repos 
sessed.  The  march  of  the  regiment  from  Helena  was  conducted  by  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Cooper,  the  Colonel  being  absent,  sick.  The  commanding 
officer  himself  was  hardly  able  to  keep  his  saddle.  Nevertheless,  he  re 
mained  faithfully  with  the  command,  performing  his  duties  with  constancy 
and  courage  till  all  danger  was  over,  when  he  fell  into  a  fever  from  the 
effects  of  which  he  has  hardly  yet  recovered.  It  was  a  trying  period  both 
for  officers  and  men.  At  one  time  on  the  march,  but  two  hundred  and 
nineteen  enlisted  men,  the  regiment  then  numbering  seven  hundred  and 
fifty,  were  able  to  take  their  places  in  line.  Before  he  had  marched  half 
way  from  Helena  to  Little  Rock,  General  Steele  had  to  send  more  than  one 
thousand  men  to  hospitals  at  Duvall's  Bluff,  and  of  this  sick  list,  more 
being  constantly  added,  the  troops  lately  from  the  Yazoo  formed  the  greater 
proportion. 

The  regiment  remained  at  Little  Rock  a  long  time,  except  to  make 
a  march  to  Benton,  twenty-five  miles  distant,  during  the  winter  of  1863 
and  1864;  during  a  short  trip  to  Brownsville,  Austin,  and  Searcy;  and 
during  the  Camden  Expedition.  Of  this  expedition,  important  by  reason 
of  the  hopes  which  it  aroused  and  disappointed,  its  losses  of  men  and  pro 
perty,  its  principal  engagement,  and  the  sufferings  of  the  troops  upon  their 
retreat,  the  Fortieth  formed  a  part.  The  expedition  was  more  important 
still  in  this,  that,  threatening  a  movement  upon  the  flank  or  rear  of  the 
rebel  force  against  which  the  army  under  General  Banks  was  operating,  it 
compelled  a  heavy  detachment  from  that  force  to  march  away  from  sup 
porting  distance  of  the  main  column,  so  that  it  probably  saved  from  entire 
destruction  the  fleet  and  land  forces  in  Louisiana.  The  cotemporaneous 
campaigns,  however,  of  Lieutenant-General  Grant  against  Richmond  and 
General  Sherman  against  Atlanta,  so  excited  the  attention  of  the  country 
and  of  the  powers  that  be,  that  the  disasters  in  the  southwest  were  almost 
lost  sight  of.  Otherwise,  I  suppose,  some  of  the  general  officers  would 
have  been  shot  for  incompetency  and  drunkenness. 

The  army  under  Major-General  Steele  moved  from  Little  Rock,  March 
23d,  1864,  the  Fortieth  Iowa  forming  a  part  of  the  Third  Brigade,  Third 
Division,  commanded  by  Colonel  A.  Engelmann,  Forty-third  Illinois  In 
fantry.  On  April  3d,  the  regiment  participated  in  a  heavy  skirmish  near 
Okolona,  in  which  Lieutenant  Roberts,  of  Company  B,  and  Sergeant  David 
A.  Tanner,  of  Company  C,  were  wounded.  In  the  running  engagement  on 
85 


674  IOWA     AND     THE     KEBELLION. 

Prairie  d' Anne,  during  the  day  and  night  of  April  10th,  the  regiment  bore 
honorable  part.  The  casualties  were  eight  wounded,  one,  Corporal  John 
J.  Wade,  of  Company  I,  mortally.  The  army,  intelligence  of  the  defeat 
of  General  Banks  in  Louisiana  having  been  received,  bent  its  march  to 
ward  Camden  on  the  Washita  River,  the  advance  reaching  that  place  on 
the  15th  of  the  month.  Here  General  Steele  remained  about  a  fortnight — 
a  delay  which  resulted  in  the  capture  of  his  trains,  a  harassed  and  hungry 
retreat  upon  Little  Rock,  and  the  severe  engagement  of  Jenkins'  Ferry. 

The  Washita  was  quietly  crossed  during  the  night  of  the  2Gth,  and  the 
whole  army  in  retreat  by  daylight  of  the  27th.  The  rebels  immediately 
marched  in  pursuit,  and  their  advance  came  up  with  our  rear  guard, 
Colonel  Engelmann's  Brigade,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  29th,  the  main  body 
of  the  Union  force  being  encamped  on  the  bottom  lands  of  Saline  River  at 
Jenkins'  Ferry.  Heavy  skirmishing,  both  of  artillery  and  infantry,  ensued, 
and  continued  at  intervals  till  nearly  dark. 
• 

ISATTLE  OF  JENKINS'  FEJtHT. 

From  the  Saline  River  to  the  first  bluffs  west  of  the  ferry,  the  distance  is 
something  more  than  a  mile.  From  the  rich  alluvial  soil  grows  a  forest  of 
majestic  trees.  A  small  stream,  called  Cox's  Creek,  puts  in,  from  the 
west,  not  far  from  the  crossing.  The  whole  bottom  here,  except  two  incon 
siderable  fields,  still  containing  many  deadened  trees,  is  densely  wooded.  The 
road  is  narrow,  and  in  wet  weather  becomes  an  almost  unfathomable  slush. 
On  Friday,  the  29th,  it  rained  steadily  all  afternoon,  and  the  rain  fell  in 
torrents  during  the  livelong  night  succeeding.  Wet  to  the  skin,  the  army 
helped  the  trains  over  the  narrow  bridge  of  pontoons,  but  saw  the  morning 
come  before  the  passage  was  completed.  The  enemy  was  already  moving 
to  attack,  A  fight  against  vastly  superior  numbers,  or  surrender,  was 
inevitable. 

On  the  morning  of  the  30th,  the  Thirty- third  Iowa,  Colonel  Mackay, 
held  the  extreme  rear,  not  far  from  the  bluffs.  As  soon  as  it  was  light, 
this  regiment  was  impetuously  attacked.  It  was  speedily  reenforced  by  the 
Fiftieth  Indiana,  but  the  line  was  gradually  pressed  back  by  superior  num 
bers.  The  Ninth  Wisconsin  and  Twenty-ninth  Iowa  were  posted  in  a 
strong  position,  about  half  a  mile  to  the  rear  of  the  line  first  taken,  their 
right  resting  on  the  creek,  their  left  to  some  extent  protected  by  a  marsh, 
and  in  front  of  them  being  an  open  field.  The  Thirty-third  Iowa  and  Fif 
tieth  Indiana  now  fell  back  behind  this  line,  and  proceeded  to  make  coffee, 
not  far  from  where  Colonel  Engelmann's  Brigade  was  similarly  employed. 
But  in  a  short  time,  the  enemy  again  attacked,  and  a  furious  combat  en 
sued,  requiring  all  the  troops  stil!  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  and  reen- 
forcements  from  those  who  had  crossed  to  make  the  victory  and  the  passage 


FORTIETH     INFANTRY.  675 

of  the  stream  certain.  Brigadier-General  Samuel  A.  Rice  commanded  in 
person,  and  posted  the  troops  as  advantageously  as  possible  as  they  came 
up.  The  rebels  hurled  successively  three  different  divisions  against  our  lit 
tle  army,  and  were  three  times  repulsed  with  great  slaughter.  At  one 
time,  a  movement  against  our  right  flank  was  threatened,  to  repel  which, 
the  Forty-third  Illinois  and  a  detachment  of  the  Fortieth  Iowa,  were  or 
dered  across  the  creek.  Hesitating  a  moment  as  they  came  to  the  swollen 
and  muddy  creek,  they  plunged  in  with  a  shout,  gained  the  opposite  shore, 
and  drove  off  the  enemy.  The  last  grand  attack  made  by  the  rebels  was 
against  our  left,  and  left  centre.  They  succeeded  in  fact,  in  turning  our 
left,  then  held  by  the  Thirty-third  Iowa,  which  had  fought  till  its  ammuni 
tion  had  been  twice  exhausted.  Four  companies  of  the  Fortieth  under 
Colonel  Garrett  marched  rapidly  by  the  left  flank  to  the  support  of  the 
Thirty-third,  and  forming  under  a  cruel  fire  restored  the  line,  which  now 
advanced  along  its  whole  length,  passing  over  the  dead  and  wounded  of 
the  enemy.  Within  an  hour,  they  advanced  more  than  half  a  mile,  driving 
the  rebels  entirely  from  the  field. 

In  this  battle,  the  Union  loss  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing  was  seven 
hundred.  The  rebels  acknowledged  a  loss  of  two  thousand  three  hundred, 
among  them  three  generals.  Our  troops  engaged  were  handled  with  con 
summate  skill,  and  they  fought  with  terrible  tenacity  and  courage.  It  was 
a  battle  of  musketry.  A  section  of  Vaughn's  Battery  was  brought  into 
the  field,  but  was  not  engaged.  A  section  of  a  rebel  battery  was  also 
planted,  and  fired  one  round  upon  our  lines,  when  the  Twenty-ninth  Iowa 
and  Second  Kansas,  colored,  charged  across  the  field,  and  brought  the  guns 
back  in  triumph.  It  was  principally,  but  not  entirely,  fought  by  the  bri 
gades  of  General  Rice  and  Colonel  Engelmann,  on  the  Union  side,  the 
whole  force  numbering  but  little  more  than  the  number  of  the  enemy  placed 
hors- de-combat.  There  were  about  as  many  rebel  brigades  as  there  were 
Union  regiments  engaged.  At  half-past  twelve  o'clock  there  was  not  a  rebel 
combatant  left  on  the  field.  Presently,  Kirby  Smith  sent  in  a  flag  of  truce, 
but  our  forces  having  left  the  field,  leaving  only  a  burial  party,  these  were 
captured,  and  a  rebel  victory  proclaimed  ! 

This  bloody  battle  was  fought  in  a  field  of  mud.  The  men  sank  in  the 
soft  earth  half  way  to  their  knees,  and  in  many  parts  of  the  battle-ground 
they  stood  more  than  knee  deep  in  mud  and  water.  "  Mud  and  mire,  and 
sheets  of  water  were  everywhere."  The  troops  had  not  been  well  subsisted 
for  many  days — were  hungry,  wet,  and  tired.  The  fighting  they  did  on 
this  day,  all  things  considered,  must  be  pronounced  wonderful.  There  was 
but  a  momentary  wavering  of  the  line  during  the  entire  contest,  and  this  was 
on  the  extreme  left,  where  order  was  so  speedily  restored  by  the  Fortieth 
Iowa.  All  the  rest  of  the  time  the  line  stood  firmly  at  its  place,  belching  a 


676  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

constant  sheet  of  flame  into  the  rebel  ranks,  till  it  pressed  forward  and 
drove  them  from  the  field. 

The  Fortieth  did  not  fight  in  a  body  at  any  time  during  the  engagement. 
Early  in  the  morning  two  companies  under  Captain  Campbell,  had  been 
sent  out  as  skirmishers.  Afterwards  four  companies  under  Major  Smith 
crossed  the  creek  on  the  right  and  remained  there  during  the  rest  of  the 
engagement.  The  remaining  four  companies — H,  E,  K,  G— performed 
the  principal  part  of  the  regiment's  hard  fighting,  under  command  of  the 
Colonel,  and  in  this  detachment  the  most  of  the  losses  occurred.  Colonel 
Engelmann,  commanding  brigade,  in  his  official  report  says:  "The  four 
companies  of  the  Fortieth  Iowa,  holding  the  extreme  left  of  our  lines  were 
hard  pressed  by  the  enemy  but  maintained  their  position  with  the  most 
commendable  bravery,  suffering,  however,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
men  composing  those  companies,  the  most  severe  loss  of  any  of  our  troops 
engaged  at  Jenkins'  Ferry.  The  general  commanding  division  being 
informed  of  the  desperate  nature  of  the  conflict  on  our  extreme  left, 
ordered  the  First  Arkansas,  a  regiment  of  General  Thayer's  Division, 
which  came  up  as  reinforcements,  to  support  them.  The  appearance  of 
this  regiment  on  our  extreme  left,  immediately  relieved  the  pressure  on 
the  Fortieth,  without  the  First  Arkansas  sustaining  any  material  loss. 
I  must  here  express  the  high  obligations  under 

which  I  am  to  Colonel  Garrett,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Dengler  (Forty- 
third  Illinois)  for  the  gallantry  with  which  they  led  their  commands,  being 
conscious,  however,  that  nothing  I  can  say  can  afford  them  the  satisfaction 
they  must  have  experienced  in  witnessing  the  bravery  of  their  men. "  "I 
lost,"  says  Colonel  Garrett,  "  out  of  less  than  one  hundred  men,  six  killed, 
thirty-four  wounded,  some  mortally,  many  severely,  four  captured,  and  one 
missing.  One  noble  Sergeant — Simmons  of  Company 

H — shot  in  the  breast,  when  his  Lieutenant  told  him  the  enemy  was  beaten, 
waved  his  hand  and  died  with  a  smile."1 

1  LIST  OP  CASUALTIES,  FORTIETH  IOWA,  DURING  CAMDEN  EXPEDITION.  Okolona,  April  3d.  Sergeant 
David  A.  Tanner,  Samuel  S.  Roberts  (wounded).  J'rairie  D'Anne,  April  IQth.  Lieutenants  Jamea 
W.  Ward,  Caleb  J.  Amos;  Corporal  John  J.  Wade;  Privates  A.  J.  Butin,  Joseph  S.  Stone,  Jesse  L. 
Anderson,  John  Klinker.  The  other  casualties  occurred  at  Jenkins'  Ferry : 

Company  C — Wounded,  Color-Sergeant  Mortimer  W.  Nelson. 

Company  D —  Wounded,  Color-Corporal  Thomas  J.  Davis. 

Company  E— Killed,  Private  Philip  Mudgett.  Wounded,  Corporals  William  A.  Thompson,  Kyman 
S.  Thurston ;  Privates  William  S.  Reagan,  Joseph  Kindle,  Francis  P.  George,  Joseph  Runyon,  Ebe- 
nezer  B.  Mother,  Birchem  W.  Blackwood,  Nehemiah  Kitchen. 

Company  G — Killed,  Sergeant  Thomas  Canady;  Privates  John  G.  Hunt,  James  M.  Auld,  Charles 
Schrader.  Wounded,  First  Lieutenant  William  T.  Baird;  Privates  Henry  C.  Smidt,  Wilson  F. 
Stradley,  Henry  C.  Brown,  John  A.  Seams,  John  T.  Poison,  William  M.  Dotson,  Eugene  L.  Wines, 
Ernst  Hartz. 

Company  H— Kitted,  Sergeant  Robert  J.  Simmons.  Wounded,  First  Sergeant  John  H.  Dawson ; 
Corporal  Benjamin  Ford  (mortally);  Privates  Samuel  P.  Rees,  John  A.  Mark,  Peter  Kesler,  John  V. 
Cole,  Ashley  S.  Cody,  Milton  K.  Walker. 


FORTIETH     INFANTRY.  677 

Notwithstanding  the  victory  of  Jenkins'  Ferry  it  was  necessary  that  the 
army  should  continue  its  retreat,  for  two  reasons — first,  supplies  were 
almost  entirely  exhausted  ;  and,  second,  the  rebel  forces  under  Fagan  were 
threatening  Little  Rock.  Accordingly,  the  Union  cavalry  pressed  rapidly 
forward,  and  was  followed  by  infantry  and  artillery  as  soon  as  the  issue  on 
the  Saline  River  had  been  decided.  I  think  the  retreat  from  Jenkins' 
Ferry  to  Little  Rock  was  one  of  the  saddest  of  the  war.  Shortly  after 
midnight  on  the  morning  of  May  1st,  orders  were  issued  limiting  transpor 
tation  to  one  team  for  each  brigade,  and  directing  the  destruction  of  all 
surplus  wagons  and  baggage.  This  having  been  done  the  army  took  up  its 
weary  march.  The  horses  had  not  had  any  grain,  nor  the  men  any  bread, 
since  leaving  Princeton.  Except  a  little  foraged  meat,  the  troops  had  lived 
on  coffee  !  Corduroy  roads  had  to  be  made  through  the  bottomless  swamps, 
but  before  all  the  artillery  could  be  borne  over  them  they  sank  into  the 
mire,  and  became  useless.  New  roads  had  to  be  cut,  new  corduroys  built. 
Horses  gave  out,  and  fell  down  by  the  road-side,  unable  to  get  up.  The 
guns  and  caissons  had  to  be  dragged  along  by  the  men.  They  cut  out  roads, 
they  built  causeways,  they  performed  the  work  of  horses,  and  all  this  with 
famine  gnawing  at  their  vitals.  Well  might  Colonel  Engelmann  say : 
' '  The  bravery  and  fortitude  of  the  men,  maintained  under  the  most  trying 
circumstances,  not  only  in  meeting  and  defeating  an  enemy  far  more  numer 
ous  than  themselves,  in  suffering  exposure  to  drenching  rains  and  being 
compelled  for  nights  in  succession  to  lie  in  the  swamps,  but  above  all  in 
bearing  the  attacks  of  gaunt  hunger,  and  yet  obeying  every  order  of  their 
officers  with  cheerfulness  and  alacrity,  entitle  them  to  the  highest  consider 
ation  and  gratitude  of  their  country."  A  train  of  supplies,  was  sent  out 
from  Little  Rock  to  meet  them.  As  it  came  along,  men  in  the  wagons 
threw  out  the  hard  crackers  along  the  muddy  road-sides,  and  the  troops 
scrambled  after  them,  and  ate  them,  Arkansas  mud  and  all,  with  shouts  of 
gratitude. 

After  the  Camden  Expedition  the  regiment  performed  heavy  duties,  the 
labor  and  value  of  which  are  much  better  understood  by  the  army  than  by 
civilians.  In  November,  a  small  detachment,  under  command  of  Lieuten 
ant  Fry,  consisting  of  details  from  the  different  companies  guarded  the 
steamer  "Alamo"  up  the  Arkansas  River.  When  near  Dardanelle,  they 
were  attacked  by  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  rebel  cavalry  on  shore,  whom 
they  drove  off  after  a  spirited  fight,  killing  two  and  wounding  others,  and 
having  only  one  of  their  own  number  slightly  wounded. 


Company  K —  Wounded,  Color-Corporals  Robert  C.  Bare,  Hiram  Miner ;  Privates  Isaac  Lee  (mor 
tally),  David  Patrick,  James  Hogan,  John  W.  Burkhead. 

Prisoners,  Company  A — Samuel  Bacon.  Company  E — Isaac  Koon.  Company  G — William  W. 
Adams.  Company  H—  Corporal  William  Williams. 


678  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

About  the  middle  of  the  first  month  of  1865,  the  regiment  moved  up  the 
river  to  Dardanelle,  the  troops  being  fairly  jammed  into  the  old  steam  ferry 
"  Davenport."  The  object  of  the  movement  was  to  raise  the  blockade  of 
the  river  by  rebel  forces  under  one  Brooks.  He  decamped  with  his  raga 
muffins,  and  the  Fortieth  marched  back  to  Little  Rock.  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Cooper  commanded  the  regiment  in  this  expedition,  and  returned  by  forced 
marches  for  which  there  was  no  necessity,  and  which  caused  no  little  suffer 
ing  that  would  have  been  avoided  by  a  skilful  and  humane  commander. 
At  this  time  Colonel  Garrett  was  commanding  a  brigade,  and  Adjutant 
Duncan  was  serving  at  his  head-quarters,  as  Acting  Assistant  Adjutant- 
General. 

Brigadier-General  Cyrus  Bussey  having  been  assigned  to  the  command 
of  the  District  of  Fort  Smith,  asked  the  departmental  commander  to  send 
him  "a  first-rate  regiment."  The  Fortieth  was  accordingly  ordered  to 
report  to  him,  which  Colonel  Garrett  did  about  the  middle  of  Februarjr. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Cooper  was  at  this  time  detailed  for  duty  at  General 
Reynolds'  head-quarters,  and  did  not  afterwards  serve  with  the  regiment. 
He  procured  the  peremptory  dismissal,  however,  of  three  most  excellent 
line  officers  of  the  command,  General  Reynolds  just  about  this  time  imagin 
ing  himself  a  second  Hercules,  and  the  Department  of  Arkansas  a  second 
Augean  stable,  so  that  the  least  hint  against  an  officer  from  one  of  his  staff 
put  him  to  work  at  his  broom-sticks.  Happily,  the  President  of  the  United 
States  patiently  examined  the  case  of  these  three  officers,  and  promptly 
restored  them  to  rank,  so  that  Lieutenant-Colonel  Cooper  took  nothing  by 
his  motion  except  an  increase  of  unpopularity  in  the  command.  The  unjust, 
yea,  the  outrageous  dismissal  of  these  officers  was  the  only  thing  of  interest 
which  transpired  in  the  command  during  its  stay  at  Fort  Smith.  Colonel 
Garrett  being  some  of  the  time  in  command  of  the  brigade,  the  regiment 
was  in  command  of  Captain  E.  W.  Ridlen,  the  oldest  man  in  the  regiment 
in  years,  but  among  the  youngest  in  energy  and  willingness  for  duty.  Adju 
tant  Duncan  was  on  duty  at  General  Bussey 's  head-quarters,  where  much 
gallant  fighting  was  done  in  the  way  of  repelling  the  assaults  of  peculators. 
Herein  General  Bussey  performed  valuable  service  to  the  government. 

Major-General  Blunt  being  relieved  of  the  command  of  tfie  District  of 
South  Kansas,  Colonel  Garrett  was  assigned  to  that  command,  head-quar 
ters  at  Fort  Gibson,  Cherokee  Nation.  Colonel  Garrett  retained  command 
of  this  district — embracing  part  of  Kansas,  and  all  of  the  Indian  Territory 
— until  his  regiment  was  mustered  out  of  the  service.  There  was  much  for 
him  and  his  staff  to  do,  but  the  Fortieth  saw  no  further  warlike  demonstra 
tions.  The  2d  of  August,  it  was  mustered  out  of  the  service  at  Fort 
Gibson,  and  the  next  day  started  for  Iowa.  Proceeding  down  the  Grand 
and  Arkansas  Rivers  to  Little  Rock,  thence  by  rail  to  Duvall's  Bluff, 


FOKTIETH     INFANTRY.  679 

thence  down  the  White  River  and  up  the  Mississippi  to  Cairo,  and  thence 
by  rail,  the  command  arrived  at  Davenport  after  this  journey  of  fifteen 
hundred  miles,  on  the  10th.  The  16th,  it  was  disbanded,  and  soon  there 
after  the  officers  and  men  who  had  made  the  Fortieth  Iowa  "one  of  the 
finest  regiments  ever  seen,  east  or  west, ' '  were  at  home  by  happy  hearth 
stones.3 

»  The  roster  of  officers  when  the  regiment  was  honorably  discharged  the  service,  was :  Colonel 
John  A.  Garrett ;  Lieutenant-Colonel  Samuel  F.  Cooper;  Adjutant  L.  A.  Duncan,  (who  had  been 
commissioned  Major,  but  not  mustered,  because  the  regiment  was  not  entitled  to  three  field  officers) ; 
Quartermaster  J.  R.  Broderick;  Surgeon  N.  R.  Corwell,  James  W.Morgan  Assistant;  Chaplain 
Reverend  S.  F.  C.  Garrison.  Captains  William  Blain,  William  S.  Guffy,  M.  M.  Rice,  M.  S.  Cox,  J.  W. 
Hewett,  E.  W.  Ridlen,  D.  C.  Jordan,  C.  J.  Amos,  I.  II.  Dempcy,  S..  S.  Arnold;  First  Lieutenants  G. 
F.  Burzette,  J.  W.  Farmer,  J.  T.  S.  Fry,  J.  W.  Taylor,  J.  L.  Hunter,  C.  J.  Coles,  A.  H.  Paisley,  H.  F. 
O'Neall,  B.  W.  Seaman.  Companies  C  and  I  only  had  Second  Lieutenants — D.  A.  Tanner,  George 
Yule. 


CHAPTER   XLIV. 

SIXTH    CAVALRY. 

ORGANIZATION— RENDEZVOUS  AT  DAVENPORT— MARCH  FROM  THERE  TO  SIOUX 
CITY  —  CAMPAIGNING  AGAINST  INDIANS  —  THE  BATTLE  OF  WHITE- 
STONE  HILL— THE  REGIMENT  REMAINS  IN  SERVICE  ON  THE  FRONTIER- 
DISCHARGED. 

AMONG  the  prominent  members  of  the  Democratic  party  in  Iowa  who 
gave  their  services  to  the  cause  of  the  country  in  the  field  was  DAVID  S. 
WILSON,  of  Dubuque.  For  this  purpose  he  quitted  a  lucrative  practice  at 
the  bar,  where  he  stood  eminent  among  the  lawyers  of  our  State,  and  gave 
up  anticipations  of  political  advancement,  or  at  any  rate  of  greater  political 
prominence,  which  were  brighter,  perhaps,  than  those  of  any  other  person 
of  his  party  in  northern  Iowa.  Though  it  is  true  that,  outside  of  his  own 
county,  the  people  of  that  part  of  the  State  did  not  agree  with  his  political 
views,  it  is  also  true  that  he  was  stronger  than  his  party.  A  man  of  fine 
abilities  and  great  goodness  of  heart,  who  had  long  been  laughing  and 
growing  fat,  he  could  have  succeeded  in  getting  almost  any  office  in  the 
gift  of  the  people,  who  had  the  utmost  confidence  in  him  personally,  in  the 
event  of  a  division,  always  liable  to  occur,  in  the  party  having  the  majority. 
The  determination  that  he  made  of  going  into  the  army  was  all  the  more 
creditable  to  his  patriotism  because  it  was  not  in  his  nature  to  be  a  good 
hater.  Perhaps  he  never  did  hate  any  body  but  a  rebel  against  the  Union, 
and  his  hatred  of  rebels  was  based  rather  upon  his  reason  than  his  feelings. 
He  hated  them  because  he  thought  it  was  right  to  hate  them.  However 
this  may  be,  he  had  a  most  earnest  love  of  the  Union,  and  determined  to 
serve  it  where  he  thought  he  could  serve  it  most — in  the  army.  The  result 
of  this  determination  was  the  Sixth  Iowa  Cavalry,  of  which  he  was  the  first 
colonel,  and  which  contained  many  officers  and  men  whose  partizan  views 
coincided  with  his,  and  who  had  like  him  done  much  for  the  Union  cause 
before  the  organization  of  the  regiment. 

The  regiment  was  recruited  in  different  parts  of  the  State,  in  a  wide  belt 
of  country  extending  from  the  northeastern  to  the  southwestern  parts  of  it. 
680 


SIXTH     CAVALRY.  681 

The  regimental  rendezvous  was  near  the  city  of  Davenport,  where  eight  of 
the  companies  were  mustered  into  the  service  of  the  United  States  on  the 
last  day  of  January,  1863.  Three  of  the  companies  were  mustered  a  very 
few  days  afterwards,  and  the  twelfth  company  on  the  5th  of  March.  The 
regiment  at  this  time  had  a  few  more  than  eleven  hundred  names  on  its 
rolls,  but  they  were  constantly  being  increased  by  additional  enlistments, 
so  that  when  it  left  the  rendezvous  for  active  service  not  long  afterwards  it 
was  nearly  up  to  the  maximum  standard  of  a  cavalry  regiment.  The  field 
and  staff  officers  were:  Colonel  David  S.  Wilson;  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Samuel  M.  Pollock;  Majors  Thomas  H.  Shepherd,  E.  P.  Ten-Broeck,  A. 
E.  House;  Adjutant  Rufus  L.  Miller;  Quartermaster  Abram  Williams; 
Commissary  Morgan  Reno;  Surgeon  Jacob  H.  Camburn;  Assistants  T.  S. 
Bard  well,  S.  C.  Haynes;  Chaplain  Reverend  David  H.  Mitchell.1 

The  regiment  took  up  line  of  march  for  Sioux  City  on  the  16th  day  of 
the  same  month  in  which  the  last  company  had  been  mustered  in.  Most 
of  the  companies,  however,  had  been  in  rendezvous  since  about  the  first  of 
November,  1862,  were  well  drilled  and  disciplined,  so  that  when  the  com 
mand  moved  from  the  rendezvous,  well  mounted  and  armed,  it  presented 
a  fine  and  imposing  appearance,  which  long  remained  in  the  recollection  of 
thousands  of  gratified  spectators.  It  was  the  season  of  storms  and  bad 
roads,  of  both  which  the  regiment  had  large  experience  during  its  march 
across  the  State.  The  regiment  reached  Sioux  City  on  the  26th  of  April. 
Colonel  Wilson  reported  to  Brigadier-General  John  Cook,  commanding 
district  of  Iowa  and  Dacota,  and  on  the  same  day  his  regiment  crossed  the 
Sioux  River,  and  pitched  tents  in  "  Camp  Cook,"  Dacota  Territory. 

For  the  purpose  of  punishing,  and,  perhaps,  of  exterminating  the  hostile 
Indians  of  the  Northwest,  the  Department  of  War  had  directed  two  expe 
ditions  to  be  fitted  out — one,  to  move  up  the  east  bank  of  the  Missouri 

1  The  roster  of  Company  officers  was  as  follows :  Company  A — Captain  John  Galligan ;  First  Lieu, 
tenant  John  M.  Gates ;  Second  Lieutenant  Simon  J.  Toll.  Company  B — Captain  De  Witt  C.  Cram ; 
First  Lieutenant  Tyler  P.  Rood ;  Second  Lieutenant  Thomas  J.  Leavitt.  Company  C— Captain  L.  L. 
Ainsworth;  First  Lieutenant  George  E.  Dayton;  Second  Lieutenant  Henry  Rickel.  Company  D — 
Captain  Theodore  W.  Burdick;  First  Lieutenant  Sherman  Page;  Second  Lieutenant  Timothy  Finn. 
Company  E—  Captain  Daniel  F.  Eicher;  First  Lieutenant  Joseph  C.  De  Haven;  Second  Lieutenant 
David  Ellison.  Company  .F— Captain  Scott  Shattuck ;  First  Lieutenant  James  Ruth ;  Second  Lieu 
tenant  Lucius  N.  Beeman.  Company  G — Captain  Abraham  B.  Moreland ;  First  Lieutenant  Wesley 
A.  Heath ;  Second  Lieutenant  Edward  H.  Gaylord.  Company  IT— Captain  Canfield  J.  Marsh ;  First 
Lieutenant  G.  A.  Hesselberger;  Second  Lieutenant  Carter  Berkley.  Company  /—Captain  Lewis. R. 
Wolfe;  First  Lieutenant  Benjamin  King;  Second  Lieutenant  George  W.  McCall.  Company  K — 
Captain  John  Logan;  First  Lieutenant  Samuel  M.  Parker;  Second  Lieutenant  Hiram  F.  Berst. 
Company  L — Captain  Aaron  S.  Ames ;  First  Lieutenant  Hiram  F.  Parks  •  Second  Lieutenant  Alpheus 
Scott.  Company  M—  Captain  V.J.Williams;  First  Lieutenant  James  Brown;  Second  Lieutenant 
Richard  Berry. 

Many  of  these  line  officers  were  men  of  less  or  more  local  reputation  in  their  neighborhoods,  but 
Captain  Ainsworth  was  quite  well  known  throughout  the  State.    He  had  been  a  democratic  col 
league  of  Colonel  Wilson  in  the  Senate.  He  not  a  little  resembled  Abraham  Lincoln  in  good  nature, 
in  the  quantity  and  quality  of  his  jokes,  and  in  "  human  beauty." 
86 


682  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

River,  the  other,  to  move  westward  from  Minnesota  into  the  Indian  coun 
try,  the  two  forces  to  form  a  junction  at  some  point  on  the  upper  Missouri. 
The  expedition  from  Sioux  City,  under  command  of  General  Cook,  was 
preparing  for  its  part  of  the  campaign,  when  intelligence  was  received  that 
a  large  band  of  Indians  were  encamped  near  Fort  Randall,  and  threatening 
that  post  garrisoned  by  a  small  force,  under  command  of  Major  John 
Pattee.  One  battalion  of  the  Sixth  Iowa  Cavalry,  Major  Ten-Broeck,  was 
ordered  to  proceed  immediately  to  Fort  Randall,  and  reenforce  the  garrison. 
This  battalion  was  followed  on  the  22d  of  May  by  another,  with  Major 
Shepherd,  but  accompanied  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Pollock,  who  had 
orders  to  take  command  at  Fort  Randall,  and  forthwith  drive  all  hostile 
Indians  from  the  vicinity.  Learning  of  the  approach  of  troops,  the 
Indians  fled,  but  Colonel  Pollock  sent  detachments  to  scour  the  country, 
some  of  which  made  quite  extensive  marches. 

Near  the  end  of  the  month,  the  battalion  under  Major  Ten-Broeck 
marched  to  Fort  Pierre,  distant,  up  the  river,  about  two  hundred  miles 
from  Fort  Randall  by  the  course  of  the  stream.  And  here  it  was  that  the 
campaign  closing  with  the  battle  of  White  Stone  Hill,  was  inaugurated. 

In  the  month  of  June,  General  Cook  was  relieved  of  command  by  Bri 
gadier-General  Alfred  Sully,  who  at  once  made  Fort  Pierre  his  base  of 
operations  for  a  movement  against  the  Indians.  Active  preparations  went 
on  from  day  to  day  for  a  campaign  in  that  almost  uninhabited  region, 
where  it  was  certain  there  now  lurked  many  wily  foes,  whose  mode  of  war 
fare  was  savage,  dangerous,  and  not  without  its  advantages  over  the  more 
open  mode  of  civilized  peoples.  The  preparations  having  been  completed 
so  far  as  the  nature  of  the  case  would  allow,  General  Sully 's  little  army  left 
Fort  Pierre  on  the  13th  of  August.  His  command  was  composed  of  the 
Sixth  Iowa  Cavalry,  Colonel  Wilson,  Second  Nebraska  Cavalry,  Colonel 
Furnas,  Sioux  City  Cavalry  (of  the  Seventh  Iowa  Cavalry)  Captain  Millard, 
and  the  "  Prairie  Battery"  of  four  guns,  in  round  numbers  about  two  thou 
sand  five  hundred  combatants,  besides  those  necessary  to  take  care  of  the 
supply  train,  which  was  of  necessity  large. 

The  command  marched  rapidly,  moving  up  the  east  bank  of  the  Missouri 
more'  than  one  hundred  miles,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Sheyenne  River, 
where  it  awaited  the  arrival  of  a  steamer  with  supplies,  and  then  again 
went  marching  on.  An  account  of  the  campaign  henceforth,  and  of  the 
battle  of  White  Stone  Hill,  will  be  found  in  General  Sully's  full  report,  as 
follows : 

"  CAMP  AT  MOUTH  OF  LITTLE  SHEYENNE  RIVER,  •» 
"September  II,  1863.        J 

"  Major : — The  last  report  I  had  the  honor  to  send  you  was  from  the  mouth  of  this  Littlo  Sheyenne 
River,  bearing  date  August  16, 1863 ;  since  which  time  my  movements  have  been  too  rapid  and  the 


SIXTH     CAVALRY.  683 

danger  of  sending  any  communication  such  that  it  has  been  impossible  for  me  to  do  so.  I  therefore 
have  the  honor  to  report  my  movements  from  last  report  up  to  date. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  19th  the  steamer  I  was  waiting  for  with  supplies  finally  arrived.  She 
was  immediately  unloaded,  and  all  the  baggage  of  the  officers  and  men  of  the  command  was  sent 
by  her  to  the  depot  at  Fort  Pierre,  together  with  every  man  who  was  in  the  least  sick  or  not  well 
mounted. 

"  I  succeeded  in  getting  off  the  afternoon  of  the  21st,  and  marched  up  the  Little  Sheyenne  about 
eleven  miles,  the  road  being  very  heavy.  The  next  day  we  marched  only  seven  miles,  camping  on  a 
slough  on  the  prairie  without  any  wood.  The  next  day  we  marched  in  a  northwesterly  direction  to 
the  outlet  of  Swan  Lake.  On  the  24th  we  marched  due  north  eighteen  miles,  and  encamped  on  a 
small  creok  called  Bois  Cache.  Here  we  came  into  the  Buffalo  country,  and  I  formed  a  hunting 
party  for  the  command,  which  I  had  soon  to  disband,  as  they  disabled  more  horses  than  buffalo. 
We  continued  our  march  north  about  twenty-two  miles,  aud  reached  a  small  stream  called  Bird 
Arch  Creek.  This  day  the  hunters  succeeded  in  killing  many  buffalo,  and  reported  that  they  saw 
Indians  near  the  Missouri. 

"  Early  on  the  morning  of  the  26th  I  sent  out  a  small  scouting  party,  who  captured  two  squaws 
and  some  children,  and  brought  them  in  to  me.  These  Indians  reported  that  General  Sibley  had 
had  a  fight  near  the  head  of  Long  Lake,  and  that  they  were  on  their  way  to  the  agency  at  Crow 
Creek,  but  were  lost,  and  were  alone ;  but  the  scouts  found  tracks  of  lodges  going  up  the  Missouri. 

"On  the  27th  I  started  late,  having  had  some  difficulty  in  crossing  the  river,  making  a  march  of 
five  miles,  still  in  a  northerly  direction  and  encamped  on  another  branch  of  the  same  river.  The 
next  day  we  made  the  outlet  of  Long  Lake,  a  march  of  about  twenty  miles. 

"This  same  day  (29th)  I  sent  two  companies  of  the  Sixth  Iowa  to  the  mouth  of  Apple  Creek. 
They  reported  on  their  return  that  they  found  the  fortified  camp  of  General  Sibley,  his  trail,  and 
his  return  trail  towards  the  east.  This  detachment  was  under  command  of  Captain  Cram,  Sixth 
Iowa.  On  the  3d  of  September  we  reached  a  lake,  where,  on  the  plains  near  by,  were  the  remains 
of  a  very  large  number  of  buffalo  killed,  some  quite  recently.  Here  I  encamped  to  wait  the  reports 
of  the  commands  I  had  out  during  the  march,  who  every  day  discovered  fresh  signs  of  Indians,  their 
lodge  trails  spread  over  the  country,  but  all  moving  towards  a  point  known  to  be  a  favorite  haunt 
of  the  Indians.  I  had  this  day  detailed  one  battalion  of  the  Sixth  Iowa,  Major  House  commanding, 
and  Mr.  Frank  La  Fromboise  as  guide,  to  keep  ahead  of  me  five  miles,  and  in  case  they  saw  a  small 
band  of  Indians  to  attack  them,  or  take  them  prisoners.  If  they  should  find  a  large  band,  too  large 
to  successfully  cope  with,  to  watch  the  camp  at  a  distance,  and  send  word  back  to  me,  my  intention 
being  to  leave  my  train  under  charge  of  a  heavy  guard,  move  up  in  the  night  time  so  as  to  surround 
them,  and  attack  them  at  daybreak.  But  for  some  reason  satisfactory  to  the  guide,  he  bore  off 
much  to  my  left,  and  came  upon  the  Indians  in  an  encampment  of  over  four  hundred  lodges, 
some  say  six  hundred,  in  ravines,  where  they  felt  perfectly  secure,  being  fully  persuaded  that  I  was 
still  on  my  way  up  the  Missouri. 

"  Major  House,  according  to  my  instructions,  endeavored  to  surround  and  keep  in  the  Indians 
until  word  could  be  sent  me  ;  but  this  was  an  impossibility  with  his  three  hundred  men,  as  the  en 
campment  was  very  large,  mustering  at  least  one  thousand  two  hundred  warriors.  This  is  what  the 
Indians  say  they  had ;  but  I,  as  well  as  everybody  in  the  command,  say  over  one  thousand  five 
hundred.  These  Indians  were  partly  Santees  from  Minnesota,  Cutheads  from  the  Coteau,  Yanktonais 
and  some  Blackfeet  who  belong  on  the  other  side  of  the  Missouri,  and,  as  I  have  since  learned, 
Unkpa-pas,  the  same  party  who  fought  General  Sibley  and  destroyed  the  Mackinaw  boat.  Of  this 
I  have  unmistakable  proof  from  letters  and  papers  found  in  camp  and  on  the  persons  of  some  of  the 
Indians,  beside  relics  of  the  late  Minnesota  massacre ;  also  from  the  fact  that  they  told  Mr.  La 
Fromboise,  the  guide,  when  he  was  surrounded  by  about  two  hundred  of  them,  that '  they  had  fought 
General  Sibley,  and  they  could  not  see  why  the  whites  wanted  to  come  to  fight  them,  unless  they 
were  tired  of  living  and  wanted  to  die.'  Mr.  La  Fromboise  succeeded  in  getting  away  from  them 
after  some  difficulty,  and  ran  his  horse  a  distance  of  more  than  ten  miles  to  give  me  information, 
Major  House,  with  his  command,  still  remaining  there.  He  reached  me  a  little  after  4  o'clock.  I 
immediately  turned  out  my  command.  At  the  sound  of  the  bugle  the  men  rushed  with  a  cheer,  and, 
in  a  very  few  minutes  saddled  up  and  were  in  line.  I  left  four  companies  and  all  the  men  who 
were  poorly  mounted  in  the  camp,  with  orders  to  strike  the  tents  and  corral  all  the  wagons,  and 
starting  off  with  the  Second  Nebraska  on  the  right,  the  Sixth  Iowa  on  the  left,  one  company  of  the 
Seventh  Iowa  and  the  battery  in  the  centre,  at  full  gallop,  we  made  this  distance  of  over  ten  miles 
in  much  less  than  an  hour. 

On  reaching  near  the  ground  I  found  that  the  enemy  were  leaving,  andcarrrying  off  what  plunder 


684  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 


they  could.  Many  lodges,  however,  were  still  standing.  I  ordered  Colonel  Furnas,  Second  Nebraska, 
to  push  his  horses  to  the  utmost,  so  as  to  reach  the  camp  and  assist  Major  House  in  keeping  the 
Indians  corraled.  This  order  was  obeyed  with  great  alacrity,  the  regiment  going  over  the  plains  at 
a  full  run.  I  was  close  upon  the  rear  of  the  regiment  with  the  Sixth  Iowa.  The  Second  Nebraska 
took  to  the  right  of  the  camp,  and  was  soon  lost  in  a  cloud  of  dust  over  the  hills.  I  ordered 
Colonel  Wilson,  Sixth  Iowa,  to  take  the  left,  while  I  with  the  battery,  one  company  of  the  Seventh 
Iowa,  Captain  Millard,  and  two  companies  of  the  Sixth  Iowa,  Major  Ten-Brocck  commanding, 
charged  through  the  centre  of  the  encampment.  I  here  found  an  Indian  chief  by  the  name  of 
Little  Soldier  with  some  few  of  his  people.  This  Indian  has  always  had  the  reputation  of  being  a 
1  good  Indian'  and  friendly.  I  placed  them  under  guard  and  moved  on.  Shortly  after  I  met  with 
the  notorious  chief  Big-head  and  some  of  his  men.  They  were  dressed  for  a  fight,  but  my  men  cut 
them  off.  These  Indians,  together  with  some  of  their  warriors  mustering  about  thirty,  together 
with  squaws,  children,  ponies,  and  dogs,  gave  themselves  up,  numbering  human  beings  over  one 
hundred  and  twenty.  About  the  same  time  firing  began  about  a  half  mile  from  me  ahead,  and 
was  kept  up,  becoming  more  and  more  brisk  until  it  was  quite  a  respectable  engagement.  A  report 
was  brought  to  me  (which  proved  to  be  false)  that  the  Indians  were  driving  back  some  of  my  com 
mand.  I  immediately  took  possession  of  the  hillocks  near  by,  forming  line  and  placing  the  battery 
in  the  centre  on  a  higher  knoll.  At  this  time  night  had  about  set  in,  but  still  the  engagement  was 
briskly  kept  up.  and  in  the  melee  it  was  hard  to  distinguish  my  line  from  that  of  the  enemy.  The 
Indians  made  a  very  desperate  resistance,  but  finally  broke  and  fled,  pursued  in  every  direction  by 
bodies  of  my  troops.  I  would  here  state  that  the  troops,  though  mounted,  were  armed  with  rifles, 
and,  according  to  my  orders,  most  of  them  dismounted  and  fought  afoot  until  the  enemy  broke, 
when  they  remounted  and  went  in  pursuit.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  I  could  not  have  had  an  hour 
or  two  more  of  daylight,  for  I  feel  sure  if  I  had  I  could  have  annihilated  the  enemy.  As  it  was.  I 
believe  I  can  safely  say  I  gave  them  one  of  the  most  severe  punishments  that  the  Indians  have  ever 
received.  After  night  set  in  the  engagement  was  of  such  a  promiscuous  nature  that  it  was  hard  to 
tell  what  results  would  happen;  I  therefore  ordered  all  the  buglers  to  sound  the  "rally,"  and  build 
ing  large  fires,  remained  under  arms  during  the  night  collecting  together  my  troops. 

"The  next  morning  early  (the  4th)  I  established  my  camp  on  the  battle-field,  the  wagon  train, 
under  charge  of  Major  Pearman,  Second  Nebraska,  having  in  the  night  been  ordered  to  join  me, 
and  sent  out  strong  scouting  parties  in  different  directions  to  scour  the  country  to  overtake  what 
Indians  they  could ;  but  in  this  they  were  not  very  successful,  though  some  of  them  had  some  little 
skirmishes. 

"  They  found  the  dead  and  wounded  in  all  directions,  some  of  them  miles  from  the  battle-field  ; 
also,  immense  quantities  of  provisions,  baggage,  &c.,  where  they  had  apparently  cut  loose  their 
ponies  from  "  travies"  and  got  on  them ;  also,  large  numbers  of  ponies  and  dogs  harnessed  to  "  travies" 
running  all  over  the  prairie.  One  party  that  I  sent  out  went  near  to  the  James  River,  and  found 
there  eleven  dead  Indians.  The  deserted  camp  of  the  Indians,  together  with  the  country  all 
around,  was  covered  with  their  plunder.  I  devoted  this  day,  together  with  the  following  (the  5th) 
to  destroying  all  this  property,  still  scouring  the  country. 

"  I  do  not  think  I  exaggerate  in  the  least  when  I  say  that  I  burned  up  four  or  five  hundred  thou 
sand  pounds  of  dried  Buffalo  meat  as  one  item,  besides  three  hundred  lodges  and  a  very  large 
quantity  of  property  of  great  value  to  the  Indians.  A  very  large  number  of  ponies  were  found 
dead  and  wounded  on  the  field ;  besides,  a  large  number  were  captured.  The  prisoners  (some  one 
hundred  and  thirty)  I  take  with  me  below,  and  shall  report  to  you  more  specially  in  regard  to 
them. 

"During  the  engagement,  for  some  time,  the  Second  Nebraska,  afoot  and  armed  with  rifles,  (and 
there  are  among  them  probably  some  of  the  best  shots  in  the  world,)  were  engaged  with  the  enemy 
at  a  distance  of  not  over  sixty  paces,  pouring  on  them  a  murderous  fire  in  the  ravine  where  the  enemy 
were  posted.  The  slaughter,  therefore,  must  have  been  immense.  My  oflicers  and  the  guides  I 
have  with  me  think  one  hundred  and  fifty  will  not  cover  their  loss.  The  Indian  reports  make  it 
over  two  hundred.  ^ 

"  That  the  General  may  know  the  exact  locality  of  the  battle-field,  I  would  state  that  it  was,  as 
near  as  I  could  judge,  about  fifteen  miles  west  of  James  River,  and  about  half  way  between  the 
latitudes  of  Bonebute  and  head  waters  of  Elm  River,  as  laid  down  on  the  government  maps.  The 
fight  took  place  near  a  hill  called  by  the  Indians  '  White  Stone  Hill.' 

"  In  conclusion,  I  would  state  that  the  troops  of  my  command  conducted  themselves  well ;  and 
though  it  was  the  first  fight  that  nearly  all  of  them  had  ever  been  in,  they  showed  that  they  are 
of  the  right  material,  and  that  in  time  they  will  make  worthy  soldiers.  It  is  to  be  regretted  we 
lost  so  many  valuable  lives  as  we  did,  but  this  could  not  be  helped ;  the  Indians  had  formed  line 


SIXTH     CAVALRY.  685 

of  battle  with  good  judgment,  from  which  they  conld  be  dislodged  only  by  a  charge.    I  could  not 
use  my  artillery  without  greatly  endangering  the  lives  of  my  own  men. 
"  Very  respectfully,  Ac., 

"  ALFRED  SULLY,  Brigadier-General  commanding." 

"  P.  S. — By  actual  count,  the  number  of  my  prisoners  is  one  hundred  and  fifty-six — men,  thirty- 
two  ;  women  and  children,  one  hundred  and  twenty-four.  I  would  also  beg  leave  to  say  that  in  the 
action  I  had  of  my  command  between  six  hundred  and  seven  hundred  men  actually  engaged.  My 
killed  numbered,  as  far  as  ascertained,  twenty;  wounded,  thirty-eight." 

The  battle  of  White  Stone  Hill  was  "  sharp,  severe,  and  short."  It  did 
not  continue  more  than  about  twenty  minutes,  in  which  time,  according  to 
the  weight  of  opinion,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  Indians  were  killed,  and 
more  than  twice  as  many  wounded.  The  savages  were  armed  with  rifles, 
shot-guns,  and  bows  and  arrows,  the  last  being  their  most  effective  weapon 
at  short  range,  and  they  fought  with  desperation  and  deafening  war-whoops. 
What  with  their  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners,  however,  they  lost  about 
half  their  warriors,  and  were  glad  to  escape  with  a  punishment  little  less, 
in  its  results,  than  extermination.  For  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  many 
more  than  those  who  fell  on  the  battle-field  afterwards  became  the  prey  of 
starvation. 

Colonel  Wilson,  in  his  report  of  the  part  taken  by  his  regiment  in  this 
combat,  says :  I  wish  to  call  to  your  particular  attention  every  one  of  the 
field  and  line  officers  of  the  regiment  without  enumerating  them  by  name. 
From  the  highest  to  the  lowest  they  deserve  the  most  favorable  considera 
tion  ;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  almost  the  entire  command  engaged. 
Being  their  first  battle,  this  was  their  baptism  of  fire  and  steel,  and  most 
nobly  did  they  behave.  The  high  honor  earned  by  the  noble  action  of  the 
Iowa  troops  upon  other  fields  of  battle  has  not  been  tarnished  by  the  gal 
lant  Iowa  Sixth  at  White  Stone  Hill."  Major  A.  E.  House,  who  com 
manded  the  advance  battalion  of  the  day,  it  will  be  remembered,  says : 
"Among  those  who  distinguished  themselves  for  personal  bravery,  I  wish 
to  mention  Captain  R.  L.  Wolf,  who  stood  in  front  of  his  company,  and 
killed  an  Indian  every  shot  he  made.  The  whole  command  did  well." 

The  loss  of  the  Sixth  Cavalry  in  the  battle  was  twelve  killed  and  ten 
wounded,  among  the  former  being  Lieutenant  T.  J.  Leavitt,  who  was  dis 
tinguished  for  personal  prowess  on  the  field.2  The  bodies  of  the  dead  were 
buried  side  by  side  upon  a  knoll  near  the  shore  of  a  small  lake  at  the  foot 
of  White  Stone  Hill,  from  which  the  battle  takes  its  name,  and  which  hill 
is  about  two  hundred  and  twenty  miles  northeast  of  Fort  Pierre. 
•  The  command  commenced  the  return  march  two  days  after  the  battle. 

*  The  names  of  the  other  killed  were :  Sergeants  James  N.  Rogers,  Company  E;  William  W.  Davis, 
Company  H;  Corporal  Milo  N.  Higgins,  Company  I;  Privates  Avery  Clark,  Company  C;  William  J. 
Armstrong,  Casper  Wagoner,  Elijah  McCallister,  Company  F&  Charles  Stephens,  Company  G;  W.  R. 
Dammett,  Charles  Uckerman,  Company  H.  I  regret  that  I  have  not  a  list  of  the  wounded.  Colonel 
Wilson's  horse  was  shot  under  him,  but  he  himself  escaped  unhurt. 


686  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

At  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Sheyenne,  the  column  was  met  by  the  little 
steamboat  "Alone,"  which  furnished  the  troops  with  rations  of  "hard 
tack,"  and  enabled  them  the  more  cheerfully  to  continue  the  march  to 
Fort  Pierre,  where  they  arrived  on  the  llth  of  September. 

In  obedience  to  orders  commanding  him  to  locate  a  military  post  and 
construct  a  fort  at  an  eligible  point  near  Fort  Pierre,  General  Sully  selected 
a  site  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Missouri  about  fifteen  miles  below  the  old 
fort,  where  work  was  at  once  commenced  by  the  Sixth  Cavalry.  A  fort  of 
logs  with  capacity  to  contain  a  garrison  of  four  companies,  was  erected,  but 
before  it  had  been  completed  General  Sully,  leaving  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Pollock  with  five  companies  of  the  regiment  to  finish  the  work,  marched  to 
Fort  Randall  and  thence  to  Sioux  City.  About  the  middle  of  November 
the  regiment  went  into  winter  quarters,  but  in  detachments  widely  separated 
from  each  other. 

The  work  built  below  Fort  Pierre  in  the  fall  of  1863  by  our  regiment  was 
called  Fort  Sully.  It  was  distant  from  Sioux  City  about  three  hundred 
miles,  and  thither  came  a  brigade  of  troops  in  the  spring  and  early  summer 
of  1864,  with  the  object  of  starting  from  that  post  on  another  campaign 
against  the  Indians.  General  Sully  was  in  command.  The  command 
marched  northward  on  the  26th  of  June.  It  consisted  of  eleven  companies 
of  the  Sixth  Iowa  Cavalry  (one  company  having  been  left  at  Fort  Randall,  as 
part  of  the  garrison,  Major  Shephard,  commanding  post)  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Pollock;3  three  companies  Seventh  Iowa  Cavalry,  Lieutenant-Colonel  John 
Pattee  ;  Brackett's  Battalion  of  Minnesota  Cavalry,  Major  A.  B.  Brackett; 
two  companies  Dakota  Cavalry ;  one  company  of  Scouts,  Captain  Stuffts ; 
and  a  battery  of  four  guns,  mountain  howitzers,  Captain  Nathaniel  Pope, 
numbering  in  all  about  eighteen  hundred  men.  The  brigade  reached  a  point 
on  the  Missouri  River  about  two  hundred  miles  above  Fort  Sully  on  the  8th 
of  July,  'where  General  Sully  located  the  military  post  of  Fort  Rice.  Here 
a  brigade  of  troops  which  had  marched  from  Minnesota  joined  the  expedi 
tion.  Remaining  a  few  days  for  further  preparation,  and  more  complete 
organization,  during  which  period  there  was  a  review  of  all  the  troops  by 
the  general,  the  line  of  march  westward  was  taken  up  on  the  morning  of 
the  19th,  a  detachment  of  the  Thirtieth  Wisconsin  Infantry  being  left  to 
complete  the  fort. 

The  campaign  henceforth  was  singular.  If  my  reader  will  look  at  a  map 
of  the  field  of  operations,  he  will  see  emptying  into  the  Missouri,  between 
the  forty-sixth  and  forty-seventh  degrees  of  north  latitude,  the  Big  Cannon 
and  the  Heart  Rivers.  Between  these  streams  the  expedition  was  now 

»  Colonel  Wilson  had  resigned  some  time  before.  After  his  resignation  he  paid  a  short  visit  to 
his  friends  in  Iowa,  and  then,  going  to  New  York,  sailed  for  California,  where  he  ought  to  have 
a  large  share  of  "  contentment,  prosperity,  and  happiness." 


SIXTH     CAVALRY.  687 

moving.  On  Heart  River  General  Sully  established  a  corral  for  his  trains, 
and  an  Idaho  emigrant  train  traveling  under  his  protection,  and  moved  on 
to  Knife  River.  From  here,  nearly  to  the  Yellow  Stone  River,  the  surface 
of  the  country  is  remarkable  for  its  rough  and  rugged  nature.  Were  the 
sea  to  be  agitated  by  winds  blowing  in  all  directions  till  it  should  become  a 
confounded  and  dizzying  mass  of  whirling,  rolling,  every-shaped,  every- 
sized  waves,  and  should  be  suddenly  changed  to  earth,  it  would  present  a 
tolerable  picture  of  the  region  we  speak  of.  The  Indians  call  it  ' '  the  Bad 
Lands, ' '  and  it  is  as  difficult  of  passage  by  an  army  as  the  mountains  of 
Switzerland.  General  Sully  found  large  numbers  of  Indians  encamped  on 
the  border  of  this  repulsive  region,  whom  he  defeated  with  heavy  loss,  and 
by  dismounting  his  troops,  drove  them  to  its  secret  recesses,  till  he  could 
himself  proceed  no  farther,  and  then  returned  to  the  Heart  River.  There 
taking  his  trains  again,  he  sought  another  route,  and  after  incredible  diffi 
culties,  and  daily  fights  with  the  savages,  he  placed  his  army  on  the  banks 
of  the  Yellow  Stone,  about  sixty  miles  from  its  mouth.  The  march  through 
this  rough  region  was  very  much  after  the  Indian  fashion.  The  men  were 
dismounted  most  of  the  time,  and  for  a  considerable  portion  of  the  way, 
the  column  crept  its  way  along  the  bed  of  a  stream,  now,  fortunately,  almost 
without  water.  The  Indians  appeared  once  or  twice  in  large  numbers,  and 
were  all  the  time  hovering  near  by  in  less  or  greater  force.  They  seemed 
to  have  a  wholesome  fear  of  our  arms,  and  would  not  often  allow  themselves 
to  be  caught  within  range.  But  our  troopers  managed  to  kill  quite  a  num 
ber  of  them,  whilst  large  quantities  of  their  property  were  captured  and 
destroyed.  Our  losses  were  trifling,  the  most  serious  casualty,  perhaps, 
being  the  severe  wounding  of  General  Sully 's  guide,  an  Indian  boy  of  the 
Black-foot  tribe,  the  only  person  in  the  expedition  acquainted  with  the 
country. 

The  Yellow  Stone  was  reached  on  the  12th  of  August,  and  there, 
anchored  in  the  middle  of  the  stream  were  the  little  steamers  "Alone" 
and  "Chippeway,"  with  the  Union  bunting  gaily  floating  from  their  flag- 
staffs,  and  plenty  of  rations  in  their  holds.  With  the  assistance  of  the 
steamers,  the  army  and  trains  crossed  the  river  on  the  13th,  and  moved  up 
to  Fort  Union,  a  trading  post  on  the  Missouri,  on  the  forty-eighth  degree 
of  north  latitude,  with  the  country  of  the  Crow  Indians  on  the  west,  and 
that  of  the  Assiniboins  on  the  east  and  north  to  the  British  Possessions. 

Having  remained  here  a  short  time,  the  army  crossed  the  Missouri, 
which  here  flows  eastward,  and  on  the  21st  marched  down  the  northern 
bank.  In  due  time  Fort  Berthold  was  reached,  where  one  company  of  our 
regiment  was  left  to  garrison  the  post,  Captain  Moreland  commanding. 
Having  marched  down  the  river  one  day,  General  Sully  wheeled  to  the  left 
on  the  1st  of  September,  and  marched  northward  in  hopes  to  overtake 


688  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

hostile  savages  of  whom  he  had  heard.  On  the  next  day  the  command 
reached  the  "Dog  Buttes,"  a  range  of  hills  on  the  south  bank  of  the 
Mouse  River,  whose  waters  flow  northward  into  the  Arctic  Seas.  No  trace 
of  Indians  could  be  found,  and  the  column  retraced  its  steps,  and  marching 
on  down  the  river  reached  Fort  Rice  on  the  9th. 

Here  our  regiment  received  letters  and  papers  from  the  States — the  first 
mail  since  their  departure  from  the  Fort,  nearly  two  months  before.  The 
commingled  feelings  which  this  event  created  can  be  better  imagined  than 
described.  The  mail  which  brought  intelligence  from  home  also  brought 
the  promotions  caused  by  the  resignation  of  Colonel  Wilson.  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Pollock  had  been  commissioned  Colonel,  Maj or  Ten-Broeck,  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel,  and  Captain  Galligan,  Company  A,  Major.  The  promotion 
of  these  officers  was  received  with  great  enthusiam  by  the  regiment,  for 
they  had  one  and  all  performed  their  duties  bravely  and  well. 

The  active  campaigning  of  the  regiment  was  now  ended  for  the  summer, 
except  that  a  detachment  therefrom,  consisting  of  one  hundred  men, 
Captain  D.  F.  Eicher,  commanding,  joined  a  larger  force  which  marched 
westward  from  Fort  Rice  to  the  relief  of  a  large  emigrant  train,  stopped 
and  harassed  by  the  Indians.  The  Indians  were  driven  off  without  an 
actual  battle,  and  the  detachment  returned  in  about  three  weeks.  The 
other  forces  under  General  Sully  remained  in  camp  near  Fort  Rice  till  the 
last  day  of  September.  During  this  period  bands  of  Indians  appeared 
near  the  camp  from  time  to  time,  but  their  design  appeared  rather  to  be 
theft  than  war.  They  succeeded,  by  the  exercise  of  Indian  cunning,  in 
capturing  a  number  of  horses  and  mules,  and  in  one  of  the  races  after  the 
thieves  Sergeant  Murray,  of  the  Sixth  Iowa,  was  killed.  When  the  main 
army  left  Fort  Rice,  a  battalion  of  five  companies,  Major  House,  remained 
there  to  garrison  the  post,  and  there  stayed  nearly  a  month. 

During  the  winter,  the  regiment  was  quartered  in  detachments  at  Fort 
Randall,  Sioux  City,  Yankton,  the  Sioux  and  Winnebago  Indian  Agency, 
and  at  Fort  Berthold.  Major  Shephard  resigned  before  the  close  of  the 
year,  and  was  succeeded  by  Captain  Cram,  of  Company  B.  Several 
changes  in  the  officers  took  place  during  the  winter,  and  a  number  returned 
to  the  State  on  recruiting  service,  whereby  about  one  hundred  and  sixty 
men  were  added  to  the  regiment.  The  winter  was  spent  as  comfortably  as 
circumstances  would  allow,  the  monotony  of  garrison  life,  especially  at  Fort 
Sully,  being  happily  broken  by  frequent  "hops,"  the  females  of  the  dances 
being  Indian  maidens,  and  some  who  were  not  maidens,  who  were  not  very 
good-looking,  pot  very  well  dressed,  and  who  could  not  speak  a  word 
of  English,  but  by  a  sort  of  instinct,  not  unnatural,  perhaps,  to  barbarians, 
could  dance  as  gracefully  as  the  belles  of  our  cities.  The  lamented  General 
Crocker,  whose  ill-health  compelled  him  to  seek  the  mild  climate  of  New 


SIXTH     CAVALRY.  689 

Mexico,  where  he  was  thrown  into  Indian  "society,"  observed  that  "we 
all  know  white  women  can  dance,  those  of  us  who  have  been  south  know 
that  black  women  can,  and  I  have  now  learned  that  dancing  with  Indians 
is  better  than  no  dancing  at  all."  Our  boys  in  the  solitudes  of  Dakota 
thought  the  Indian  girls  were  remarkably  apt  in  the  art. 

The  campaigning  of  the  regiment,  in  1865,  was  less  active.  The  Indians 
had  become  comparatively  quiet.  So  the  authorities  determined  that  the 
command  should  be  honorably  discharged.  It  was,  accordingly,  mustered 
out  at  Sioux  City  on  the  17th  of  October,  then  numbering  nine  hundred 
and  seventy-seven  officers  and  men.  They  proceeded  by  wagon  to  Boons- 
boro,  thence  by  rail  to  Clinton,  and  thence  by  steamer  to  Davenport,  where 
the  regiment  was  disbanded.4 

«  The  following  is  a  list  of  the  commissioned  officers  at  the  time  the  regiment  left  the  service  : 
Colonel,  S.  M.  Pollock ;  Lieutenant-Colonel,  Edward  P.  Ten-Broeck ;  first  Major,  A.  E.  House ;  Second 
Major,  John  Galligan ;  Third  Major,  De  Witt  C.  Cram  ;  Adjutant,  B.  E.  Agard ;  Quartermaster,  C.  W. 
Fogg;  Commissary,  Morgan  Reno;  Surgeon,  J.  H.  Camburn;  First  Assistant  Surgeon,  Thomas  S. 
Bardwell ;  Second  Assistant  Surgeon,  Samuel  C.  Haynes ;  Chaplain,  David  H.  Mitchell. 

Company  -4— Captain  John  M.  Gates;  First  Lieutenant  Hugh  A.  McAllister;  Second  Lieutenant 
Henry  Soedt.  Company  B— Captain  Dexter  E.  Bronson ;  First  Lieutenant  Frank  0.  Udell ;  Second 
Lieutenant  Horatio  G.  Forster.  Company  C— Captain  D.  D.  Ainsworth;  First  Lieutenant  Freeman 
K.  Fisk;  Second  Lieutenant  Warren  D.  Stafford.  Company  D— Captain  T.  W.  Burdick;  First  Lieu 
tenant  T.  Finn ;  Second  Lieutenant  William  M.  Fannon.  Company  .E— Captain  Daniel  F.  Eicher; 
First  Lieutenant  Joseph  C.  De  Haven ;  Second  Lieutenant  Sanford  M.  Smith.  Company  F— Captain 
James  Ruth ;  First  Lieutenant  L.  N.  Beeman  ;  Second  Lieutenant  A.  H.  McKallor.  Company  G— 
Captain  A.  B.  Moreland ;  First  Lieutenant  Wesley  A.  Heath ;  Second  Lieutenant  Charles  F.  Hobbs. 
Company  H— Captain  J.  M.  Van  Meter;  First  Lieutenant  John  A.  Patterson;  Second  Lieutenant 
Charles  A.  Reardon.  Company  /—Captain  Benjamin  King;  First  Lieutenant  George  W.  McCall ; 
Second  Lieutenant  Henry  C.  Nichols.  Company  JT— Captain  George  E.  Dayton ;  First  Lieutenant 
Samuel  M.  Parker;  Second  Lieutenant  H.  F.  Berst.  Company  L— Captain  A.  S.  Ames;  First  Lieu 
tenant  A.  R.  Fuller;  Second  Lieutenant  A.  W.  Hunt.  Company  M— Captain  V.  J.  Williams;  First 
Lieutenant  James  Brown;  Second  Lieutenant  L.  F.  Williams. 
87 


CHAPTER    XLV. 

SEVENTH     CAVALRY. 

ORGANIZED  AT  DAVENPORT— ITS  FIELD  OF   OPERATIONS  WEST  OF   THE  MISSOURI 
RIVER— ITS  BATTLES  AND  SERVICES  TO  THE  CLOSE   OF  1865. 

THE  formation  of  the  Seventh  Cavalry  Regiment  of  Iowa  Volunteers 
proceeded  slowly,  and  it  was  finally  organized  at  "Camp  Hendershott," 
Davenport,  in  the  summer  of  1863,  by  a  consolidation  of  companies  which 
had  been  previously  assigned  to  other  organizations.  It  would  be  but  to 
weary  the  reader  with  uninteresting  details  to  relate  the  particulars  of  the 
process  by  which  the  regiment  was  at  last  brought  to  unity  and  organiza 
tion.  Let  it  suffice,  that  Colonel  Summers  long  labored  energetically,  but 
without  complete  success,  to  recruit  companies  for  the  regiment;  that 
Major  Heath  was  untiring  and  sagacious  in  his  efforts  to  bring  about  the 
desired  results ;  that  these  labors  were  continued  through  many  months ; 
having  commenced  in  the  year  1862,  and  that  two  companies  were  mus 
tered  into  the  service  April  27th,  1863,  two  more  companies  the  day  follow 
ing,  two  more  June  3d,  one  on  the  16th,  and  one  on  the  13th  of  July. 
Meanwhile,  three  companies  of  the  Forty-first  Infantry  (being,  in  fact, 
Companies  A,  B,  and  C,  as  originally  enrolled  in  the  Fourteenth  Infantry), 
and  a  company  of  Sioux  City  Independent  Cavalry,  were  transferred  to  this 
regiment  by  order  of  the  Department  of  War.  The  four  companies  trans 
ferred  had  already  been  long  in  the  service  on  the  western  frontier.  July 
25th,  Samuel  W.  Summers,  who  had  been  many  months  commissioned, 
was  mustered  as  colonel,  and  the  organization  thereby  completed.  John 
Pattee,  who  had  been  appointed  Major  of  the  Forty-first  Infantry,  was 
lieutenant-colonel;  H.  H.  Heath,  George  W.  O'Brien,  John  S.  Wood, 
were  majors;  Eugene  S.  Sheffield  was  adjutant;  William  H.  Northrop, 
quartermaster;  Benjamin  F.  Giger,  commissary;  Andrew  J.  Willey,  sur 
geon,  with  James  W.  La  Force,  and  Stephen  P.  Yeomans,  assistants. 

Nearly  a  month  before  the  completion  of  the  organization,  Major  Heath 
marched  for  Omaha,  Nebraska  Territory,  under  orders  to  report  to  Bri 
gadier-General  McKean,  with  six  companies  of  the  regiment.  General 
McKean,  commanding  the  district  of  Nebraska,  stationed  the  companies, 
690 


SEVENTH     CAVALRY.  G91 

after  their  arrival,  at  different  posts  in  the  territory.  In  September,  Colonel 
Summers,  with  the  head-quarters  of  the  regiment,  and  the  two  companies 
which  had  been  left  at  Davenport,  marched  also  to  Omaha,  at  which  place 
head-quarters  remained  until  about  the  middle  of  July,  1864. 

But  during  the  entire  service  of  the  regiment,  from  the  time  Major 
Heath  reached  Omaha,  till  the  close  of  the  year,  1865,  the  different  com 
panies  were  scattered  over  a  wide  extent  of  territory,  and  each  was  actively 
engaged  in  the  heavy  duties  required  of  troops  at  frontier  posts,  in  a  coun 
try  constantly  threatened,  and  frequently  invaded  by  a  savage  enemy.  They 
garrisoned  posts,  escorted  trains,  protected  emigrants,  guarded  lines  of 
travel  and  of  telegraph,  and  had  frequent  combats  with  the  Indians  who 
had  been  induced  by  some  means  or  other  to  unbury  the  tomahawk  and 
wage  savage  warfare  against  the  whites.  Portions  of  the  regiment  were 
engaged  in  the  battles  of  White  Stone  Hill,  Tahkahokutah,  Mauvais  Ten- 
nes,  or  Bad  Lands,  Little  Blue,  Julesburg,  Mud  Springs,  Rush  Creek, 
Horse  Creek,  Cow  Creek,  and  other  engagements  and  skirmishes,  in  all  which 
they  fought  gallantly,  and  in  some  of  which  they  met  with  considerable 
losses.  In  Dakota,  in  Nebraska,  in  Colorado,  in  Kansas ;  under  Generals 
McKean,  Mitchell,  Curtis,  and  lastly  under  Heath ;  they  performed  valuable 
services  over  a  vast  extent  of  country — services  which,  to  describe  with  par 
ticularity,  would  require  many  pages  for  every  company  of  the  regiment. 
Each  company  marched  thousands  of  miles,  from  the  time  of  organization 
till  the  close  of  the  year  1865,  though,  of  course,  on  account  of  circum 
stances,  some  of  the  companies  were  more  actively  employed  than  others. 

The  command  lost  more  heavily  at  the  affair  of  Julesburg,  Colorado  Ter 
ritory,  January  7th,  1865,  than  elsewhere.  This  engagement  was  fought 
by  Company  F  of  the  Seventh  Cavalry,  Captain  N.  J.  O'Brien  command 
ing  the  company.  The  Indians  in  large  numbers  attacked  a  train  near 
Julesburg.  Captain  O'Brien  marched  to  the  assistance  of  the  train. 
Colonel  Summers  accompanied  Captain  O'Brien's  command,  and  directed 
the  combat  on  the  Union  side.  It  continued  during  the  day,  Colonel  Sum 
mers  being  at  one  time  besieged  in  a  ranche  by  the  road-side.  Captain 
O'Brien  having  now  brought  up  artillery  fired  amongst  the  Indians  and 
soon  dispersed  them.  Fifty-five  warriors  were  killed  dead  on  the  field  and 
many  wounded.  Colonel  Summers  himself  shot  the  principal  chief  with 
his  revolver,  and  secured  his  magnificent  equipments.1 

i  The  killed  of  the  Seventh  Cavalry  at  Julesburg  were :  Sergeant  A.  Hanshett ;  Corporals  W.  H. 
Gray,  Anthony  Koons,  W.  B.  Talcott;  Privates  George  Barnett,  H.  W.  Brundridge,  Henry  II.  Hall, 
Dftvid  iBhman,  Davis  Lippincott,  Amos  McArthur,  Joel  Stebbins,  Thomas  Scott,  Edson  Moore.  I 
find  the  following  names  reported  of  those  killed  in  other  actions,  some  of  which  took  place  before, 
some  after  the  affair  of  Julesburg.  Namely:  John  Anderson,  William  R.  Hosier,  William  Stewart, 
William  McVey,  Thomas  Turner,  John  W.  Bower,  Bluford  Starkey,  John  A.  Harris,  Newton  J. 
Grubb,  Richard  Groger,  Edward  McMahon,  Philip  Alder.  Captain  William  D.  Fouts  was  slain  at 
the  battle  of  Horse  Creek,  Dacota,  June  14th,  1865,  whilst  gallantly  leading  his  command. 


692  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Colonel  Summers  was  mustered  out  of  the  service  not  long  after  the 
battle  of  Julesburg,  and  returned  to  Iowa.  Some  months  afterwards, 
Major  Heath,  always  popular  with  the  command,  was  commissioned,  and 
was  mustered  colonel  in  the  following  May,  and  soon  afterwards  was 
brevetted  brigadier-general.  The  Department  of  Missouri  was  now  in 
command  of  Major-General  G.  M.  Dodge,  who  devoted  much  of  his  ener 
gies  to  the  protection  of  our  western  settlers  and  of  the  overland  line  of 
travel  to  the  Pacific  coast.  General  Heath  went  to  Fort  Kearney,  and  taking 
command  of  a  sub-district  succeeded  in  defeating  the  Indians  in  one  or  two 
engagements,  and  in  making  it  safe  for  travelers  to  journey  to  the  great 
gold-bearing  regions  of  our  country. 

Late  in  the  fall,  the  savages  attacked  a  train  in  the  vicinity  of  Alcali. 
Heath's  troopers  were  soon  in  pursuit,  and  by  a  march  of  incredible  diffi 
culty  over  a  sterile  country,  and  a  fine  combat  at  midnight,  in  which  the 
Indians  were  completely  defeated,  with  heavy  losses  in  killed  and  wounded, 
returned  to  head-quarters,  not  soon  to  be  disturbed  by  the  savage  enemy. 
General  Heath  conducted  hostilities  against  the  Indians  with  great  success, 
and  won  the  encomiums  of  superior  officers  not  only,  but  of  the  people 
who  had  been  so  long  harassed  that  they  had  well  nigh  given  up  all  hope 
of  being  soon  relieved  from  the  terrors  of  Indian  warfare.  "The  citizens 
of  Nebraska,"  says  a  leading  journal  of  that  territory,  "and  especially 
those  living  on  and  interested  in  the  great  overland  road  may  congratulate 
themselves  upon  having  a  military  commander  who  thoroughly  understands 
the  mode  of  Indian  warfare,  and  who  is  willing  to  march  against  them,  and 
to  endure  the  same  privations  and  fatigue  that  his  men  do,  sharing  his 
rations  with  them ;  whose  home  in  the  field  is  in  the  saddle,  and  whose  move 
ments  are  as  rapid  as  those  of  his  wily  foe.  These  qualities  are  combined 
in  General  Heath,  who  stands  head  and  shoulders  above  any  officer  who 
has  been  in  command  at  Fort  Kearney  since  the  beginning  of  the  Indian 
troubles." 

It  is  doubtless  on  account  of  the  efficient  services  of  General  Heath  and 
his  command  that  the  Seventh  Cavalry  is  still  retained  in  the  service  (Jan 
uary  1866)  and  will  probably  be  so  retained  for  some  months  to  come.  Its 
troopers,  in  whole  or  by  detachments,  have  already  taken  part  in  every 
expedition  against  Indians  in  the  Departments  of  the  Missouri,  Kansas, 
and  the  Northwest,  from  the  middle  of  1863  to  the  present  time,  and  they 
have  always  done  their  duty  manfully,  skilfully,  bravely.  They  have ' 
endured  many  privations,  suffered  many  hardships,  but  they  have  suffered 
with  patience,  as  they  have  fought  ever  gallantly,  keeping  from  our  borders 
a  ruthless  enemy,  who,  but  for  their  sleepless  vigilance  and  untiring  energy 
would  have  carried  fire,  and  massacre,  and  indescribable  horrors  over  the 
new  settlements  of  our  frontier.  There  is  a  heavy  debt  of  gratitude  due 


SEVENTH     CAVALRY.  693 

from  the  county,  and  especially  from  the  Northwest,  to  those  troops  who 
were  denied  the  privilege  of  fighting  rebels  in  the  South,  but  who  performed 
invaluable  services  on  the  less  glorious  field  of  the  far  west,  and  among  all 
the  troops  who  were  there  engaged  none  are  entitled  to  a  larger  share  of 
that  gratitude  than  the  Seventh  Iowa  Cavalry,  Colonel  Herman  H.  Heath.2 

2  The  history  of  the  Sixth  and  Seventh  regiments  of  Iowa  Cavalry,  does  not,  strictly,  come  within 
the  general  plan  of  this  work,  which  has  to  do  with  what  our  troops  did  in  the  war  against  the 
Southern  Rebellion.  These  regiments,  however,  were  recruited  during  the  rebellion,  and  performed 
most  of  their  services,  the  former  nearly  all,  before  it  was  conquered.  Moreover,  the  Indian  out 
break  was  probably  the  result  of  rebel  machinations.  It  has  been  deemed  but  simple  justice,  there 
fore,  to  briefly  relate  the  history  of  these  gallant  troopers. 

I  may  add,  as  of  personal  interest,  the  names  of  the  officers  of  the  Seventh,  embracing  the 
changes  up  to  September,  1865. 

Colonels  Samuel  W.  Summers,  II.  H.  Heath.  Lieutenant-Colond  John  Pattee.  Majors  H.  II.  Heath, 
George  M.  O'Brien,  James  B.  David,  John  S.  Wood.  Adjutants  E.  S.  Sheffield,  Edward  K.  Valentine. 
Kurgeon  Andrew  J.  Willey,  with  Assistants  James  W.  La  Force,  Stephen  P.  Yeoman.  Quartermaster 
W.  H.  Northrop.  Commissary  B.  F.  Giger. 

Company  A — Captains  John  S.  Wood,  Edward  B.  Murphy;  Lieutenants  Ed  ward  B.  Murphy,  James 
G.  Smith,  Thomas  J.  Potter,  Benjamin  F.  Roberts.  Company  B— Captain  John  Wilcox ;  Lieutenants 
John  M.  Philips,  Thomas  S.  Parker,  Jesse  Aiken,  Francis  J.  Comstock.  Company  C— Captains  H.  W. 
Cremer,  Jonathan  C.  Mitchell;  Lieutenants  H.  W.  Cremer,  George  M.  Swain,  Ira  C.  Schenck. 
Company  D — Captains  Dudley  L.  Haywood,  William  D.  Fouts;  Lieutenants  Dudley  L.  Haywood, 
Jacob  B.  De  Lay,  Jere.  H.  Twiggs,  William  N.  Monroe,  Daniel  D.  Moore.  Company  E— Captain 
George  P.  Norris;  Lieutenants  John  W.  Robley,  James  B.  David,  George  P.  Norris,  Edward  F. 
Ormsby.  Company  F—  Captain  Nicholas  J.  O'Brien;  Lieutenants  John  S.  Brewer,  E.  F.  Ward, 
Michael  Towers.  Company  G — Captain  Elisha  Hammer;  Lieutenants  Charles  E.  Everton,  Joseph 
Bone,  J.  S.  Beals,  George  W.  Heath  (accidentally  killed  in  March,  1864).  Company  H— Captains 
Curtis  Clark,  Daniel  S.  Malven ;  Lieutenants  H.  W.  Garfield,  John  H.  Brooks,  E.  H.  Hutchings, 
Allen  Ellsworth.  Company  I—  Captain  A.  J.  Millard ;  Lieutenants  Jacob  T.  Copelan,  Samuel  H. 
Cassidy.  Company  K — Captain  John  Pattee  (of  the  old  organization);  Lieutenants  John  C.  Rutan, 
Wallis  Pattee.  Company  L — Captain  Bradley  Mahanna ;  Lieutenants  Marvin  R.  Luse,  Joseph  Schell. 
Company  M— Captains  Anthony  Courtwright,  George  W.  Wolfe ;  Lieutenants  Lemuel  G.  Cunningham, 
Barton  T.  Ryan. 


CHAPTER    XLVI. 

EIGHTH    CAVALRY. 

RECRUITED  UNDER  SPECIAL  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  WAR  DEPARTMENT— ORGANIZA 
TION  AT  DAVENPORT— MOVE  TO  NASHVILLE,  TENNESSEE— OPERATIONS  DURING 
THE  WINTER  OP  1863-4— THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  ATLANTA— OF  NASHVILLE— THE 
CROXTON  RAID— DEATH  OF  COLONEL  DORR— THE  REGIMENT'S  SUBSEQUENT 
HISTORY. 

EARLY  in  1863,  Lieutenant  Joseph  B.  Dorr,  Quartermaster  of  the  fight 
ing  Twelfth  Iowa  Infantry,  received  authority  from  Edwin  M.  Stanton, 
Secretary  of  War,  to  recruit  and  organize  a  regiment  of  horse  in  our  State. 
At  this  time,  the  Seventh  Cavalry  was  being  recruited,  but  enlistments  for 
that  command  not  proceeding  rapidly,  Colonel  Dorr  did  not  commence 
operations  till  the  latter  part  of  June.  This  officer  had  been  a  noted  demo 
cratic  editor  and  politician  of  the  State,  and  stood  well  with  all  parties  as  a 
man  of  fine  abilities  and  of  upright  character.  He  it  was  to  whom  Stephen 
A.  Douglas,  in  the  political  campaign  of  1860,  wrote  his  famous  "Dorr 
Letter."  He  had  great  energy.  Troops  flocked  rapidly  to  his  standard, 
and  in  a  very  short  time  after  he  made  the  announcement  of  his  authority 
to  raise  a  regiment,  two  thousand  men  were  enlisted  for  the  Eighth 
Cavalry !  Some  three  hundred  were  rejected,  more  than  four  hundred  and 
fifty  turned  over  to  the  Ninth  Cavalry,  and  about  seventy-five  to  the  Fourth 
Battery. 

The  troops  composing  Colonel  Dorr's  command  were  from  all  parts  of 
the  State.  The  regiment,  twelve  hundred  and  thirty-four  strong,  was 
mustered  into  the  service  on  the  last  day  of  September,  1863,  at  Davenport. 
Colonel  Dorr's  associate  field  officers  were,  Horatio  Gr.  Barner,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  ;  John  J.  Brown,  James  D.  Thompson,  Alvalo  J.  Price  Majors. 
John  H.  Isett  had  been  commissioned  Adjutant;  John  Q.  A.  Dawson 
Quartermaster ;  James  E.  Pritchard  Commissary ;  William  H.  Finley  Sur 
geon;  A.  S.  Carnahan,  Daniel  H.  Warren  Assistants;  and  Reverend 
Thomas  C.  Clark,  Chaplain.1 

i  The  line  officers  were :    Captains,  in  the  order  of  the  companies— George  W.  Burns,  William  H. 
Evans,  Edgar  Pickett,  Lovene  Hopkins,  Richard  Root,  Ephraim   Cummins,  Philip   C.  Morhiser, 
694 


EIGHTH     CAVALRY.  695 

The  principal  field  and  staff,  and  many  of  the  line  officers  having  served 
before,  Colonel  Dorr  was  soon  ready  to  take  the  field  with  one  of  the  best 
regiments  that  Iowa  sent  forth  against  the  enemies  of  the  country.  The 
14th  of  October,  before  the  equipment  of  the  regiment  had  been  completed, 
Colonel  Dorr  received  orders  to  report  at  Chattanooga,  Tennessee.  Three 
days  afterwards  his  command  was  on  the  way.  Moving  by  rail,  through 
Illinois  and  Indiana,  the  regiment  arrived  at  Louisville  and  went  into  camp 
on  the  22d.  Early  in  November  the  march  for  Nashville  began,  which  was 
completed  on  the  16th.  Here  Colonel  Dorr  received  orders  to  report  to 
General  Gillem,  commanding  troops  on  the  Nashville  and  Northwestern 
Railroad. 

During  the  winter  of  1863-4,  Colonel  Dorr  and  his  command  performed 
most  valuable  services,  but  without  engaging  in  any  battle.  The  head-quar 
ters  of  the  regiment  were  at  Waverly,  a  town  near  the  Tennessee,  nearly 
one  hundred  miles  west  of  Nashville.  There  was  one  battalion  of  the  regi 
ment  at  Waverly ;  another  was  about  half  way  between  there  and  Nash 
ville,  whilst  the  other  was  about  thirty  miles  west  of  Nashville.  Besides 
the  duty  of  guarding  this  long  line  of  communications.  Colonel  Dorr  had 
other  important  duties  to  perform.  The  citizens  of  the  region  were  gene 
rally  traitors,  so  that  the  Colonel  had  a  difficult  civil  administration,  so  to 
say,  on  his  hands.  He  inaugurated  the  policy  of  placing  rebels  under 
bonds  to  keep  the  peace  and  support  the  Union.  During  his  stay  at 
Waverly  he  had  property  of  disaffected  persons  to  the  value  of  nearly  one 
million  dollars  pledged  for  their  good  behaviour.  It  worked  admirably. 
Colonel  Dorr's  experience  proved  that  the  honor  of  the  chivalry  was  of 
very  little  value  in  comparison  of  their  money.  They  would  violate  solemn 
oaths  with  the  utmost  nonchalance,  but  when  their  bad  conduct  would  bring 
about  a  loss  of  money,  the  case  was  entirely  different.  They  put  them 
selves  on  their  good  behaviour  at  once.  But  in  addition  to  Colonel  Dorr's 
quasi  civil  administration,  he  had  enough  to  occupy  the  entire  attention  of 
an  ordinary  man  with  his  military  command.  He  had  charge  of  a  con 
siderable  extent  of  country,  embracing  some  eight  counties,  which  were 
infested  by  small  bands  of  rebel  troops,  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the 
roads  and  by-paths  of  this  wild  region,  well  adapted  to  the  operations  of 
guerrilla-men.  Nevertheless,  Colonel  Dorr  captured  during  the  winter 
nearly  five  hundred  of  these  robbers,  and  his  energetic  troopers,  scouring 
every  part  of  the  country,  drove  off  or  brought  to  head-quarters  all  enemies 

Madison  M  Walden,  Elliott  Shurtz,  John  Dance,  Aaron  Pinney,  William  H.  Hoxie;  First  Lieuten 
ants — Reuben  W.  Marvin,  Rezin  S.  Hamilton,  James  W.  Moore,  Jacob  D.  Hardin,  Eleazer  B.  Doane, 
James  Ewing,  Wilbur  F.  McCarron,  William  S.  Ogle,  Hamon  A.  Jones,  James  Horton,  Thomas  F. 
Fouts,  Henry  Moreland;  Second  Lieutenants — Charles  Linderman,  Daniel  Henshaw,  Orson  M. 
Marcum,  John  C.  Power,  Charles  F.  Anderson,  Jackson  Morrow,  Henry  H.  Belfield,  Benjamin  Mor 
rison,  Andrew  F.  Tiptou,  Smith  H.  Beeson,  Charles  A.  Crawford,  James  R.  Eldridge. 


696  IOWA     AND     THE     KEBELLION. 

found  with  arms  in  their  hands,  including  Colonel  Hawkins  himself,  the 
most  noted  bushwhacker  of  these  parts,  who  was  captured.  The  people  of 
Tennessee  can  never  forget  that  Colonel  Dorr  in  three  months  brought  a 
large  portion  of  their  State  out  of  a  condition  of  anarchy  and  bloodshed  to 
good  government  and  peace. 

The  13th  of  March,  1864,  Colonel  Dorr  left  Waverly,  and  taking  up  the 
detachments  on  the  way,  arrived  at  Nashville  on  the  17th.  Here  the  com 
mand  remained  a  fortnight,  refitting  for  active  operations  in  the  field.  The 
1st  of  April  it  took  up  line  of  march  for  Chattanooga,  but  not  halting  long 
there,  continued  the  march  to  Cleveland,  some  twenty-five  miles  further 
east,  arriving  on  the  13th.  The  regiment  was  assigned  to  the  First  Brigade, 
Colonel  Dorr  commanding,  of  Brigadier-General  E.  M.  McCook's  First 
Cavalry  Division,  and  remained  quietly  in  camp  at  Cleveland  till  the  Cam 
paign  of  Atlanta  opened,  on  the  3d  of  May,  so  far  as  the  troopers  with 
which  we  now  have  to  do  are  concerned,  and  of  whom  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Barner  had  command. 

On  this  campaign,  the  Eighth  Iowa  Cavalry  began  skirmishing  with  the 
enemy  on  the  7th,  and  from  that  time  until  the  30th  of  July,  when  Colonel 
Dorr  and  nearly  all  his  officers  and  men  fit  for  duty  were  captured  at  the 
disastrous  Battle  of  Newnan,  was  engaged  almost  daily  with  the  enemy 
either  in  skirmish  or  in  battle.  The  command  had  a  sharp  skirmish  on  the 
9th,  in  which  Corporals  Pease  and  Sharp  of  Company  E  particularly  dis 
tinguished  themselves.  Having  meanwhile  been  several  times  engaged, 
the  regiment  made  a  dashing  charge  on  the  enemy's  flank,  near  Cassville, 
the  19th,  when  a  considerable  engagement  took  place.  Major  Root,  Cap 
tain  Hoxie,  and  Lieutenant  McCarron  received  the  special  commendations 
of  Colonel  Dorr,  for  their  gallant  conduct.  The  command  skirmished  its 
way  over  the  Etowah,  and  on  the  24th  met  the  enemy  at  Burnt  Hickory, 
where  Captain  M.  M.  Walden  routed  a  superior  force  by  a  daring  charge. 
There  was  also  a  sharp  skirmish  the  next  day,  in  which  Captain  Hoxie  was 
wounded.  It  was  here  that  Lieutenant  C.  F.  Anderson,  commanding  Com 
pany  L,  audaciously  led  his  men  right  into  the  jaws  of  a  rebel  battery,  and 
as  audaciously  held  his  position  till  ordered  to  retire.  After  this,  the  regi 
ment  held  a  line  one  half  mile  in  length  till  June  1st,  skirmishing  daily 
with  the  enemy.  Its  services  were  similar  for  nearly  a  fortnight  after  the 
army  moved  back  to  the  line  of  the  railroad.  When  the  enemy  gave  up  to 
Sherman  all  the  country  north  of  the  Chattahoochee,  the  Union  army  had 
a  short  respite  from  its  severe  labors.  But  the  Eighth  Iowa  Cavalry,  hold 
ing  a  ford  above  the  railway  crossing,  continued  to  have  considerable  skir 
mishing,  and  it  was  the  first  cavalry  command  whose  troops  crossed  to  the 
south  bank  of  the  river. 

On  the  22d  of  July,  on  which  day  the  most  severe  engagement  of  the 


EIGHTH     CAVALRY.  697 

campaign  was  fought  before  the  walls  of  Atlanta,  Colonel  Dorr  returned  to 
the  command  of  his  regiment,  now  greatly  reduced  by  the  wear  and  tear 
of  nearly  three  months'  hard  service  and  the  casualties  of  battle.  Colonel 
Croxton  took  command  of  the  brigade.  The  next  day  the  rebel  Armstrong 
attacked  the  camp,  but  was  soon  repulsed.  A  similar  attack,  two  or  three 
days  afterwards,  was  also  easily  repulsed. 

The  27th,  General  McCook  started  on  that  raid  which,  at  first  promising 
fine  success,  turned  out  in  the  end  to  be  most  disastrous.  Colonel  Don* 
joined  this  expedition,  his  force  consisting  of  less  than  three  hundred 
enlisted  men  and  twenty-four  officers,  being  all  that  could  be  mounted,  and 
considerably  less  than  one-third  the  force  of  the  regiment  when  it  started 
on  the  campaign  less  than  ninety  days  before.  McCook,  having  reached 
the  railroad  near  Lovejoy,  and  effected  some  destruction  thereof  on  the  29th, 
began  a  retrogade  movement  toward  the  Chattahoochee.  He  was  inter 
cepted  by  the  enemy,  and  a  severe  engagement  ensued,  in  which  the  Eighth 
Iowa  Cavalry  bore  a  most  conspicuous  part,  losing  between  twenty  and 
thirty,  killed  and  wounded.  Among  the  killed  were  Lieutenant  James 
Horton,  Company  K,  acting  adjutant,  and  Lieutenant  Joseph  H.  Cobb, 
Company  G.  "Both  were  as  gallant  young  officers,"  says  Colonel  Dorr, 
"  as  ever  drew  sabre.  Both  fell  at  the  head  of  the  column,  and  if  to  die  for 
one's  country  is  glorious,  theirs  was  a  glorious  death,  for  they  met  it  boldly 
and  unflinchingly  in  the  very  shock  of  battle.  William  Christy,  sergeant- 
major,  fell  terribly  wounded  in  four  places,  but,  too  brave  to  yield,  coura 
geously  made  his  way  to  the  rear  without  assistance."  Colonel  Dorr  was 
himself  wounded. 

The  next  day,  the  battle  of  Newnan  took  place.  About  noon,  the  head 
of  the  column,  upon  entering  Newnan,  unexpectedly  came  upon  Roddy's 
dismounted  cavalry  on  their  way  to  Atlanta,  Wheeler's  force  soon  coming 
up,  the  enemy  barred  our  progress  with  a  largely  superior  army.  Croxton' s 
Brigade,  however,  charged,  and  the  Eighth  Cavalry,  one  portion  under 
Major  Root,  and  another  portion  under  Major  Isett,  forced  the  enemy  to 
give  way  in  confusion.  General  Hume,  commanding  a  brigade,  was 
captured  by  Lieutenant  George  M.  Detwiler,  of  Company  M,  and  the  road 
was  cleared,  but  the  rest  of  the  division  not  coming  up,  the  rebels  had 
time  to  rally,  and  again  blockaded  the  passage.  The  fight  continued  for 
some  time,  being  sustained  by  the  first  brigade  alone,  which  was  now  com 
manded  by  Colonel  Dorr,  Croxton  being  missing,  and  which  brigade  had 
been  reduced  to  little  more  than  the  maximum  number  of  a  company.  And 
so  the  little  band  fought  on,  making  itself  a  shield  to  protect  the  rest  of 
our  forces,  the  most  of  whom  were  thereby  enabled  to  extricate  themselves 
from  the  perilous  position.  They  made  their  way  back  to  the  army,  but 
Colonel  Dorr  and  his  regiment  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 


698  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

"  In  this  engagement,"  said  he,  in  his  report  made  months  afterwards, 
"which  was  of  the  severest  character,  the  men  and  officers  of  the  Eighth 
behaved  with  a  gallantry  and  steadiness  which  drew  from  General  McCook 
a  public  compliment  on  the  battle-field.  As  on  the  day  before,  there  were 
but  few  exceptions  to  this,  while  there  were  many  instances  of  great  gal 
lantry  displayed.  Major  John  H.  Isett,  Captain  P.  C.  Morhiser,  Captain 
(now  Major)  Shurtz,  who  was  desperately  wounded,  Captain  James  W. 
Moore,  Captain  E.  B.  Doane,  Lieutenants  Henry  Moreland,  W.  F.  McCar- 
ron,  C.  F.  Anderson,  Jackson  Morrow,  W.  T.  Ogle,  G.  M.  Detwiler,  Jacob 
T.  Haight  (wounded)  and  John  B.  Loomis  (killed)  are  fairly  entitled  to 
mention  for  coolness  and  good  conduct  under  very  trying  circumstances. 
Lieutenants  H.  H.  Belfield,  adjutant,  Cornelius  Bennett,  quartermaster, 
and  J.  E.  Pritchard,  commissary,  deserve  special  mention  for  their  activity 
arid  zeal  in  assisting  the  regimental  commander,  and  for  bravery  under  fire. 
Many  instances  of  great  gallantry  on  the  part  of  the  enlisted  men  came 
under  my  notice,  but  so  long  a  period  of  time  elapsed  before  I  had  the 
opportunity  to  prepare  this  paper  that  many  of  them  have  escaped  my 
memory.  It  is  a  pleasure,  however,  to  specially  mention  Orderly-Sergeant 
John  H.  Huff,  Company  D,  whose  gallant  bearing  particularly  attracted  my 
attention  both  at  Lovejoy  and  Newnan.  The  Governor  of  the  State  has 
promoted  him  to  a  lieutenancy  upon  my  recommendation.  Sergeants  Peter 
H.  Seay,  R.  Hoffmaster,  Noah  Lantz,  William  Pulliam  (since  dead),  J.  D. 
Brown,  Francis  M.  Thomas,  Thomas  M.  Strange,  George  J.  Jenks,  James 
C.  Rucker,  Corporals  Joseph  Benson,  George  M.  Snead,  and  privates  L.  F. 
Deselin,  Morris  Lyons,  William  Mitchell  (killed)  Albert  G.  Briley,  John 
R.  Dowlin,  James  M.  Nye,  William  Wimberly,  D.  W.  Wood,  John  Paisley, 
William  H.  Brown,  W.  W.  Elliott,  C.  Mason,  George  Dalson,  Joseph  S. 
Johnson,  William  Hart,  J.  J.  Roberts,  William  Blood,  and  Joseph  B. 
Chamberlain,  deserve  special  mention  for  courage  arid  good  conduct. ' '  Of 
the  three  hundred  and  sixteen  officers  and  men  of  the  regiment  who  started 
on  the  McCook  raid,  but  twenty  returned  to  the  Union  lines.2 

2  CASUALTIES  IN  THE  EIGHTH  IOWA  CAVALRY  NEAR  ATLANTA,  FROM  July  28th  TO  July  Blst,  1864. 

Colonel  Joseph  B.  Dorr  (prisoner  wounded);  Major  John  H.  Isett  (prisoner);  Adjutant  II.  II. 
Belfield  (prisoner);  Quartermaster  Cornelius  Bonnet  (prisoner);  James  E.  Pritchard  (prisoner); 
Veterinary  Sergeant  John  Coddington  (prisoner) ;  First  Assistant  Surgeon  D.  II.  Warren,  who  devo 
tedly  remained  in  charge  of  our  wounded  prisoners;  Sergeant-Major  William  Christy  (prisoner 
wounded);  Quartermaster-Sergeant  J.  H.  Guthrie  (prisoner) ;  Second  Sergeant  James  M.  English 
(prisoner);  Hospital  Steward  Hiram  T.  Bird  (prisoner);  Bugler  Thomas  L.  Myers  (prisoner);  Cap 
tain  James  W.  Moore  (prisoner);  Lieutenant  John  B.  Loomis  (killed);  Lieutenant  George  M.  Det 
wiler  (prisoner) ;  Lieutenant  John  C.  Power  (prisoner) ;  Captain  E.  B.  Doane  (prisoner) ;  Lieutenant 
C.  F.  Anderson  (prisoner);  Lieutenant  George  W.  Pease  (prisoner,  wounded);  Lieutenant  Jackson 
Morrow  (missing);  Captain  P.  C.  Morhiser  (prisoner);  Lieutenant  W.  F.  McCarron  (prisoner);  Lieu 
tenant  Joseph  H.  Cobb  (killed);  Captain  M.  M.  Walden  (prisoner);  Lieutenant  W.  T.  Ogle  (priso 
ner);  Captain  Elliot  Shurtz  (prisoner,  wounded  severely);  Lieutenant  Andrew  F.  Tipton  (priso 
ner)  ;  Captain  John  Dance  (missing) ;  Lieutenant  James  Horton  (killed)  ;  Lieutenant  J.  T.  Haight 
(prisoner,  wounded) ;  Lieutenant  Henry  Moreland  (prisoner). 


EIGHTH     CAVALRY.  699 

The  unity  of  the  regiment  was  continued,  however,  and  concentrated  for 
new  equipment  and  mount  at  Kingston,  Georgia.  Major  A.  J.  Price  was 
at  first  in  command,  but  resigning  in  September  on  account  of  ill  health 
was  succeeded  by  Captain  Ephraim  Cummins,  Company  F,  Major  Hoot 
being  in  command  of  a  brigade  of  troops.  The  regiment  was  not  mounted, 
however,  at  Kingston,  but  moved  to  Nashville,  and  thence  to  Franklin, 

Cbmpany  A — Wounded,  Henry  Loranz.  1'risoners,  Sergeant  Peter  H.  Seay;  Corporal  J.  B.  Cham- 
lain;  Privates  I.  M.  Shelton,  John  N.  Miller,  Alfred  II.  Leath,  Francis  M.  Miller,  John  Edmosson, 
Isaac  Griffith,  William  Fisher,  Corporal  Thomas  J.  Miller ;  Joseph  Burson  ;  Sergeants  W.  W.  Russell, 
Joseph  Burt. 

Cbmpany  B — Prisoners,  Sergeant  S.  F.  Craig ;  Corporal  J.  C.  McDole ;  Privates  J.  M.  Argabright, 
JR.  L.  Burton,  T.  C.  Byrum,  B.  F.  Jourdan,  A.  J.  Graham,  A.  T.  Sackett,  Ransom  Walters,  S.  S. 
Walkup,  A.  Wilson,  A.  J.  Shears,  L.  D.  Reno,  J.  C.  Schooley,  H.  D.  Wolf,  N.  Gerson,  J.  Q.  Rhodes. 

Company  C— Prisoners,  Sergeants  F.  M.  Lyon,  George  A.  Junk;  Corporal  Cyrus  E.  Hunter;  Pri 
vates  George  S.  Day,  John  T.  Mefford,  Charles  Elliott,  John  Moore,  Hugh  Findlay,  James  H.  Welker, 
Alexander  Sample,  D.  H.  Wills,  George  Worthington,  William  M.  Patterson,  Eli  J.  Lancaster,  H. 
R.  Hayden;  Sergeant  John  F.  Watkins ;  Privates  S.  A.  Foster.  John  McFarland,  Perry  II.  Park, 
George  II.  Hoverstock,  Eli  Miller. 

Company  D — Wounded,  Lyman  Deselm,  William  Myers.  Prisoners,  Sergeants  John  II.  Huff,  Wil 
liam  Culver,  Joseph  B.  Downer,  John  F.  Reed,  Mordecai  John ;  Corporal  Theodore  W.  Blake ;  Pri 
vates  H.  C.  Andrews,  James  A.  Benson,  Silas  Beals,  Elijah  Conley,  Martin  Douglas,  Thomas  Gookin, 
James  R.  Fullerton,  Orlando  Kirkham,  George  W.  Miller,  Joel  E.  Miller,  G.  M.  D.  Morrison,  William 
Stults,  James  W.  Scott,  T.  W.  Tilford,  Robert  Vance,  Wesley  G.  S.  Templetou. 

Cbmpany  E — Wounded,  J.  G.  Moon,  W.  0.  Myers.  Prisoners,  Sergeant  J.  Hamilton;  Corporal  F. 
Schnittger;  Privates  A.  H.  Bohner,  N.  L.  Ives,  J.  H.  Reid,  II.  Allen,  A.  J.  Bennett,  G.  II.  Batchelor, 
J.  A.  Breach,  I.  J.  Clark,  S.  A.  Hilliard,  W.  H.  Hart,  J.  J.  Roberts,  G.  Smith;  Orderly  Sergeant  W. 
P.  Dunham;  Privates  J.  Cresap,  R.  C.  Johnston. 

Company  F— Prisoners,  Sergeants  J.  B.  Morrison,  A.  H.  Welch,  G.  M.  Bunton,  J.  P.  Evans,  R.  K. 
Johnson,  E.  D.  Stoner.  J.  H.  Rucher;  Corporals  W.  D.  Kinser,  C.  W.  Morrison,  J.  A.  J.  Thomas,  J. 
M.  Hays,  James  Hardy;  Privates  S.  Thompson,  J.  N.  Vance,  S.  W.  Allen,  Thomas  A.  Barker,  W. 
T.  Eggan,  E.  Johnson,  E.  C.  Kells,  J.  R.  N.  Monroe,  R.  W.  Porter  (wounded),  William  Rhoads,  F. 
Sterrett. 

Company  G — Killed,  WTilliam  Mitchell.  Prisoners,  Sergeants  R.  R.  Dawson,  E.  F.  Manning,  A. 
Maley;  Corporal  Washington  Tharp ;  Privates  Welcome  Martin,  Ralph  Livingston,  Joseph  Kerr, 
Riley  Miller,  M.  Wampach,  John  Kenney,  Michael  Goszman,  D.  S.  Reed,  Cebon  Williams. 

Company  H — Killed,  Private  W.  H.  Brown.  Wt/unded,  Jeff.  D.  Brown,  N.  Lantz,  George  M.  D. 
Snead.  Prisoners,  Privates  Charles  C.  Ross,  Martin  Reed,  T.  II.  B.  Snedeker,  H.  M.  Searcy,  J.  W. 
Wailes,  E.  B.  Brayman,  David  Barratt,  Daniel  Campbell,  Gaines  Corporan,  Isaiah  Corbin,  C.  Danford, 
William  F.  Everman,  W.  W.  Elliot,  Eli  Farusworth,  William  II.  Frost,  George  W.  Holshouser, 
W'ashington  Masters,  E.  R.  Morrison,  Thomas  Mullins,  George  J.  Reed,  John  McKern,  Benjamin 
Verder,  J.  J.  Walker,  John  W.  Fuell,  Joseph  Delay,  George  W.  Edgington,  John  Walter. 

Company  I— Killed,  Privates  Albert  G.  Briley,  John  R.  Dowlin,  James  M.  Nye.  Wounded,  Frank 
A.Thomas.  Prisoners,  Sergeants  C.  II.  Brock,  R.  W.  Brown;  Corporals  E.  A.  Morrill,  James  W. 
Parman;  Privates  B.  B.  Sutton,  W.  B.  Beeson,  Horace  S.  Beaman,  Cyrus  Garwood,  M.  V.  B.  Evans, 
John  Fitzpatrick,  Isaac  McPheeters,  John  Stickney,  David  Woods,  William  Rahe,  Herman  Wrindish, 
Frank  Ball,  William  Holt,  William  E.  Applegate,  Patrick  Davis,  William  Wimberly. 

Company  K — Prisoners,  Privates  Cyrus  F.  Macy,  Morris  Lyons,  Warren  H.  Kerr,  George  W.  Dol- 
een,  Rudolph  Hoffmaster,  Joseph  S.  Johnson,  V.  Stevens,  H.  D.  Gardner,  Henry  Haucus,  William 
T.  Wright,  John  Zimmerman. 

Company  L — Prisoners,  Sergeant  W.  M.  Lucas,  W.  Fuller,  D.  Netherrow,  II.  D.  Owen ;  Corporals 
M.  D.  Wescott,  J.  Clark  ;  Privates  G.  W.  Borden,  S.  K.  Mann,  G.  W.  Bodenhifer,  E.  Frost,  F.  Meeker, 
B.  F.  Reece,  B.  Trimble ;  Sergeants  N.  Doggett,  A.  Raser. 

Company  M—  Killed,  John  Paisley.  Prisoners,  Sergeants  Thomas  0.  Strang,  William  Blood,  Wil 
liam  H.  Pontzius,  D.  E.  Bishard,  Aaron  Pugh,  George  B.  Leonard,  William  W.  Derickson,  William 
A.  Arel,  Anderson  All  red,  James  D.  Thompson,  Scott  Mahon,  Martin  Hayes,  William  T.  Hudson, 
L.  R.  Foor,  James  W.  Davis,  Francis  T.  Paisley,  Benjamin  I.  Jones,  Wesley  Mountain. 


700  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

where  it  was  slowly  prepared  for  the  field.  The  mounted  portion  of  the 
command  took  part  in  the  pursuit  of  Wheeler,  and  afterwards  of  Forrest, 
and  met  the  enemy  several  times  during  these  operations  in  the  latter  part 
of  September  and  first  of  October.  Meanwhile,  part  of  the  officers  and 
men  captured  at  Newnan  were  exchanged.  Colonel  Dorr  resumed  com 
mand  of  the  regiment  in  the  early  part  of  November,  near  Florence,  Ala 
bama,  soon  after  the  rebel  Hood  began  his  march  of  invasion. 

The  cavalry,  it  is  well  known,  fell  back  slowly  before  the  enemy,  heavily 
skirmishing  with  him  at  times,  and  all  the  while  harassing  his  advance. 
In  a  sharp  skirmish  near  Columbia,  the  Eighth  lost  a  few  men  wounded 
and  captured.  During  the  battle  of  Franklin,  the  regiment  was  engaged 
on  the  Harpeth  above  the  town.  After  the  engagement,  the  Union  army 
continued  its  retreat  to  Nashville,  without  further  molestation.  Decem 
ber  2d,  Colonel  Dorr  crossed  the  Cumberland,  and  went  into  encampment 
at  Edgefield.3 

Having  supplied  his  dismounted  men  with  horses  from  the  fine  stock  of 
Kentucky,  Colonel  Dorr  recrossed  the  Cumberland  on  the  13th,  and  on  the 
15th  and  16th,  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Nashville,  but  the  regiment  was 
not  so  conspicuously  engaged  as  other  Iowa  troops.  The  command  joined 
in  the  pursuit  of  the  defeated  enemy,  and  captured  many  prisoners.  The 
last  day  of  the  year  the  regiment  reached  Waterloo,  Alabama,  and  the  pur 
suit  being  abandoned,  Colonel  Dorr  put  his  troopers  into  winter  quarters. 
"  In  summing  up  the  history  of  the  regiment  for  the  year  1864,"  says  the 
Colonel,  "I  may  be  permitted  to  say  that  it  has  seen  about  as  hard  and 
continuous  service  as  has  fallen  to  the  lot  of  any  command  in  the  same 
time.  It  has,  without  including  skirmishes,  which  are  many,  taken  part 
in  fifteen  engagements,  the  casualties  amounting  to  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
eight,  not  including  over  two  hundred  men  and  officers  taken  prisoners." 

The  troopers  built  for  themselves  fine  quarters  at  Waterloo,  and  there 
remained  most  of  the  time  till  they  joined  the  column  under  General  Wil 
son  which  made  the  famous  raid.  About  the  middle  of  January,  1865, 
however,  a  considerable  force  of  foot,  horse,  and  artillery,  made  a  heavy 
reconnoissance  westward  of  Waterloo  into  Mississippi.  The  column  pro 
ceeded  to  Corinth,  and  drove  thence  a  heavy  body  of  rebel  cavalry.  On 
this  expedition  Colonel  Dorr  had  command  of  a  cavalry  brigade,  consisting 

8  The  following  names  of  killed  and  wounded  during  the  pursuit  of  Wheeler  in  September  are 
taken  from  the  correspondence  of  the  Burlington  Hawk-Eye :  Killed,  Jacob  Peterson,  Lemuel  W. 
Bennett.  Wounded,  Captain  William  II.  Evans ;  Lieutenants  Rezin  S.  Hamilton,  Henry  C.  Pickerd, 
William  B.  McCoid,  Stephen  Lewis,  Franklin  D.  Hawley.  And  the  following  from  the  Dubuque 
Times,  being  those  reported  killed  and  wounded  at  the  engagement  on  Shoal  Creek,  October  30th  : 
Killed,  Sergeant  Christopher  R.  Kinkade,  Samuel  Sweaney,  William  H.  Swords,  William  K.  Jordan, 
Samuel  P.  Shaw.  Wounded,  Corporal  Stephen  A.  Dobson,  Samuel  Hodgson.  Albert  Branham, 
Lewis  W.  Ellis,  Virgil  H.  Wright.  Missing,  David  J.  Myers,  Charles  Rye,  Joseph  Overton,  who  was 
wounded. 


EIGHTH     CAVALRY.  701 

of  two  regiments  besides  his  own.  His  regiment  drove  the  enemy  from 
Corinth,  but  lost  only  one  man  in  the  affair — James  P.  Crow,  of  Company 
H,  who  was  slain.  The  command  returning,  reached  quarters  on  the  21st. 
From  this  time  until  the  llth  of  March,  the  Eighth  Cavalry  remained  in 
quiet.  It  then  marched  to  Chickasaw  and  prepared  for  the  Wilson  raid. 

On  this  remarkable  expedition,  the  Eighth  Iowa  Cavalry  moved  with 
Brigadier-General  John  T.  Croxton's  First  Brigade  of  General  Edward 
McCook's  First  Division.  There  were  in  the  brigade  three  other  regiments 
— the  Sixth  Kentucky  Cavalry,  Fourth  Kentucky  Mounted  Infantry,  and 
Second  Michigan  Cavalry.  On  the  first  important  stage  of  the  route,  that 
is  to  say,  from  Chickasaw  to  Elyton,  this  brigade  moved  with  the  main 
column.  At  Elyton,  on  the  last  of  March,  it  separated  therefrom,  and 
from  this  time  acted  independently,  so  that  its  operations  have  well  enough 
been  called  " CROXTON'S  RAID." 

When  Croxton  cut  loose  from  the  principal  command,  one  of  his  objects 
being  to  decoy  a  portion  of  Forrest's  force  from  Wilson's  front,  he  marched 
in  a  southwesterly  direction  toward  Tuscaloosa.  Being  attacked  by  Briga 
dier-General  Jackson  ("Red  Jackson,"  as  he  was  called)  he  withdrew  to 
the  northward,  thereby  persuading  the  rebel  commander  that  he  felt  him 
self  defeated.  That  general  forthwith  dispatched  the  following  elegant 
communication  to  the  commandant  of  the  post  of  Tuscaloosa : 

"  HEADQUARTERS  JACKSON'S  CAVALRY  DIVISION,        •» 
IN  THE  FIELD,  April  1st,  1865.— 4  P.  M.     J 

"CAPTAIN  HARDCASTLE,  COMMANDING  POST,  TUSCALOOSA,  ALABAMA  :— Captain :  I  attacked  and  dis 
persed  the  Yankee  General  Croxton's  force  to-day.  It  ia  scattered  in  the  mountains,  aud  cannot 
again  be  collected. 

"  Assure  the  fair  ladies  of  Tuscaloosa,  that  the  tread  of  the  vandal  hordes  shall  not  pollute  the 
streets  of  their  beautiful  city. 

"  Respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  W.  H.  JACKSON,  Brigadier-General  Commanding." 

Croxton,  entirely  ignorant  of  his  opponent's  heroics,  pushed  on  to  the 
Black  Warrior  River,  crossed  it  some  forty  miles  above  Tuscaloosa,  marched 
rapidly  down  its  western  bank  to  Northport,  opposite  the  city,  captured  the 
bridge,  routed  the  cadets  and  militia  on  the  other  side,  and  took  possession 
of  Tuscaloosa,  of  which  Colonel  Dorr  received  the  surrender.  The  city, 
when  Croxton  unexpectedly  drew  nigh,  was  in  a  state  of  joyful  festivity, 
caused  by  the  afore-quoted  communication  from  "  Red  Jackson. "  "But 
we  vandal  hordes,"  says  a  correspondent,  "polluted  the  streets  of  the 
beautiful  city  just  the  same. ' ' 

From  Tuscaloosa,  after  destroying  the  military  school,  iron  works,  facto 
ries,  a  number  of  guns,  and  other  property,  General  Croxton  recrossed  the 
river,  burned  the  bridge,  and  moved  westward  as  though  he  would  attack 
Columbus,  in  Mississippi.  Returning— for  Croxton  frequently  doubled  on 


702  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

his  track — he  recrossed  the  Warrior,  and  struck  boldly  forward  in  a  north 
easterly  direction.  He  was  met  by  Wirt  Adams'  Cavalry,  but  brushing 
them  out  of  his  way  with  sharp  skirmishing,  he  kept  on  his  course  to  Arka- 
delphia,  north  of  the  Sipsey  branch  of  the  Warrior  River.  Thence  he 
turned  toward  the  southeast,  and  at  Mt.  Pinson  heard  that  Wilson  had  cap 
tured  Montgomery.  He  continued  his  march  on  Talladega.  Before  reach 
ing  that  city,  he  was  met  by  Gen.  B.  J.  Hill,  with  a  considerable  force  of 
cavalry.  Croxton  promptly  charged  them,  put  them  to  flight,  and  moved 
on  to  the  city.  Having  destroyed  large  quantities  of  property  and  stores 
there,  he  moved  on  by  Blue  Mountain,  Oxford,  Carrollton  and  Newnan  to 
Forsyth,  Georgia,  arriving  on  the  29th,  having  marched  more  than  six 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  over  a  mountainous  country,  swam  four  large  rivers, 
destroyed  five  large  iron-works,  numerous  factories  and  mills,  captured  five 
hundred  prisoners  and  many  small  arms,  all  done  with  a  loss  of  about  one 
hundred  and  seventy  men,  most  of  whom  were  captured  while  foraging. 
May  1st,  Croxton  joined  the  main  body  at  Macon.  The  loss  of  the  Eighth 
Cavalry  on  this  raid  was  stated  by  a  correspondent  of  the  Dubuque  Times 
to  have  been  six  killed,  seven  wounded,  and  a  few  missing.  No  regiment 
in  the  command  did  more  work  or  more  fighting. 

With  the  Croxton  raid  the  career  of  the  Eighth  Iowa  Cavalry  in  the  face 
of  the  enemy  closed.  That  raid  was,  in  fact,  the  closing  operation  of  the 
war  in  the  south.  Peace  had  been  virtually  inaugurated  before  the  troop 
ers  reached  Forsyth.  The  regiment  remained,  however,  at  Macon  about 
three  months,  in  the  performance  of  the  duties  of  pacification. 

On  the  28th  of  May,  Colonel  Dorr,  who  had  for  some  time  been  suffering 
with  rheumatism,  was  attacked  by  a  congestive  chill.  In  a  few  hours  he 
was  dead.  The  suddenness  with  which  the  dread  destroyer  brought  his 
victim  low  was  appalling  to  the  command,  with  whom  the  Colonel  was  an 
almost  universal  favorite.  Among  all  the  gallant  men  whom  Iowa  sent 
into  the  field,  there  were  but  few  who  were  the  superiors  of  Colonel  Joseph 
B.  Dorr  in  soldierly  qualities,  and  none  who  surpassed  him  in  intelligence, 
in  energy,  in  patriotic  ardor.  He  had  long  been  a  leading  member  of  the 
democratic  party,  and  its  most  vigorous  editor,  unless  an  exception  be  made 
of  Mr.  Dennis  A.  Mahony,  of  Dubuque,  or  Doctor  Harvey,  of  Burlington. 
Both  Dorr  and  Harvey,  when  the  war  was  forced  upon  the  country,  stood 
manfully  by  the  constituted  authorities.  Dorr  told  the  Governor  that  he 
might  place  him  where  he  thought  best,  and  Mr.  Kirkwood  commissioned 
him  quartermaster  of  the  Twelfth  Infantry.  The  sturdy  ex-editor  must 
have  thought  this  not  the  best  sort  of  appreciation  in  the  world,  but  he  ac 
cepted  the  commission,  performed  his  duties  well,  fought  at  Shiloh,  and 
was  captured.  He  escaped  from  rebel  imprisonment.  We  have  seen  how 
quickly  he  raised  the  Eighth  Cavalry,  and  how  finely  he  led  it  through  its 


EIGHTH      CAVALRY.  703 

career  of  great  glory  and  usefulness.  lie  lived  to  see  the  great  victory  of 
our  arms,  and  died  in  the  midst  of  the  general  joy,  willing  to  give  the 
greatest  gift  that  any  man  can  offer  upon  the  altar  of  his  country — his  life. 
His  ponderous  mind,  his  greatness  of  heart,  overflowing  evermore  with  the 
milk  of  human  kindness,  his  unswerving  adherence  to  principle,  his  down 
right  independence,  were  known  and  read  of  all  men  with  whom  he  ever 
came  in  contact.  His  remains  were  taken  to  Dubuque  by  his  trusted 
friend,  Quartermaster  Bennett,  and  were  consigned  to  their  last  resting- 
place  by  thousands  of  sorrowful  friends. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Earner  at  once  took  command  of  the  regiment,  and 
retained  it  during  the  remaining  period  of  its  service,  and  was  soon  pro 
moted  Colonel.  Near  the  close  of  July,  orders  came  commanding  the  re 
giment  to  prepare  for  discharge.  They  were  joyfully  obeyed,  and  in  the 
following  month  the  command,  having  been  mustered  out  at  Macon  on  the 
13th,  proceeded  to  Iowa  for  final  pay  and  disbandment.  The  term  of  ser 
vice  of  this  regiment  was  shorter  than  that  of  any  of  our  troops  who  were 
mustered  for  "three  years,  or  during  the  war."  But  it  was  a  period 
crowded  full  of  great  events  in  history,  to  bring  about  which  to  the  glory 
of  our  arms  and  our  country,  but  few,  if  any  regiments  of  horse,  did  more 
or  suffered  more  than  the  Eighth  Iowa  Cavalry.4 

*  There  were  less  changes  among  the  officers  of  the  Eighth  Cavalry  than  in  most  of  our  regi 
ments.  The  roster  of  the  regiment  at  muster  out  is  thus  given  by  the  Clinton  Herald :  Colonel 
Horatio  G.  Earner;  Lieutenant-Colonel  Elliot  Shurtz;  Majors  Richard  Root,  James  W.  Moore; 
Adjutant  Henry  H.  Belfield;  Quartermaster  Cornelius  Bennett;  Commissary  James  E.  Pritchard; 
Surgeon  Daniel  H.  Warren;  Assistant  Surgeon  Joseph  P.  Smith.  Company  A — Captain  George 
W.  Burns  ;  Lieutenants  Reuben  W.  Marvin,  Charles  Linderman.  Company  B — Lieutenant  John  T. 
Ware.  Company  C — Captain  George  M.  Detwiler;  Lieutenant  John  F.  Watkins.  Company  D — 
Captain  William  Christy;  Lieutenant  John  H.  Huff.  Company  E — Lieutenant -Charles  F.  Ander 
son.  Company  F—  Captain  Jackson  Morrow;  Lieutenants  John  B.  Morrison,  Charles  R.Rogers. 
Company  G — Captain  Philip  C.  Morhiser;  Lieutenant  William  Wallace.  Company  H—  Captain 
William  T.  Ogle ;  Lieutenants  J.  D.  Brown,  Jonathan  Harris.  Company  /—Lieutenant  Josiah  J. 
Cleaver.  Company  /iT— Captain  John  Dance;  Lieutenant  John  F.  Robertson.  Company  L — Captain 
Aaron  Pinney;  Lieutenant  Charles  A.  Crawford.  Company  M — Captain  Henry  Moreland;  Lieuten 
ants  Thomas  B.  Morris,  Eli  Keeler. 


CHAPTER  XLYII. 

ARTILLERY. 

FOUR  BATTERIES  OF  LIGHT  ARTILLERY  ORGANIZED  IN  THE  STATE— ACCOUNT  OF 
THEIR  ORGANIZATION-BRIEF  MENTION  OF  THEIR  HISTORY— ROSTER  OF  THEIR 
OFFICERS.  • 

IOWA  furnished  four  batteries  to  the  artillery  branch  of  the  service,  and 
three  of  them  were  formed  in  the  early  part  of  the  war,  and  performed 
distinguished  services  in  not  a  few  of  the  most  important  campaigns,  from 
early  in  1862  till  the  final  defeat  of  the  insurgents.  These  have  already 
had  frequent  mention  in  this  work,  and  it  will  not  be  necessary,  therefore, 
to  dwell  at  length  upon  their  history  here. 

The  First  ^Battery  was  enrolled  in  different  parts  of  the  State,  soon  after 
the  war  commenced,  and  was  mustered  into  the  service  of  the  United  States 
at  Burlington  about  the  middle  of  August,  1861.  It  was  distinguished  in 
the  Campaigns  of  Pea  Ridge,  Vicksburg,  and  Atlanta.  Captain  Harry 
Griffiths,  who  had  won  high  honors  as  a  captain  in  our  Fourth  Infantry, 
long  commanded  the  battery,  which  from  Pea  Ridge  to  Atlanta,  won  the 
kind  mention  of  generals,  and  the  admiration  of  the  armies  with  which  it 
served. 

The  Second  Battery,  often  called  "Spoor's  Battery"  in  official  reports, 
and  accounts  of  campaigns,  was  enrolled  in  the  counties  of  Polk,  Dallas, 
Harrison,  Fremont,  and  Pottawattamie,  and  organized  at  Council  Bluffs 
about  the  time  the  First  was  organized  at  Burlington.  It  was  among  the 
most  distinguished  batteries  in  the  Campaigns  of  Vicksburg,  Atlanta,  and 
Nashville. 

The  Third  Battery,  more  generally  known,  perhaps,  as  the  "Dubuque 
Battery,"  was  organized  at  the  city  of  Dubuque  in  the  month  of  August, 
1861.  Captain  M.  M.  Hayden,  a  noted  democratic  politician,  was  in  com 
mand.  The  battery,  as  was  the  case  with  the  First,  distinguished  itself  at 
Pea  Ridge.  Afterwards,  its  principal  battle  was  that  of  Helena,  where  it 
won  high  praise.  It  was  subsequently  engaged  in  the  campaigns  of 
Arkansas. 

Our  Fourth  Battery  was  not  organized  till  the  latter  part  of  November. 
704 


ARTILLERY.  705 

1863 — at  Davenport.  Its  members  came  from  many  parts  of  the  State. 
It  had  many  in  its  ranks  who  had  previously  served,  and  was  a  fine  com 
mand  in  all  respects,  but  it  did  not  have  the  good  fortune  to  particularly 
distinguish  itself  in  the  field.  Its  theatre  of  operations  for  the  most  part 
was  in  Louisiana.1 

i  The  officers  of  the  First  Battery,  as  shown  by  the  Adjutant-General's  Reports,  were  :  Captains — 
Charles  H.  Fletcher,  J.  A.  Jones,  H.  H.  Griffiths,  William  H.  Gay;  Lieutenants— Virgil  J.  David, 
0.  W.  Gam  bell,  James  M.  Williams,  William  H.  Gay,  Abram  Harback,  A.  S.  Curtis,  Thomas  J.  Ijams, 
S.  H.  Titus,  D.  J.  De  Long. 

SECOND  BATTERY. — Captains — Nelson  T.  Spoor,  Joseph  R.  Reed;  Lieutenants — Joseph  R.  Reed, 
Daniel  Walling,  Charles  T.  Reed,  John  W.  Coons,  John  Burke. 

THIRD  BATTERY. — Captains — Mortimer  M.  Hayden,  Melville  C.  Wright;  Lieutenants — William 
H.  McClure,  Melville  C.  Wright,  Otis  G.  Day,  William  M.  Crozier,  Jerome  Bradley,  0.  H.  Lyon, 
Daniel  W.  Lee,  J.  J.  Dengl,  H.  H.  Weaver,  William  H.  Gilford. 

FOURTH  BATTERY.— Captain  Philip  H.  Goode;  Lieutenants— James  H.  Beatty,  Francis  W.  Mc- 
Clellan,  John  H.  Alexander,  Francis  M.  Ellsworth,  Joseph  Brown. 


CHAPTER    XLVIII. 

THE  IOWA  REGIMENT  OF  COLORED  TROOPS. 

ORGANIZATION  OP  THE  REGIMENT  AT   KEOKUK— ROSTER  OF  ITS  OFFICERS— BRIEF 
MENTION  OF  ITS   SERVICES. 

THERE  were  only  about  one  thousand  persons  of  African  descent  in 
Iowa,  according  to  the  census  of  1860.  The  rebellion  added,  no  doubt, 
considerably  to  our  colored  population ;  but  it  is  probably  true  that  when 
the  policy  of  employing  negro  troops  in  the  army  was  adopted  by  the 
government,  there  were  less  than  two  thousand  persons  of  all  ages  in  Iowa 
having  a  drop  of  African  blood  in  their  veins.  It  is  most  creditable, 
therefore,  to  the  patriotism  of  the  men  of  the  oppressed  race  in  our  State, 
that  they  imitated  the  example  of  their  brethren  elsewhere,  and  liberally 
contributed  of  their  number  to  the  ranks  of  the  Union  army.  The  Sixtieth 
regiment  of  United  States  Colored  Troops,  was  formed  very  largely,  though 
not  entirely,  by  men  of  Iowa.  Six  companies  of  this  regiment  went  into 
regimental  rendezvous  at  Keokuk,  and  were  there  mustered  into  the  service 
of  the  United  States,  October  13th,  1863.  The  four  companies  which 
completed  the  regiment  entered  the  service,  at  St.  Louis,  at  different  times 
during  the  two  following  months.  The  regiment,  when  fully  organized, 
was  about  nine  hundred  strong.1 

The  regiment  was  not  called  upon  to  fight,  but  for  about  a  year  and 
a-half  it  performed  valuable  guard  and  garrison  duties  at  St.  Louis  and 
below  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  It  did  what  was  assigned  it  to  do 
faithfully  and  well.  When  it  returned  to  Iowa  for  discharge,  it  was  most 
kindly  received  by  the  city  of  Davenport,  and  the  Gazette  spoke  of  the 

1  These  were  the  officers:  Colonel,  John  G.  Hudson;  Lieutenant-Colonel,  Milton  F.  Collins; 
Major,  John  L.  Murphy;  Adjutant,  Theodore  W.Pratt;  Quartermaster,  William  McQueen;  Sur 
geon,  Freeman  Knowles;  Chaplain,  James  H.  Pile.  Captains  John  A.  Hart,  G.  A.  A.  Deane,  Eli 
Ramsey,  William  A.  Stewart,  George  F.  Work,  Henry  C.  Brown,  Henry  Sweeney.  First  Lieuten 
ants  Joseph  A.  Goodnough,  Moses  L.  Bradley,  P.  H.  Young,  Jonathan  Anthony,  G.  H.  Brock.  C.  E. 
Hoffman.  Second  Lieutenants  William  H.  Williams,  Charles  S.  Hussey,  William  A.  E.  Tisdale, 
William  A.  Bond,  Alexander  F.  Rice,  Perry  A.  Tietsort,  Isaac  Hester,  Hugh  Brady.  These  names 
are  taken  from  the  Adjutant-General's  Report  for  1864.  The  list  is  not  full. 
706 


THE  IOWA  REGIMENT  OF  COLORED  TROOPS.  707 

fine  soldierly  appearance  and  the  intelligence  of  the  men  in  words  of  high 
praise.  They  addressed  a  memorial  to  the  people  of  the  State  upon  the 
subject  of  equal  political  rights,  which  was  admirable  in  tone,  and  at  least 
equal  in  literary  merit  to  any  effusion  of  the  present  executive  of  the 
United  States,  but  of  its  merits  in  other  respects  opinions  would  widely 
differ. 


CHAPTER    XLIX. 

NINTH  CAVALRY. 

THE  LAST  THREE-YEARS'  REGIMENT  RECRUITED  IN  IOWA— RESUME  OF  THE  STATE'S 
CONTRIBUTIONS  TO  THE  ARMIES  OF  THE  UNION— ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  NINTH 
CAVALRY  AT  DAVENPORT  LATE  IN  THE  YEAR  1863— ITS  FIELD  OF  OPERATIONS 
IN  THE  STATE  OF  ARKANSAS. 

THE  Ninth  Iowa  Cavalry,  Colonel  Matthew  M.  Trumbull,  was  the  last 
of  the  three-years'  regiments  recruited  in  the  State.  Up  to  the  time  of  its 
organization,  the  State  had  sent  into  the  field  one  regiment  of  three  months' 
men,  thirty-nine  regiments  of  three  years'  men,  infantry  volunteers,  eight 
regiments  of  cavalry,  and  four  batteries  of  light  artillery,  all  of  which  were 
distinctively  known  as  Iowa  troops,  and,  except  the  Fifth  Cavalry,  composed 
almost  entirely  of  Iowa  citizens.  The  State  had  also  contributed  a  large 
number  of  men  and  many  officers  to  regiments  in  Missouri,  Nebraska, 
Kansas,  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  and  Minnesota,  and  out  of  a  population  of  less 
than  a  thousand  arms-bearing  colored  citizens,  had  raised  nearly  a  whole 
regiment  of  African  troops.  Iowa  had  not  been  satisfied  with  merely  doing 
her  duty  under  the  law.  She  had  of  her  patriotic  generosity  done  more 
than  was  required.  The  Seventeenth,  Eighteenth,  and  Thirty-seventh 
regiments  of  Infantry,  the  Sixth,  Seventh,  and  Eighth  regiments  of  cavalry, 
had  all  been  enrolled,  not  to  meet  any  call  from  the  general  government, 
but  to  enable  citizens  of  the  State  to  enlist  under  the  banners  of  the  Union, 
in  excess  of  all  demands  which  could  lawfully  be  made.  In  this  way  also 
was  the  Ninth  Cavalry  enrolled,  making  seven  full  regiments  to  be  placed 
to  the  generosity  of  the  State. 

But  besides  the  troops  thus  regularly  enrolled  within  the  State,  and 
those  who  formed  part  of  regiments  in  neighboring  States,  there  were  not  a 
few  of  our  citizens  in  the  regular  army,  in  the  different  staff  departments 
of  the  volunteer  army,  and  in  commands  belonging  to  far  distant  States. 
Captain  John  Gr.  Read,  of  the  Twelfth  Regular  Infantry,  slain  at  the  last 
Battle  of  Bull  Run,  was  one  of  the  many  "  railroad  men"  of  Iowa  who  did 
gallant  service  in  the  army.  Adjutant  J.  Ross  Winterbotham,  of  Corcoran' s 
distinguished  One  Hundred  and  Fifty-fifth  New  York  regiment,  was  as  gallant 

708 


NINTH      CAVALRY.  709 

an  officer  as  served  in  that  command.  He  is  a  citizen  of  Iowa,  son  of  Mr. 
Winterbotham,  of  Fort  Madison,  well  known  among  our  prominent  business 
men  and  politicians.  I  have  an  autograph  letter  from  Mrs.  Ann  S.  Ste 
phens,  the  celebrated  writer,  in  which,  speaking  of  this  officer,  she  says : 
"  But  I  will  say  here,  a  braver,  more  patriotic,  or  better  young  man  never 
served  or  fought.  He  was  a  universal  favorite  in  his  regiment,  and  no 
soldier  ever  had  higher  testimonials  than  are  on  file  for  him  at  the  War 
Department."  He  was  twice  severely  wounded.  Brevet  Colonel  C.  W. 
Asmussen,  at  this  writing  assistant  special  provost  marshal  at  the  War  De 
partment,  was  distinguished  in  the  war.  A  patriot  of  Hungary,  he  first 
served,  during  the  war  of  the  Union,  in  the  Fifth  Missouri  Cavalry  ;  then 
on  the  staff  of  General  Sigel,  and  afterwards  as  inspector  general,  first  of 
the  Eleventh,  and  next  of  the  Twentieth  Corps.  In  this  position,  he  served 
under  Howard,  Hooker,  Slocum,  Williams,  and  Mower.  It  is  due  to  this 
officer,  a  citizen  of  Davenport,  Iowa,  to  state  that  he  probably  did  more 
than  any  other  one  man  in  gaining  the  great  victory  of  Gettysburg.  It  is 
well  known  that  "  Cemetery  Hill"  was  the  key  to  the  position,  and  that 
fresh  troops  there  posted  stayed  the  retreat  of  our  army,  checked,  and  at 
last  repulsed  the  enemy.  Colonel  Asmussen  selected  that  position,  and 
persuaded  Howard  to  leave  a  heavy  force  there.  It  may  have  been  provi 
dential,  but  it  was  that  very  force  on  Cemetery  Hill  which  gave  to  the 
Union  arms  the  splendid  victory.  In  according  this  great  praise  to  Colonel 
Asmussen,  I  do  not  think  of  detracting  from  the  just  fame  of  Howard,  no 
more  distinguished  as  a  soldier  of  genius  than  as  a  Christian  gentleman. 
No  general  of  the  Union  army  is  entitled  to  more  unmixed  praise  than  he, 
and  his  magnanimous  nature  will  rejoice  that  I  have  thus  made  known  the 
fact  that  Asmussen  was  his  right  arm  at  Gettysburg. 

And  in  this  connexion,  I  may  properly  state  that  there  was  a  company  of 
Iowa  Cavalry,  attached  to  the  Eleventh  Pennsylvania,  which  served  with 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  in  all  its  memorable  campaigns.  This  command 
was  distinguished  during  the  war.  The  company  from  Iowa  was  recruited 
in  the  Fifth  Congressional  District — Captain  Franklin  A.  Stratton,  Lieute 
nants  George  S.  Ringland  and  George  W.  Bassett,  the  last  now  a  member 
of  the  State  Senate  and  one  of  the  most  thoughtful,  upright,  and  useful 
of  our  public  men.  I  have  already  noted  the  services  of  the  lamented 
Drummond  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  It  was  in  that  army  that  Colonel 
George  B.  Corkhill  first  served.  He  was  long  in  the  military  family  of  the 
lamented  Sedgwick,  one  of  our  best  and  bravest  generals,  and  witnessed  all 
the  noted  campaigns  of  the  Potomac  Army  till  about  the  time  of  the  gene 
ral's  death,  when  he  was  appointed  paymaster.  In  the  pay  department, 
by  the  way,  some  of  the  most  eminent  citizens  of  Iowa  served — Major 
Hoyt  Sherman,  one  of  our  best  and  wealthiest  citizens,  and  brother  of  the 


710  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

great  general ;  Major  William  Penn  Clarke,  a  noted  politician  of  the  radical 
school,  a  prominent  lawyer  and  writer,  and  one  of  the  most  generous  of 
men ;  Lieutenant-Colonel  Thaddeus  H.  Stanton,  the  ablest  writer  of  our 
many  newspaper  men  who  went  into  the  army ;  Major  Jesse  Bowen ;  Major 
Saunders,  of  Davenport ;  Major  Joseph  B.  Young,  of  Linn — these  and 
other  men  of  note  from  Iowa  gratified  our  troops  with  many  greenbacks. 
Nor  should  I  omit  to  state  that  the  Honorable  Hiram  Price,  the  first  State 
paymaster,  by  his  own  personal  credit  obtained  the  funds  for  the  payment 
of  a  large  sum  due  the  regiments  first  organized,  and  paid  it  to  the  troops 
in  the  field.  The  Honorable  Elijah  Sells,  too,  long  our  Secretary  of  State, 
served  in  the  pay  department,  both  of  the  army  and  navy.  There  was  no 
finer  exhibition  of  patriotism  shown  in  the  war  than  by  this  man's  family. 
His  son  William  served  in  the  navy,  his  son  David  in  the  army,  and  became 
the  colonel  of  a  noted  regiment  of  colored  troops,  the  colonel's  brother 
George  having  a  captain's  commission  in  the  same  command.  Mr.  Sells' 
youngest  son  also  volunteered,  and  was  highly  indignant  because  he  was 
rejected  on  account  of  youth.  There  was  scarcely  a  prominent  public  man 
in  Iowa,  having  sons  old  enough  to  bear  arms,  whose  children  did  not 
serve,  and  I  believe  all  the  sons  of  Ex-governor  Lowe  and  of  Chief  Justice 
Wright  were  in  the  army,  and  I  am  sure  that  one  of  the  sons  of  the  latter 
fought  and  suffered  bravely  in  the  cause.  The  Honorable  M.  L.  McPherson, 
one  of  our  most  distinguished  orators  and  legislators,  served  during  the 
whole  war  in  the  subsistence  department.  Colonel  David  Remick,  chief 
commissary  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  through  its  most  noted  campaigns, 
is  a  citizen  of  Iowa.  He  was  greatly  aided  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  C.  C. 
Carpenter,  a  citizen  of  Fort  Dodge.  Captain  Samuel  L.  Taggart,  on  the 
staff  of  Major-General  Howard,  is  an  lowan.  Brigadier-General  Samuel 
Ross,  .wounded  at  Chancellorsville,  then  the  colonel  of  a  Connecticut  regi 
ment,  entered  the  service  at  Dubuque,  of  which  place  he  was  a  citizen. 
But  this  ' '  mere  muster-roll  of  names' '  might  be  extended  almost  indefinitely. 
There  was  no  branch  of  the  service,  there  was  no  army,  which,  during  the 
war  of  the  Union  became  distinguished,  in  which  there  were  not  citizens 
of  the  State  of  Iowa. 

The  Davenport  Gazette,  upon  the  subject  of  Iowa's  patriotism  during 
the  war  had  the  following  just  and  truthful  article : 

"  Going  the  rounds  of  the  press  we  notice  statements  of  the  number  of 
men  furnished  by  a  number  of  States  during  the  war.  In  the  cases  of 
Indiana  and  Ohio  the  summing  up  includes  not  only  the  men  sent  to  the 
front,  but  those  called  upon  for  temporary  purposes :  for  the  protection  of 
the  State  and  adjoining  States  from  raids,  to  preserve  the  internal  peace  of 
the  State,  etc.  John  Morgan's  raid  was  rendered  abortive  by  special  levies, 
so  also  the  premeditated  attack  on  Cincinnati.  The  men  who  assisted  at 


NINTH     CAVALRY.  711 

these  important  junctures  are  counted  as  so  many  furnished  to  the  war ; 
and  we  are  aware  of  no  sound  reason  why  they  should  not  be.  For  Iowa 
we  propose  to  make  the  same  summing  up  : 

"In  1861,  when  northern  Missouri  was  overrun  by  predatory  bands,  and 
the  loyal  citizens  were  being  driven  from  their  homes  by  hundreds  and  suf 
fering  in  life,  person  and  estate,  the  border  Iowa  yeomanry,  unskilled  in 
anything  pertaining  to  war,  responded  to  the  Macedonian  cry  of  their 
neighbors  and  rushed  over  to  help  them.  Colonel  John  Edwards  (now 
Brigadier-General)  states  the  number  of  Iowa  men  who  helped  the  Missou- 
rians  in  that  early  distress,  at  fifteen  hundred.  They  were  armed  with  old 
fowling-pieces  and  antiquated  militia  gear — but  they  proved  effective 
nevertheless,  their  hearts  being  in  the  right  place. 

"  In  the  same  year  three  expeditions  were  sent  out  to  beat  back  the  Claib. 
Jackson  bushwhackers  who  were  advancing  on  Iowa,  driving  out  the  Union 
men  of  their  own  State  on  the  way.  These  expeditions  were  severally  un 
der  command  of  Colonels  Edwards,  Morledge,  and  Dodge  (now  Major- 
General),  and  numbered  about  thirteen  hundred  men.  They  performed 
valuable  service  in  Missouri.  The  column  under  Colonel  Edwards  operated 
in  the  neighborhood  of  St.  Joseph  for  some  time,  and  held  that  place  to 
loyalty  until  regular  volunteer  troops  came  forward  to  relieve  them. 

"  On  the  northern  border,  during  the  same  year,  the  Sioux  City  cavalry, 
ninety-three  men,  and  Captain  Tripp's  company,  about  fifty  men,  were  em 
ployed  to  protect  the  borders  against  the  Indians. 

"The  General  Assembly  at  the  extra  session,  1862,  almost  unanimously 
directed  the  organization  of  the  Northern  and  Southern  Border  Brigades, 
the  one  for  the  protection  of  the  State  against  guerrilla  bands  on  the  South 
along  the  entire  border,  the  other  to  keep  in  check  the  disaffected  Indians 
intent  on  mischief  in  the  northwest.  There  were  five  companies  of  the 
Northern  Border  Brigade,  two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  and  ten  companies 
of  the  Southern  Border  Brigade,  seven  hundred  and  ninety-four  men,  judi 
ciously  stationed  at  exposed  points.  For  two  years  the  State  at  her  own 
expense  supported  these  organizations.  To  be  sure,  the  amount  of  money 
expended  in  this  behalf  was  large,  but  in  consideration  of  the  great  service 
done,  that  of  staying  murder,  rapine,  and  arson,  threatening  to  stalk 
through  the  State,  it  was  inconsiderable. 

' '  The  next  difficulty  wherein  troops  were  called  into  requisition  by  the 
authorities  of  the  State  was  the  celebrated  Tally  treason  in  Keokuk  county. 
To  suppress  this,  eleven  companies  of  State  militia  were  called  out,  and 
the  expense  borne  by  the  State.  The  number  of  men  on  duty  was  perhaps 
about  eight  hundred.  Subsequently  were  the  disturbances  in  Poweshiek 
and  Davies  counties.  The  State  troops  employed  in  the  first  were  paid  by 
the  United  States,  those  employed  in  the  latter  by  the  State — estimated 


712  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

number  of  militia  employed,  five  hundred.  The  State  sent  to  the  field 
thirty-nine  regiments  of  Infantry,  nine  of  Cavalry,  and  four  batteries  of 
Artillery — all  three  years'  men,  and  the  First,  Forty-fourth,  Forty-fifth, 
Forty-sixth,  Forty-seventh,  and  Forty-eighth  regiments  of  infantry,  three 
months'  men. 

"  General  Baker's  report  up  to  January  1st,  1865,  sums  up  as  follows : 

Total  enlistments  up  to  January  1,  1864 57,708 

Reenlisted  veterans 7,202 

Additional  enlistments 6,664 

One-hundred-days' -men 3,901 

75,475 

"  This  does  not  include  Iowa  men  who  veteranized  in  regiments  of  other 
States,  nor  those  who  in  1864  enlisted  in  other  States ;  nor  does  it  include 
the  large  number  of  men  who  went  from  Iowa  to  the  regiments  of  Missouri, 
Nebraska,  Illinois,  etc.  It  is  well  known  that  large  numbers  of  Germans 
went  to  Missouri  at  an  early  period  of  the  war  and  served  in  the  regiments 
of  that  State.  We  place  the  estimate  of  this  class  very  low  when  we  call  it 
fifteen  hundred. 

"  The  enlistments  from  Iowa  since  the  1st  of  January  last  up  to  August, 
as  we  learn  from  Colonel  Duncan,  Acting  Assistant  Provost  Marshal- 
General  of  the  State,  is  eight  hundred  and  twelve. 
Summing  up  we  find  as  follows : 

Engaged  in  service  on  the  Border,  1861 2,943 

Northern  and  Southern  Brigades,  1862 1,044 

Other  service  in  State 1,300 

Enlisted  in  other  States 1,500 

Sent  to  the  field  and  credits  allowed  by  War  Department 76,287 

Total 83,074 

"The  total  population  of  Iowa,  according  to  the  census  of  1860,  was 
674,913. 

"There  are  your  figures.  Cipher  up  a  better  record  anybody  in  any 
State  or  nation,  if  you  can." 

It  was  in  view  of  the  facts  that  Iowa  had  more  than  done  her  duty 
during  the  war,  and  that  without  incurring  any  considerable  indebtedness, 
and  that  her  troops  had  fought  most  gallantly  on  nearly  every  battle-field, 
that  the  Advertiser  newspaper  of  Newark,  New  Jersey,  and  other  promi 
nent  journals  called  our  State  the  "  Model  State  of  the  Republic." 

I  may  now  return  to  the  regiment  whose  troops  closed  the  generous 
record  of  our  long-term  enlistments.  The  Ninth  Cavalry  was  organized  at 
Davenport,  on  the  last  day  of  November,  1863,  and  consisted  of  nearly 


NINTH     CAVALKY.  713 

twelve  hundred  officers  and  men,  many  of  whom  had  served  in  other  re 
giments.  Colonel  Matthew  M.  Trumbull,  Lieutenant-Colonel  John  P. 
Knight,  had  been  distinguished  in  our  Third  Infantry ;  Major  Edgar  T. 
Ensign  was  among  the  most  gallant  of  the  "  bravest  of  the  brave"  at  Don- 
elson,  where  he  fought  with  the  Second ;  Major  William  Haddock  had 
gained  a  fine  reputation  in  our  Twelfth  regiment.  A  majority  of  the  line 
officers,  and  of  the  non-commissioned  officers  had  seen  considerable  service, 
so  that  Colonel  Trumbull  was  able  to  take  the  field  very  soon  after  his  regi 
ment  was  organized,  with  one  of  the  finest  commands  which  left  our  State. 
The  field  of  the  regiment's  operations  was  in  the  State  of  Arkansas, 
where  it  performed  heavy  scouting,  guard,  and  garrison  duties,  but  the 
war  closed  before  the  regiment  had  an  opportunity  to  show  its  mettle  in  a 
pitched  battle,  but  detachments  of  the  command,  in  skirmishes  with  detach 
ments  of  the  enemy's  forces,  and  in  affairs  with  guerrilla-men,  gave  evi 
dence  that  the  officers  and  men  of  the  Iowa  Ninth  Cavalry  were  not  behind 
their  comrades  of  other  regiments  sent  into  the  field  by  the  most  patriotic 
of  all  the  patriotic  States.1 

1  The  Adjutant-General's  Reports  show  the  following  officers  in  the  Ninth  Cavalry:  Colonel, 
Matthew  M.  Trumbull;  Lieutenant-Colonel,  John  P.  Knight;  Majors,  Edgar  T.  Ensign,  Willis  Druru- 
mond,  William  Haddock,  John  Wayne;  Adjutants,  John  Wayne,  Ward  B.  Sherman;  Surgeon,  Jesse 
Wasson ;  Assistant  Surgeons,  John  Bell,  Edward  Kirkup ;  Quartermasters,  Jesse  J.  Grant,  Benjamin 
F.  Cheney;  Commissaries,  Ward  B.  Sherman,  George  W.  Tilford;  Chaplain,  Reverend  James  W. 
Larimore.  Captains,  John  G.  Reed,  John  Flick,  John  L.  Young,  James  F.  McCutchan,  George  M. 
Dean,  Benjamin  Coutal,  S.  B.  Cunningham,  Richard  W.  Montague,  Calvin  R.  Johnson,  Cyrus  C. 
Bitner,  Joseph  H.  Shawhan,  Orlando  C.  Howe,  John  Pumroy,  B.  C.  P.  Armstrong.  Lieutenants, 
Samuel  Pollock,  Omer  Robinson,  Benjamin  F.  Jacobs,  Hugh  T.  Holmes,  Thomas  J.  Reigart,  William 
H.  Wood,  Charles  A.  Frick,  John  F.  Waters,  Mark  Gilbert,  Henry  W.  Harmon,  Albert  H.  Peek, 
George  W.  McKay,  Samuel  H.  Davis,  Richard  W.  Montague,  Albert  W.  Prole,  Elliott  P.  Rider,  E.  S. 
Bramhall,  E.  L.  Cook,  Thomas  J.  Lafferty,  James  Kerr,  William  H.  H.  Ogan,  John  J.  Lambert, 
Jeremiah  Lockwood,  Jacob  A.  Lowe,  William  W.  Moore,  John  G.  Rockafellow,  Richard  Armstrong, 
B.  C.  P.  Armstrong,  William  H.  Crotzer,  John  F.  Parker,  Charles  P.  Buckner. 
90 


CHAPTER    L. 

"ONE-HUNDRED   DAYS'    MEN/ 
FOUR  REGIMENTS  AND  FOUR  COMPANIES    RECRUITED    FOR   ONE    HUNDRED  DAYS 
IN    THE    SUMMER    OF    1864— A    BRIEF    ACCOUNT    OF    THE    ORGANIZATION    AND 
SERVICES  OF  THESE  TROOPS— PRESIDENT  LINCOLN'S  ORDER  OF  THANKS. 

IN  the  summer  of  1864,  General  Grant  in  Virginia  and  General  Sherman 
in  Georgia  being  actively  engaged  with  large  armies  against  the  enemy,  the 
Governors  of  the  Northwestern  States  proposed  to  the  General  Govern 
ment  to  send  into  the  field  a  considerable  number  of  troops  for  a  short  term 
of  service  who  might  relieve  others  on  guard  and  garrison  duty  at  the  rear, 
and  thus  be  the  means  of  adding  largely  to  the  force  of  drilled  and  disci 
plined  men  at  the  front.  It  was  thought  that  of  those  who  had  served  for 
some  time  in  the  army  against  rebellion,  but  had  been  discharged  for  good 
reason,  and  of  others  who  would  like  to  serve  for  a  short  period,  a  large 
army  might  speedily  be  raised  to  garrison  our  posts  and  take  care  of  our 
communications  in  rear  of  the  theatre  of  war,  and  who  would  enable  veteran 
soldiers  of  equal  number  to  reenforce  the  armies  actively  engaged  in  the 
field.  The  proposition  at  first  met  with  considerable  hostility  from  the 
authorities,  but  was  at  length  adopted,  the  term  of  service  being  established 
at  one  hundred  days. 

Governor  Stone  accordingly  issued  his  proclamation,  calling  on  the  State 
to  contribute  of  its  citizens  troops  for  the  service  proposed,  and  they 
responded  by  offering  the  Forty-fourth,  Forty-fifth,  Forty-sixth,  Forty- 
seventh  regiments,  and  the  Forty-eighth  Battalion  of  Infantry ;  in  all  three 
thousand  nine  hundred  and  one  men.  Of  these,  the  Forty-fifth  regiment, 
Colonel  A.  H.  Bereman  (who  had  served  with  credit  as  captain  in  the 
regular  army)  was  the  first  organized.  Numbering  nine  hundred  and 
twelve,  it  was  mustered  into  the  service  at  Keokuk,  the  25th  of  May. 
Colonel  Stephen  H.  Henderson's  Forty-fourth  regiment,  eight  hundred  and 
sixty-seven  strong,  was  mustered  at  Davenport  the  1st  of  June.  The 
Forty-sixth  regiment,  Colonel  David  B.  Henderson,  was  mustered  at  the 
same  city  ten  days  afterwards.  It  numbered  eight  hundred  and  ninety-two 
officers  and  men.  The  Forty-seventh  regiment,  Colonel  James  P.  Sanford, 
714 


ONE-HUNDRED     DAYS     MEN.  715 

which  numbered  eight  hundred  and  eighty-four,  had  been  mustered  nearly 
a  week  before  the  Forty-sixth.  The  Forty-eighth  Battalion,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  0.  H.  P.  Scott,  and  which  numbered  three  hundred  and  forty-six, 
was  mustered  in  part  on  the  13th  of  June,  and  in  part  one  month  later.1 

These  troops  came  from  all  parts  of  the  State,  and  were  the  voluntary 
offering  of  our  people  who  gave  them  for  the  special  service  contemplated, 
without  expectation  of  any  credit  on  the  general  calls  for  volunteers.  The 
Forty-fourth,  Forty-fifth,  and  Forty-sixth  regiments  performed  their  ser- 

1  The  field,  staff,  and  line  officers  of  the  four  regiments  and  battalion  of  one-hundred  days'  men 
were  as  follows: 

FORTY-FOURTH  REGIMENT. — Colonel,  Stephen  H.  Henderson;  Lieutenant-Colonel,  Henry  Egbert; 
Major,  Josiah  Hopkins ;  Adjutant,  Evert  F.  Richinan ;  Quartermaster,  A.  J.  Van  Duzee ;  Surgeon, 
James  Irwin;  Assistant  Surgeons,  John  H.  Russell,  0.  B.  Thompson;  Chaplain,  Reverend  Martin 
Bowman.  Captains,  Henry  Markell,  G.  Bitzer,  James  W.  McKean,  Charles  E.  Borland,  H.  F.  L. 
Burton,  William  Familton,  Cyrus  H.  Shaw,  John  J.  Adams,  A.  H.  Brooks,  Thomas  Wilson.  Lieu 
tenants,  in  the  order  of  the  companies,  J.  B.  Howard,  M.  H.  Beach,  R.  Hawley,  F.  B.  McGill,  Robert 
S.  Alexander,  (who  soon  was  promoted  to  the  command  on  account  of  the  death  of  Captain  McKean, 
so  that  the  other  lieutenants  were)  Richard  McNary,  James  Spence,  James  L.  Perry,  Thomas  L. 
Stephens,  L.  L.  Smith, 'George  W.  Wood,  Lamotte  Stearns,  D.  A.  Waterman,  H.  P.  Williams,  D.  W. 
Dow,  William  Van  Dorn,  William  F.  Boggs,  James  A.  Ryan,  Henry  W.  Bennett,  John  Ackley, 
James  H.  C.  Wilson. 

FORTY-FIFTH  REGIMENT. — Colonel,  A.  H.  Bereman;  Lieutenant-Colonel,  Samuel  A.  Moore;  Major, 
James  B.  Hope;  Adjutant,  A.  W.  Sheldon;  Quartermaster,  John  P.  Dawson;  Surgeon,  W.  W.  Easta- 
brook;  Assistant  Surgeons,  S.  H.  Stutsman,  John  Hurley;  Chaplain,  Reverend  Anson  Skinner. 
Captains,  George  W.  Edwards,  William  H.  Allen,  C.  K.  Peck,  William  Van  Benthusen,  R.  D.  Emer 
son,  B.  D.  Harper,  Thomas  N.  Crowder,  E.  H.  Coddington,  William  K.  Alexander,  Isaac  B.  Thatcher. 
Lieutenants,  Samuel  L.  Pickel,  Edwin  A.  Vancise,  S.  E.  Hawthorn,  E.  R.  Eldridge,  David  B.  Hainill, 
John  L.  Day,  M.  H.  Jones,  H.  B.  Kittleman,  Albert  C.  Smith,  Asa  Culver,  A.  W.  Roland,  William  S. 
Darling,  0.  C.  Shelton,  James  V.  Chandler,  J.  N.  Beatty,  Thomas  C.  George,  D.  R.  McCracken,  L.  J. 
Allen,  A.  C.  Payne,  C.  Wood. 

FORTY-SIXTH  REGIMENT. — Colonel,  David  B.  Henderson;  Lieutenant-Colonel,  L.  D.  Durbin;  Major, 
George  L.  Torbert;  Adjutant,  John  L.  Harvey;  Quartermaster,  D.  D.  Holdridge;  Surgeon,  Joseph  R. 
Duncan;  Assistant  Surgeons,  W.  H.  Rosser,  John  D.  McCleary;  Chaplain,  Reverend  John  Todd. 
Captains,  E.  A.  Guilbert,  James  H.  Tilton.  Jacob  R.  Vanmeter,  Leonard  T.  McCoun,  John  S.  Har 
rison,  James  Hankins,  Edward  Mericle,  William  W.  Thomas,  William  P.  Wolf,  0.  L.  Palmer.  Lieu 
tenants,  S.  D.  Stokes,  A.  Hcerner,  J.  N.  Main,  J.  W.  Cummins,  N.  S.  Harwood,  Ira  Harrington,  J.  T. 
Christian,  George  W.  Bever,  H.  H.  Dickerman,  J.  F.  Merry,  H.  Miller,  J.  L.  Duncan,  A.  S.  Johnson, 
P.  Allen,  J.  W.  Bull,  Thomas  Godden,  J.  0.  Coles,  H.  D.  St.  John.  I  should  have  named  L.  F.  Par 
ker  and  Charles  Scott  as  the  subalterns  of  Company  B. 

FORTY-SEVENTH  REGIMENT. — Colonel,  James  P.  Sanford ;  Lieutenant-Colonel,  John  Williams ;  Major, 
George  J.  North;  Adjutant,  George  W.  Devin;  Quartermaster,  Sanford  Harned,  (soon  appointed 
Assistant  Quartermaster  of  Volunteers,  and  succeeded  by  Emanuel  Laffer) ;  Surgeon,  James  D.  Wright ; 
Assistant  Surgeons,  Samuel  B.  Cherry,  John  H.  Fry;  Chaplain,  Reverend  Enoch  Hoffman.  Captains, 
John  L.  McCormack,  R.  S.  Morris,  John  H.  Shields,  Charles  F.  Herrick,  John  S.  Goshorn,  David  J. 
Pattee,  Benjamin  Owen,  II.  E.  Havens,  Henry  Batterton,  William  H.  P.  Norris.  Lieutenants,  L.  H. 
Drake,  Melvin  Stone,  Benjamin  Morrison,  C.  A.  Conger,  John  T.  Wallin,  James  Hawley,  Jr.,  Lewis 
S.  Brooks,  (soon  promoted  captain  in  place  of  Herrick,  resigned,  when  the  lieutenants  were),  A.  E. 
McHugh,  D.  W.  Hopkins,  V.  R.  Rider,  A.  J.  Stiffler,  W.  England,  J.  M.  Vale,  L.  W.  Talbott,  J.  M. 
Douglass,  T.  A.  Morgan,  William  J.  Gaston,  D.  L.  Needham,  William  R.  Roberts,  C.  L.  Bailey,  C.  N. 
J.  Reynolds. 

FORTY-EIGHTH  (BATTALION). — Lieutenant-Colonel,  0.  H.  P.  Scott ;  Adjutant,  William  T.  Hayes ;  Quar 
termaster,  Lewis  Todhunter;  Surgeon,  John  A.  Blanchard;  Assistant  Surgeon,  Charles  L.  Wundt. 
Captains,  Robert  Longshore,  Joseph  R.  Rodgers,  James  H.  Summers,  Theodore  Waldschmidt. 
Lieutenants,  A.  Ward,  S.  B.  Lindsay,  Thomas  Allum,  Joshua  I.  Anderson,  James  Burrows,  William 
H.  Barnes,  Aaron  Colliver,  Theodore  Guelich. 


716  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

vices  in  Tennessee,  garrisoning  posts  and  guarding  lines  of  communication. 
The  Forty-seventh  was  sent  to  Helena,  Arkansas,  where  many  contracted 
disease  of  which  they  died,  there  or  soon  after  their  return  to  Iowa.  The 
Forty-eighth  Battalion  served  its  term  in  guard  of  rebel  prisoners  on  Rock 
Island,  in  the  Mississippi  River,  opposite  Davenport. 

The  services  of  the  Hundred-days-men  were  of  great  value  to  the  national 
cause.  They  were  acknowledged  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  in 
the  following  handsome  order,  which  may  serve  as  a  fitting  conclusion  to 
this  chapter : 

•  ^  •*  i* ;  *  '  - 

"EXECUTIVE  MANSION,        ) 
"  WASHINGTON  CITY,  October  1st,  1864.     J 

"  Special  Executive  order,  returning  thanks  to  the  volunteers  for  one  hundred  days,  from  the 
States  of  Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa,  and  Wisconsin : 

"  The  term  of  one  hundred  days  for  which  volunteers  from  the  States  of  Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa, 
and  Wisconsin  volunteered  under  the  last  call  of  their  respective  governors  in  the  months  of  May 
and  June,  to  aid  in  the  recent  campaign  of  General  Sherman  having  expired,  the  President  directs 
an  official  acknowledgement  of  their  patriotic  services.  It  was  their  good  fortune  to  render  efficient 
service  in  the  brilliant  operations  in  the  southwest  and  to  contribute  to  the  victories  of  the  National 
arms  over  the  rebel  forces  in  Georgia  under  command  of  Johnston  and  Hood.  On  all  occasions  and 
in  every  service  to  which  they  were  assigned,  their  duty  as  patriotic  volunteers  was  performed  with 
alacrity  and  courage  for  which  they  are  entitled  to,  and  are  hereby  tendered  the  National  thanks 
through  the  governors  of  their  respective  States. 

"  The  Secretary  of  War  is  directed  to  transmit  a  copy  of  this  order  to  the  governors  of  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Iowa,  and  Wisconsin  and  to  cause  a  certificate  of  their  honorable  services  to  be  delivered 
to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  States  above  mentioned  who  recently  served  in  the  military  force 
of  the  United  States  as  volunteers  for  one  hundred  days. 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 


CHAPTER    LI. 

THIRTY-NINTH   INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  REGIMENT  AT  CAMP  BURNSIDE,  DBS  MOINES— MUSTERED  AT 
DAVENPORT— MOVE  TO  THE  FRONT— SERVE  UNDER  GENERAL  DODGE  IN  TEN 
NESSEE—BATTLE  OF  PARKER'S  CROSS  ROADS— ON  GARRISON  DUTY— WINTER 
QUARTERS  — THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  GEORGIA  UNDER  SHERMAN  — THE  REGIMENT 
HALTS  AT  ROME—  THE  DEFENCE  OF  A  LLA.  TO  ON  A— LIEUTENANT-COLONEL 
REDFIELD  SLAIN— CASUALTIES  OF  THE  REGIMENT—"  SHERMAN'S  MARCH  TO  THE 
SEA"— ADJUTANT  BYERS'  LYRIC— MARCH  THROUGH  THE  CAROLINAS— THE  GRAND 
REVIEW  AT  WASHINGTON  CITY— DISCHARGED. 

THE  Thirty-ninth  Iowa  Infantry  Regiment  had  a  partial  organization  at 
Camp  Burnside,  near  the  city  of  Des  Moines,  in  the  month  of  September, 
1862.  There  nine  companies  which  had  been  assigned  to  the  regiment  by 
the  State  authorities  arrived  about  the  20th,  and  were  at  once  so  far  organ 
ized  as  to  begin  "soldiering"  by  spending  several  hours  a  day  in  drill.  The 
tenth  company,  enrolled  in  Des  Moines  county  on  the  Mississippi  River, 
did  not  go  to  the  city  of  Des  Moines  at  all.  The  organization  of  the  regi 
ment  was  completed  at  Davenport,  whither  the  companies  moved  in  the 
latter  part  of  October.  Some  two  or  three  of  the  companies,  however, 
were  lacking  in  number,  and  there  was  considerable  delay  in  mustering  the 
regiment  into  the  service.  It  lacked  forty  of  the  number  required  for  a 
minimum  regiment.  At  length  Secretary  Stanton  specially  ordered  the 
muster,  and  it  was  accordingly  entered  the  service  in  due  form  November 
24th,  then  numbering  eight  hundred  and  two,  officers  and  men.  H.  J.  B. 
Cummings  was  colonel,  James  Redfield  lieutenant-colonel,  and  Joseph  M. 
Griffiths,  major.  George  C.  Tichenor,  since  distinguished  as  aid-de-camp 
on  the  staff  of  General  Dodge,  was  appointed  adjutant,  Frederick  Mott 
quartermaster,  Peter  N.  Woods  surgeon,  with  William  L.  Leonard  and 
Ephraim  P.  Davis  assistants,  and  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Taylor  chaplain.1 

1  Company  A,  enrolled  in  Madison  county,  was  commanded  by  Captain  George  N.  Elliott,  Lieu 
tenants  Oliver  C.  Ayer,  Jonathan  B.  Rawls.  Company  B,  Polk  county,  Captain  John  H.  Dykeman, 
Lieutenants  Andrew  T.  Blodgett,  William  A.  Patterson.  Company  C,  Dallas  county,  Captain  Isaac 
D.  Marsh,  Lieutenants  Joseph  W.  Price,  Owen  D.  Russell.  Company  D,  Clarke  county,  Captain 

717 


718  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

The  13th  of  December,  the  regiment  left  Camp  Herron,  and  moving  by 
rail  to  Cairo  reached  that  place  the  next  day.  It  soon  moved  by  crowded 
steamer  to  Columbus,  Kentucky,  where  the  men  encamped  a  day  or  two  in 
shelter  tents.  The  18th,  Colonel  Cummings  received  orders  to  report  with 
his  command  to  Brigadier-General  G.  M.  Dodge,'  at  Corinth,  Mississippi. 
Moving  thither  by  rail,  the  regiment  was  stopped  at  Jackson,  Tennessee, 
by  order  of  General  Sullivan,  commanding  district.  The  rebel  Forrest  was 
at  this  time  operating  in  these  parts,  and  the  Thirty-ninth  was  put  in  the 
trenches  to  defend  Jackson  against  threatened  attack.  The  attack  was  not 
made.  Forrest  amused  Sullivan  at  Jackson  whilst  his  troops  destroyed  the 
railway  north  of  that  place.  The  regiment  made  a  severe  march  to  Trenton, 
where  two  brigades  were  organized  to  move  against  the  enemy  who  had 
now  left  the  railway. 

At  dark  of  the  27th,  Colonel  Cyrus  L.  Dunham,  Fiftieth  Indiana, 
marched  eastward  with  a  small  force  to  which  the  Thirty-ninth  was  attached. 
General  Sullivan  had  determined  to  punish  Forrest  for  the  trouble  he  had 
been  causing.  On  the  31st,  Colonel  Dunham  came  suddenly  upon  Forrest's 
command,  six  to  seven  thousand  strong,  near  Parker's  Cross  Roads,  a  few 
miles  south  of  the  town  of  Clarksville.  A  severe  battle  ensued.  Colonel 
Dunham's  forces  numbered  less  than  sixteen  hundred.  Nevertheless,  he 
fought  the  enemy  long  and  bravely.  The  contest  had  waged  several  hours, 
with  varying  success,  when,  about  two  o'clock  afternoon,  Sullivan  came  up 
with  his  main  body,  and  speedily  put  the  rebels  to  rout. 

The  Battle  of  Parker's  Cross  Roads,  the  first  in  which  the  Thirty-ninth 
engaged,  was  a  considerable  defeat  to  the  rebels.  Their  losses  were  very 
heavy,  but  Forrest  succeeded  in  crossing  the  Tennessee  without  further 
loss.  Our  regiment  was  under  a  heavy  fire  of  both  artillery  and  musketry 
for  several  hours,  and  behaved  with  the  utmost  coolness  and  bravery, 
except  during  a  short  time  in  which  it  retired  in  confusion,  officers  and 
men  on  the  left  misapprehending  an  order.  The  men  were  soon  rallied 
" and  returned, "  says  Colonel  Dunham,  "in  good  order,  to,  and  resumed 
their  place  in  the  line,  in  its  new  position  at  Red  Mound,  with  their  confi 
dence  in  themselves  and  mine  in  them  fully  restored.  Lieutenant- Colonel 
Redfield  and  Captain  Cameron  were  especially  conspicuous  for  their  cool 
ness  and  energy.  The  former,  although  severely  and  dangerously  wounded, 

Lloyd  D.  Bennett,  Lieutenants  William  T.  Matthews,  Casper  Carter.  Company  E,  Greene  county, 
Captain  Robert  M.  Rippey,  Lieutenants  John  N.  Coulter,  Jacob  M.  Toliver.  Campay  F,  Madison 
county,  Captain  Joseph  M.  Browne,  Lieutenants  Adolphus  Bradfield,  Thomas  W.  Stiles.  Company 
G,  Des  Moines  county,  Captain  Charles  A.  Cameron,  Lieutenants  Jerry  K.  Wetzel,  William  C.  Ghost. 
Company  H,  Dallas  county,  Captain  James  M.  Loomis,  Lieutenants  Henry  R.  Benjamin,  John  N. 
Main.  Company  I,  Polk  county,  Captain  Augustus  Yerger,  Lieutenants  Robert  C.  Hunter,  J.  W. 
Redfield.  Company  K,  Decatur  county,  Captain  William  F.  Bennett,  Lieutenants  Milligan  J.  Cain, 
C.  S.  Porter.  In  two  of  the  companies  the  line  officers  were  not  full  at  first,  but  were  appointed  not 
long  after  organization. 


THIRTY-NINTH     INFANTRY.  719 

seemed  entirely  forgetful  of  his  own  sufferings  in  his  efforts  to  rally  his  men. 
Color-Corporal  Armstrong  also  attracted  particular  attention,  for  although 
his  companion  had  fallen  at  his  side  pierced  by  several  balls,  he  was  ready 
at  every  command  to  put  down  his  flag  as  a  rallying-point. ' '  Besides  the 
Lieutenant-Colonel,  Major  Griffiths,  Adjutant  Tichenor,  and  Surgeon 
Woods  were  specially  named  by  Colonel  Cummings  in  his  official  report,  as 
conspicuous  for  coolness  and  bravery,  whilst  he  states  that  the  company 
officers  generally  did  their  whole  duty. 

The  total  number  of  officers  and  men  of  the  regiment  engaged  in  the 
battle  was  four  hundred  and  five,  of  whom  four  were  killed,  thirty-three 
wounded,  and  eleven  missing.  Major  Griffiths,  Captain  J.  M.  Browne  and 
Lieutenant  J.  B.  Rawls  were  among  the  wounded.  But  the  loss  of  the 
regiment  during  this  short  campaign  against  Forrest  was  much  more  than 
that  sustained  in  the  battle.  About  one  hundred  men,  worn  out  by  the 
severe  march,  attempted  to  return  to  Trenton  on  the  29th,  and  were  captured 
on  the  way,  at  Shady  Grove.  They  suffered  the  hardships  of  rebel  impri 
sonment  for  nearly  ten  months  before  rejoining  the  command.2 

The  day  after  the  battle  the  regiment  began  the  retrograde  march  for 
Jackson.  The  6th  of  January,  1863,  Colonel  Cummings  moved  by  rail  to 
Corinth,  and  as  the  shades  of  night  were  falling  fast  on  that  day  reported 
to  General  Dodge,  who  assigned  the  regiment  to  the  Third  Brigade  of  his 
division,  the  Second  of  the  Sixteenth  Corps.  The  command  served  under 
General  Dodge  for  the  greater  part  of  two  years.  During  the  first  ten 
months  of  this  period,  regimental  head-quarters  were  at  Corinth,  where 
the  regiment  remained  also,  excepting  during  a  few  days  at  different  times, 
when  it  marched  in  guard  of  trains  or  against  the  enemy  threatening  to 
attack  some  other  post.  It  also  took  part  in  the  march  into  Alabama,  in 
April,  when  Colonel  Streight  made  his  well-known  raid  in  that  region.  The 
infantry  moved  to  Town  Creek,  having  several  lively  affairs  with  the  enemy, 
and  returned  to  Corinth,  after  an  absence  of  more  than  a  fortnight.  A 
few  days  afterwards,  Company  H  of  the  Thirty-ninth,  being  in  guard  of  a 


2  The  casualties  of  the  regiment  at  this  battle  were :  Killed,  Corporals  Jacob  Kooutz,  J.  C.  Stearns, 
(color-guard)  Dimic  Lay  ton,  Aaron  Lewis.  Wounded,  Lieutenant-Colonel  James  Redfield;  Major 
J.  M.  Griffiths ;  Captain  J.  M.  Browne;  Lieutenant  J.  B.  Rawls.  Company  A— First  Sergeant  John 
P.  Jones ;  Corporal  Jesse  Williams ;  Thomas  Tucker,  Edward  Brown,  Thomas  Brown,  L.  F.  Bates, 
Solomon  Pontious  (mortally).  Company  B — John  L.  Albin,  William  H.  Chamberlain,  Benjamin 
Case  (mortally).  Company  D— Corporal  Jerome  Cook;  R.  Milliner,  George  Vaught,  Joseph  T. 
Palmer.  Company  E — Corporal  James  F.  Morris ;  Amos  Mohler.  Company  .F— John  J.  Henager, 
William  Thornburg,  W.  S.  Wilkinson.  Company  G— Charles  Albright,  John  L.  Baird,  Samuel  C. 
Bazel,  Bartholomew  Haffron.  Company  H—  James  Moon,  Josephus  Smith,  Nathan  A.  Russell, 
James  P.  Estes,  Clifford  B.  Parker.  Sergeant  William  L.  Kaggy,  and  James  0.  Evans,  of  Com 
pany  K.  Missing,  Sergeant  Thomas  Ashton;  Privates  David  Fleming,  Henry  M.  Chase,  Asher 
W.  Holcomb,  Joab  Johnson,  Benjamin  Aydlott,  George  F.  Armstrong,  Alfred  Warren,  Thomas 
R.  Nichols,  William  Farnes,  and  several  more,  not  reported,  for  the  reason,  perhaps,  that  they  were 
soon  paroled. 


720  IOWA    AND     THE     EEBELLION. 

corral  a  few  miles  from  Corinth,  was  surrounded  by  several  hundred  rebel 
cavalry,  and  the  captain  and  most  of  his  men  were  captured. 

The  2d  of  November,  General  Dodge  with  his  entire  command  took  up 
line  of  march  for  Pulaski,  Tennessee.  He  halted  a  few  days  at  luka,  and 
by  easy  marches  gained  Pulaski  about  the  12th,  and  there  established 
head-quarters.  His  troops  were  posted  at  different  places  in  the  vicinity, 
the  Thirty-ninth  Iowa  at  Reynolds,  some  seven  miles  north  of  Pulaski. 
At  Reynolds  were  regimental  head-quarters  and  five  companies.  The 
other  companies  were  at  mills  and  railroad  bridges  near  by.  The  latter 
part  of  January,  1864,  head-quarters  and  six  companies  moved  to  Culleoka, 
twenty  miles  further  north,  and  from  this  time  till  the  close  of  winter  the 
regiment  had  twenty-five  miles  of  railway  to  guard,  and  the  adjacent  coun 
try  to  keep  quiet.  The  12th  of  March  the  regiment  marched  southward, 
and  three  days  afterwards  went  into  camp  at  Athens,  Alabama,  where  com 
fortable  quarters  were  soon  built  by  the  men. 

At  Athens  the  regiment  remained  some  weeks,  in  quiet,  and  then  moved 
with  the  left  wing  of  the  Sixteenth  Corps,  General  Dodge  commanding,  to 
join  the  grand  army  under  Sherman  for  the  campaign  of  Georgia.  Dodge 
joined  Sherman  at  Gordon's  Mills,  and  from  this  time  until  the  army 
reached  Kingston,  the  Thirty-ninth  marched  and  fought  on  the  right.  It 
was  the  first  through  Snake  Gap,  and  also  led  the  army  in  the  flanking 
movement  by  Calhoun,  which  caused  the  evacuation  of  Resaca  by  the 
enemy.  The  regiment  here  had  a  sharp  fight  with  superior  numbers,  and 
was  extricated  from  a  perilous  position  to  which  it  had  finely  fought  its 
way,  by  the  timely  arrival  of  the  rest  of  the  division.  From  Kingston, 
the  brigade  to  which  the  regiment  was  attached  marched  to  Rome,  and 
remained  in  garrison  of  that  post  till  early  in  October,  when  the  Thirty- 
ninth  Iowa,  having  meanwhile  made  a  long  chase  after  Wheeler,  was  called 
upon  to  take  part  in  General  John  M.  Corse's  remarkable  and  splendid 

DEFENCE  OF  ALLATOONA. 

The  1st  of  October,  the  rebel  Hood  began  his  march  northward.  Send 
ing  his  troopers  in  advance  to  move  against  Sherman's  communications  in 
the  vicinity  of  Marietta,  he  crossed  the  Chattahoochee  with  three  corps  of 
infantry,  and  marched  on  Dallas.  The  rebel  cavalry  struck  the  railway  at 
Big  Shanty,  and  having  destroyed  it  for  miles,  moved,  with  French's 
Division  of  Stewart's  Corps,  against  Allatoona  Pass,  where  there  were 
immense  stores  of  rations,  under  guard  of  the  Ninety-third  Illinois,  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Tourtellotte.  Brigadier-General  John  M.  Corse  was  at 
Rome,  with  his  division.  Sherman,  from  Kenesaw  Mountain,  signalled 
Corse  to  reenforce  Allatoona  Pass  and  hold  it  to  the  last  extremity.  An 
accident  prevented  Corse  from  marching  his  whole  force  to  Allatoona,  but 


THIRTY-NINTH     INFANTRY.  721 

very  early  on  the  morning  of  the  5th  he  was  there  in  person,  with  a  garrison 
of  about  two  thousand  men,  including  the  Thirty-ninth  Iowa,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Redfield.  His  celerity  of  movement  had  been  of  the  utmost  impor 
tance,  for  soon  after  daylight  French's  whole  Division  had  the  works  of 
Allatoona  completely  invested.  French  kept  up  a  noisy  cannonade,  causing 
no  great  damage,  for  some  time,  and  then  sent  in  by  flag  of  truce  the  follow 
ing  demand : 

"  AROUND  ALLATOONA,  October  5th,  8.15  A.  M. 

"  COMMANDING  OFFICER,  UNITED  STATES  FORCE,  ALLATOONA — SIR  :  I  have  placed  the  forces  under  my 
command  in  such  positions  that  you  are  surrounded,  and  to  avoid  a  needless  effusion  of  blood,  I 
call  on  you  to  surrender  your  forces  at  once,  and  unconditionally.  Five  minutes  will  be  allowed 
you  to  decide. 

"  Should  you  accede  to  this,  you  will  be  treated  in  the  most  honorable  manner  as  prisoners  of 
war.  I  have  the  honor  to  be  very  respectfully  yours, 

"  S.  G.  FRENCH,  Major-General 
"  Commanding  Forces  Confederate  States." 

To  which  Corse  promptly  and  pithily  responded : 

HEAD-QUARTERS  FOURTH  DIVISION,  FIFTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS,  ) 
ALLATOONA,  GEORGIA,  October  5th,  8:30  A.  M.     J 

" MAJOR-GENTRAL  S.  G.  FRENCH,  CONFEDERATE  STATES  ARMY:    Your  communication  demanding 
surrender  of  my  command  I  acknowledge  receipt  of,  and  respectfully  reply  that  we  are  prepared 
for  the  '  needless  effusion  of  blood'  whenever  it  is  agreeable  to  you. 
"I  am  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  JOHN  M.  CORSE,  Brigadier-General." 

Upon  the  reception  of  this  note,  so  full  of  grim  wit,  French  ordered  an 
assault,  which  was  made  with  great  fury.  His  columns  surged  madly 
against  our  works,  but  were  met  with  a  stouter,  more  unflinching  resistance 
by  Corse  and  his  little  garrison  than  the  great  war  elsewhere  witnessed. 
The  fight  continued,  waxing  warmer  and  warmer,  hotter  and  hotter,  as  the 
moments  and  the  souls  of  the  slain  sped  away.  The  rebels  fought  with 
desperate  valor.  The  struggle  over  the  rifle-pits,  the  outer  works  of  the 
position  was  fearful.  The  enemy  charged  by  regiment  and  brigade,  and  dashed 
against  the  works  as  though  mad.  But  they  were  repulsed  with  great 
slaughter.  The  combat  had  been  raging  for  some  three  hours,  when  the 
signal  flags  waved  from  mountain-top  to  mountain-top — ' '  Hold  on  to  Alla 
toona  to  the  last.  I  will  help  you.  W.  T.  Sherman."  Corse  sent  back  a 
brave  reply,  and  the  moment  Sherman  read  his  name  he  exclaimed  joyfully, 
"  If  Corse  is  there  he  will  hold  out ;  I  know  the  man." 

The  battle  meantime  increased  in  fury.  The  enemy,  failing  to  break 
through  our  lines  by  charging  by  regiment  and  brigade,  at  length  moved 
against  them  in  mass.  The  most  terrible  combat  in  which  American  troops 
ever  took  part,  and  well  nigh  as  terrible  as  any  of  which  history  speaks, 
ensued.  Men  bayonetted  one  another  over  the  works,  officers  thrust  their 
swords  through  the  bodies  of  hostile  officers.  Corse  received  a  severe 
91 


722  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

and  most  painful  wound  in  the  face,  and  fell  to  the  ground,  exclaiming, 
"  Never  give  up  Allatoona,"  when  he  became  insensible.  Colonel  Richard 
Kowell,  Seventh  Illinois,  assumed  command,  and  directed  the  battle  with 
the  greatest  skill  and  courage  till  he  was  himself  severely  wounded.  Then 
Corse,  still  suffering  acute  pain  from  his  ugly  wound,  resumed  the  command. 

The  garrison  was  by  this  time  confined  to  two  forts,  from  which  Allatoona 
was  defended  against  its  swarming  assailants.  The  crisis  of  the  battle  did 
not  come  till  more  than  two  hours  after  noon.  Corse  and  his  little  band 
had  fought  against  fearful  odds  for  many  long  and  bloody  hours.  Many 
brave  officers  and  men  were  already  dead  or  wounded.  The  battle  was 
trembling  in  the  balance.  The  rebels  again  moved  in  compact  bodies 
against  the  forts.  Our  gunners  double-shotted  their  pieces,  and  waiting 
till  they  could  almost  shake  hands  with  the  enemy,  let  drive  the  canister 
and  grape.  The  enemy  staggered ;  became  confused ;  fell  back ;  fled  in 
disorder  ;  and  the  great  victory  was  won. 

But  it  was  a  bloody  victory.  General  Corse's  command  sustained  a  loss 
in  killed  and  wounded  of  seven  hundred  and  seven  officers  and  men,  being 
more  than  thirty-three  per  cent,  of  the  garrison.  Besides  Corse  and 
Rowell,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Tourtellotte  was  wounded,  and  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Redfield  was  slain.  The  rebel  loss  has  never  been  ascertained,  but 
it  must  have  been  severe.  Our  troops  buried  nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty 
of  their  dead.  They  also  captured  more  than  four  hundred  prisoners.  I 
think  it  is  not  an  unreasonable  assertion  that  the  entire  loss  of  the  enemy, 
in  killed,  wounded,  and  captured  was  nearly  and  perhaps  quite  as  great  as 
Corse's  entire  force. 

However  that  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  the  defence  of  Allatoona  by 
Brigadier-General  John  M.  Corse  was  one  of  the  finest  military  successes 
of  the  war  not  only,  but  of  history.  General  Sherman,  who  never  went 
off  half-cocked  in  his  life  on  any  matter  of  practical  warfare,  issued  a  spe 
cial  order,  two  days  after  the  battle,  in  which  he  stated  that  General  Corse's 
defence  of  Allatoona  admirably  illustrated  "the  most  important  principle 
in  war,  that  fortified  posts  should  be  defended  to  the  last,  regardless  of  the 
relative  numbers  of  the  party  attacking  and  attacked. "  "  The  thanks  of 
this  Army  are  due,"  he  continued,  "and  are  hereby  accorded  to  General 
Corse,  Colonel  Tourtellotte,  officers  and  men  for  their  gallant  'defence  of 
Allatoona,  and  it  is  made  an  example  to  illustrate  the  importance  of  pre 
paring  in  time,  and  meeting  the  danger  when  present,  boldly,  manfully, 
and  well."  The  country  agreed  with  Sherman,  and  gave  to  Corse  the 
highest  meed  of  praise.  Allatoona  was  by  all  men  called  the  Thermopylae 
of  the  war. 

But  the  defence  of  Allatoona  is  especially  interesting  to  citizens  of  Iowa 
for  another  reason  besides  that  of  the  commanding  officer  there  achieving 


THIRTY-NINTH     INFANTRY.  723 

so  fine  a  reputation  for  preeminent  soldierly  genius.  No  regiment  at  Alla- 
toona  Pass  fought  more  gallantly  than  the  Thirty-ninth  Iowa,  none  suffered 
so  heavily.  The  regiment  was  posted,  in  the  early  part  of  the  action,  some 
three  hundred  yards  from  the  principal  fort  which  had  been  constructed 
for  the  defence  of  the  place,  and  which  was  the  very  point  against  which 
the  enemy  made  his  most  determined  attacks.  It  repulsed  several  charges, 
but  at  length  fell  back  slowly  to  the  cover  of  the  fort.  It  had  fought  with 
courage,  and  obstinacy,  and  effect,  never  surpassed  by  any  troops  on  any 
battle-field.  It  continued  the  fight  with  undaunted  spirit,  and  when 
French  put  his  army  in  retreat,  he  had  suffered  his  heaviest  losses  from  the 
rifles  of  the  Iowa  Thirty-ninth. 

But  the  regiment  had  itself  suffered  severely.  Its  losses,  in  killed, 
wounded  and  captured,  were  about  one  hundred  and  sixty-five.  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Redfield  commanding  was  among  the  slain.  He  was  in  the  first 
place  wounded  in  the  foot.  But  he  dragged  himself  along  the  line  wherever 
duty  called  him.  A  second  shot  shattered  a  leg ;  but  he  still  refused  to 
leave  the  post  of  danger,  and,  seated  on  the  ground,  directed  the  fight, 
as  though  nothing  unusual  had  happened.  Exhorting  his  men  to  remem 
ber  the  brave  old  flag,  a  third  ball  pierced  his  heart,  and  the  soul  of 
as  brave  and  generous  a  man  as  ever  lived  passed  into  the  undiscovered 
country. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  JAMES  REDFIELD  was  one  of  nature's  noblemen. 
He  came  of  fighting  stock.  His  great-grandfather,  Captain  Peleg  Redfield, 
fought  gallantly  under  Wolfe  on  the  heights  of  Abraham.  Four  of  his 
grand-uncles  held  commissions  in  the  army  under  Washington,  and  two  of 
them  fell  in  battle.  His  father,  Luther  Redfield,  performed  valuable  ser 
vice  in  the  last  war  against  Great  Britain.  He  was  himself  a  man  of  fine 
culture,  a  graduate  of  Yale  College,  where  he  was  a  classmate  of  the  most 
thoughtful  of  American  statesmen,  Senator  B.  Gratz  Brown,  of  Missouri, 
and  where  he  was  noted  for  scholarly  attainments  and  admirable  social 
qualities.  He  came  to  Iowa  in  1855,  and  settled  in  the  fine  county  of 
Dallas,  where  he  bought  a  considerable  tract  of  land,  on  part  of  which  the 
town  of  Redfield  now  stands.  He  was  a  Senator  in  the  General  Assembly 
when  the  war  broke  out.  In  that  capacity  he  won  the  general  respect,  and 
the  affectionate  regards  of  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  In  the  army, 
he  was  exceedingly  popular  with  the  troops,  and  a  most  intelligent  and 
gallant  officer.  His  death  was  deeply  deplored  not  only  in  Iowa  but  in  a 
considerable  part  of  New  York,  where  he  was  well  known.  The  press  of 
our  own  and  of  that  State  lamented  his  death  most  deeply,  whilst  nearly 
the  entire  population  of  Iowa  have  never  ceased  to  deplore  it  as  a  public 
calamity,  nor  his  many  acquaintances  as  a  personal  loss.  It  is  unquestion- 


724  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

able  that  the  death  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Redfield,  glorious  though  it  was, 
was  regarded  all  over  Iowa  as  one  of  the  State's  most  serious  losses. 

But  Redfield  fell  not  alone.  Lieutenants  Oliver  C.  Ayers,  Andrew  T. 
Blodgett,  Newton  P.  Wright,  John  P.  Jones  were  slain,  and  Lieutenant 
Owen  D.  Russell  was  severely  wounded.  These  were  all  gallant  men,  and 
Lieutenant  Blodgett  was  among  the  best  line  officers  which,  the  State  of 
Iowa  sent  into  the  field.  His  untimely  death  caused  a  profound  sensation 
at  Des  Mouies,  where  his  remains  were  taken  and  buried  more  than  a  year 
after  his  heroic  death.8 

«  LIST  OF  CASUALTIES,  THIRTY-NINTH  IOWA,  AT  AILATOONA  PASS.  Officers  killed,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
commanding  James  Redfield;  Lieutenants  Oliver  C.  Ayres,  Andrew  T.  Blodgett,  Newton  P.Wright, 
John  P.  Jones. 

Enlisted  men,  Company  .4— Corporal  Martin  B.  Ruby,  William  B.  Landis,  William  J.  Kale.  Company 
C— Hamilton  J.  Tarr.  Company  .E— Charles  W.  Beebe,  William  Carter,  Hiram  II.  Hall.  Company 
.F—Corporal  Amos  Barker ;  James  H.  Martin,  John  Griffin,  Isaac  Parker,  Isaac  Nickell,  James  Hillen. 
Company  G— Sergeant  Amos  L.  McMichael ;  Corporal  Isaac  N.  Power ;  Joseph  Alteuaw,  Henry  C. 
Cockayne.  Company  7— Corporal  William  B.  Sanford ;  Joshua  Admonson.  Company  .K— Sergeant 
Daniel  D.  Hedrick ;  Andrew  L.  Blakesley,  Charles  Cline,  John  C.  Bellford,  Francis  Gabler,  William 
Fames,  John  H.  King.  Abraham  Miller. 

Company  A— Wounded,  Corporals  John  S.  Tullis,  Lorenzo  W.  Allcock,  Albert  A.  Gatchel;  Isaac 
Porter,  Upton  T.  Large,  Isaiah  Oglesbee, 

Company  J3 — Wounded,  First  Sergeant  Charles  Van  Gorder ;  Fred  Carder,  Henry  Manbeck,  Franklin 
Lowell,  James  Shepherd,  John  E.  Mills,  William  Patterson,  David  Womack  (mortally),  Louis  0. 
Miller. 

Company  C—  Lieutenant  Owen  D.  Russell;  Sergeant  Lemuel  Worford;  Corporals  Calvin  Hill, 
William  C.  Elder,  William  A.  Mark ;  Thomas  Beal,  Charles  M.  Graham,  William  A.  Lewis,  Robert 
V.  Tolboys,  Julius  M.  Baker,  Wesley  Krysher,  John  Kimrey,  Thomas  J.  Wright,  Sr.,  Thomas  J. 
Wright,  Jr. 

Company  E— Wounded,  Sergeants  Azor  R.  Mills,  Joseph  M.  Shain,  John  E.  Wright;  Corporals 
James  W.  Smith,  Eleazar  Ilockett,  Thomas  Morgan ;  Lemuel  Tyler,  Charles  A.  Tillittson,  William 
Waldon,  Levi  B.  Maulsby,  John  Carson,  William  I.  Wright  (mortally). 

Company  F— Wounded,  Sergeant  James  Fosher,  David  N.  Wasson;  Corporals  Alvin  Bradford, 
James  L.  Parks,  James  M.  Lee,  John  G.  Hueglin,  Joseph  H.  Miller,  David  Bradshaw,  J.  M.  Mount, 
Edward  Mount. 

Company  G— Corporal  Elliott  Lines ;  Privates  Lewis  Lines,  John  E.  Kynett,  Alvin  C.  Moose, 
William  McLaughlin,  William  G.  Powers. 

Company  I— Wounded,  Sergeant  Charles  Leftwick;  Privates  Joseph  Smith,  Lawson  A.  Smith, 
William  Sharp. 

Company  K —  Wounded,  Private  Henry  Bright. 

Company  A — Missing,  Sergeants  Jonas  F.  Brock,  Charles  S.  Armstrong;  Corporals  John  W. 
Ratliff,  Lewis  F.  Means,  Brinton  Lovelace ;  Privates  John  S.  Maggs,  Clinton  T.  Mercer,  John  M. 
Duncan.  Aaron  McKinzie,  Benjamin  F.  Bowlsby,  Isaac  N.  Landis.  Company  B — Sergeant  William 
J.  Harris ;  Corporal  William  J.  Vennamon ;  Privates  Jacob  Holcomb,  William  P.  Hurd,  Thomas  J. 
Keeney.  Company  C—  Corporal  Matthias  Mount ;  Privates  John  Hathaway,  John  Ostler ;  Second 
Lieutenant  Harrison  C.  Crawford ;  Corporals  George  W.  Beebe,  William  L.  Franklin,  Henry  Sifford ; 
Privates  William  Adamson,  John  C.  Preston,  David  Reed,  Charles  II.  Tietsort,  Richard  B.  Morain, 
George  W.  Evans,  William  F.  Benny,  Norman  Orchard.  Company  E— Privates  Albert  M.  Bills, 
Hiram  Scott,  Caleb  A.  Shreve.  Company  F—  Private  George  M.  Young.  Company  G — Sergeant 
Randel  M.  Hartzel ;  Corporal  Hugh  W.  Walkinshaw;  Privates  John  B.  Cunningham,  Owen  McCal- 
lon.  Company  7— Sergeant  Augustus  Erickson  ;  Corporals  Perry  G.  Murry,  John  A.  Johnson ;  Pri 
vates  Samuel  D.  Cole,  John  Foster,  Dennis  Shea,  Isaac  V.  Bradford.  Company  JiT— Captain  William 
F.  Bennett;  Sergeant  Elisha  B.  Moad;  Corporals  James  A.  Garnett,  Joseph  A.  Bales,  Samuel  L. 
Osborn,  James  E.  Evans,  John  M.  Stone,  Aaron  A.  Cozad,  Lorenzo  D.  Phelps  ;  Privates  Bird  Brown, 
Jesse  D.  Butts,  J.  D.  Bearter,  Isaac  S.  Doan,  George  W.  Grow,  William  S.  Harris,  Wesley  F.  Lose, 
Jasper  N.  McJimpsey,  Harvey  B.  Macklin,  Oliver  E.  Purdun,  Robert  Stephens,  John  F.  Snycler, 
Jamea  Waddle,  James  A.  Clark,  Morgan  S.  Records. 


THIRTY-NINTH     INFANTRY.  725 

The  defence  of  Allatoona  was  the  last  grand  fight  of  Sherman's  cam 
paigning  in  central  Georgia ;  and,  save  the  combat  of  Griswoldsville  and 
the  capture  of  Fort  McCallister,  the  last  final  achievement  of  note  in  the 
State.  A  little  more  than  a  month  after  Corse's  fine  success,  the  army 
started  on  the  famous  ' '  march  to  the  sea. ' '  This  ' '  grand  promenade ' '  was 
celebrated  by  the  lyric  of  Adjutant  S.  H.  M.  Byers,  of  our  Fifth  Infantry, 
who  was  captured  at  Chattanooga,  and  whose  song,  since  encored  in  all  the 
theatres,  was  written  in  the  prison  of  Columbia. 


1  Our  camp  fires  shone  bright  on  the  mountains, 

That  frowned  on  the  river  below, 
While  we  stood  by  our  guns  in  the  evening, 

And  eagerly  watched  for  the  foe, 
When  a  rider  came  out  from  the  darkness, 

That  hung  over  mountain  and  tree, 
And  shouted, '  Boys,  up  and  be  ready, 

For  Sherman  will  march  to  the  sea.' 


4  Then  cheer  upon  cheer,  for  bold  Sherman, 

Went  up  from  each  valley  and  glen, 
And  the  bugles  reechoed  the  music 

That  came  from  the  lips  of  the  men; 
For  we  knew  that  the  stars  on  our  banner 

More  bright  in  their  splendor  would  be, 
And  that  blessings  from  Northland  would  greet 

When  Sherman  marched  down  to  the  sea. 


'  Then  forward,  boys,  forward  to  battle 

We  marched  on  our  wearisome  way, 
And  we  stormed  the  wild  hills  of  Resaca — 

God  bless  those  who  fell  on  that  day: 
Then  Kenesaw,  dark  in  its  glory, 

Frowned  down  on  the  flag  of  the  free; 
But  the  East  and  the  West  bore  our  standards, 

And  Sherman  marched  on  to  the  sea. 


4  Still  onward  we  pressed,  till  our  banner 

Swept  out  from  Atlanta's  grim  walls, 
And  the  blood  of  the  patriot  dampened 

The  soil  where  the  traitor  flag  falls; 
But  we  paused  not  to  weep  for  the  fallen, 

Who  slept  by  each  river  and  tree, 
Yet  we  twined  them  a  wreath  of  the  laurel 

As  Sherman  marched  down  to  the  sea. 


'  Oh,  proud  was  our  army  that  morning, 

That  stood  where  the  pine  proudly  towers, 
When  Sherman  said, '  Boys,  you  are  weary ; 

This  day  fair  Savannah  is  ours!' 
Then  sang  we  a  song  for  our  chieftain, 

That  echoed  o'er  river  and  lea, 
And  the  stars  in  our  banner  shone  brighter, 

When  Sherman  marched  down  to  the  sea." 


726  IOWA    AND     THE     KEBELLION. 

This  famous  song  was  sung  by  the  whole  army  under  Sherman,  but  not 
until  after  it  had  finally  accomplished  the  march  to  the  sea.  That  march, 
as  has  been  before  noted,  was  begun  near  the  middle  of  November.  It  was 
inaugurated  in  a  singular  manner.  This  was  by  sending  the  sick,  as  well 
as  surplus  stores  and  baggage,  to  Chattanooga.  For  this  purpose  eleven 
large  trains  were  used.  General  Sherman  was  at  Kingston.  Between  that 
point  and  Atlanta,  he  had  directed  the  railway  to  be  destroyed  at  a  certain 
time.  The  time  had  nearly  arrived,  and  the  trains  were  still  below. 
Every  one  knew  that  Sherman's  order  would  have  to  be  obeyed,  let  the 
consequences  be  what  they  might.  The  time  to  begin  the  work  of  destruc 
tion  drew  nigh,  without  sign  of  the  trains.  The  men  began  to  get  ready 
for  their  labors.  A  little  cloud,  no  bigger  than  a  man's  hand,  appeared  in 
the  distance  down  the  road;  then  another,  and  another,  and  another. 
They  approached,  with  fearful  screamings,  and  presently  the  eleven  trains 
swept  rapidly  by,  with  noise  much  greater  than  that  of  a  general  battle, 
for  all  the  engines  whistled  a  parting  salute,  long  continued,  as  they  moved 
on  to  "America."  I  have  heard  the  gallant  and  accomplished  Colonel 
Dayton,  of  General  Sherman's  staff,  say  that  this  grand  farewell  by  steam 
was  one  of  the  sublimest  things  he  ever  witnessed.  The  railway  was  at 
once  destroyed,  and  the  grand  army  on  the  way  to  the  sea.  It  is  well 
known  that  on  this  wonderful  march,  General  Howard,  the  Havelock  of  our 
army,  commanded  the  right  wing,  and  General  Slocum  the  left,  Kilpatrick 
being  in  command  of  the  cavalry ;  that  Sherman  entirely  deceived  the  en 
emy  ;  that  his  success  in  reaching  and  occupying  Savannah,  which  he  gave 
as  a  Christmas  gift  to  the  President,  was  regarded  by  the  people  of  our 
country  with  the  greatest  admiration,  and  won  for  him  the  unmixed  praise 
of  French  and  British  military  writers;  and  that  the  campaign,  to  the 
troops  engaged,  was  one  of  general  enjoyment,  to  which  they  recur  as  to  a 
period  of  pleasure.  Corse's  Division,  in  which  was  the  Thirty-ninth  regi 
ment,  did  about  as  much  fighting  as  any,  and  the  men  thereof  enjoyed 
themselves  quite  as  heartily  as  troops  ever  did. 

The  army  spent  the  holidays,  and  more,  at  Savannah.  There  were  many 
reviews  of  the  troops  in  that  beautiful  city,  and  the  time  of  the  volunteers' 
stay  there  went  happily  by.  Governor  Stone  visited  the  troops  of  Iowa,  at 
this  time,  and  accomplished  great  good  for  them.  There  were  at  Savannah, 
the  Iowa  Second,  Colonel  Howard,  the  Fourth,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Nichols, 
the  Sixth,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Clune,  the  Seventh,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Par- 
rott,  the  Ninth,  Major  Abernethy,  the  Tenth,  Captain  Silsby,  the  Eleventh, 
Lieutenant- Colonel  Beach,  the  Thirteenth,  Colonel  Wilson,  the  Fifteenth, 
Lieutenant- Colonel  Pomutz,  the  Sixteenth,  Captain  Smith,  the  Twenty- 
fifth,  Colonel  Stone,  Twenty-sixth,  Major  Lubbers,  Thirtieth,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Roberts,  Thirty-first,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Jenkins,  and  the  Thirty- 


THIRTY-NINTH     INFANTRY.  727 

ninth,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Griffiths.  The  remnant  of  the  Seventeenth,  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Archer,  arrived  before  the  march  through  the  Carolinaa 
began.  The  State  was  well  represented,  too,  by  general  officers,  and  by 
those  acting  as  such.  Corse,  Belknap,  Vandever,  E.  W.  Rice,  Williamson, 
Wever,  Milo  Smith  were  there,  the  first  in  command  of  a  division,  the 
others  commanding  brigades.  So  the  Governor  not  only  accomplished 
great  good  as  aforesaid,  but  had  a  most  agreeable  visit  with  the  distin 
guished  regiments  and  officers  from  Iowa.4 

General  Sherman's  march  through  the  Carolinas  was  an  astonishing  illus 
tration  of  military  genius — a  finer  triumph  thereof,  I  think,  than  almost 
anything  of  the  war.  The  country  traversed  was  coursed  by  many  rivers 
and  creeks.  No  small  part  of  it  was  Dismal  Swamp,  as  dark,  as  gloomy,  as 
dreary,  as  men  or  fishes  ever  navigated.  It  is  a  historical  fact  that  the 
best  generals  of  the  confederacy  thought  it  utterly  impossible  for  an  army 
to  march  where  Sherman  moved  his  columns  with  seeming  ease,  and  with 
wonderful  celerity.  He  devastated  the  country.  Houses,  barns,  fences 
were  taken  as  of  course,  and  used  in  building  roads  and  bridges.  The 
track  which  Sherman's  army  made  through  South  Carolina  was  a  wide 
ruin.  Throughout  the  whole  campaign,  from  Savannah  to  Goldsboro,  the 
troops  of  Iowa  labored  hard  on  the  march  and  fought  conspicuously  in  the 
skirmishes  and  battles.  One  of  the  finest  illustrations  of  Harper's  Weekly 
was  a  representation  of  General  Clark  R.  Wever' s  Brigade  marching  through 
a  swamp  waist  deep  against  the  enemy.  Colonel  Stone's  Iowa  Brigade  of 
the  Fifteenth  Corps  captured  Savannah,  as  we  have  seen.  Our  army  drank 
terribly  at  Cheraw,  so  that  Iowa  officers  and  men  were  not  there  conspic 
uous,  except  in  smashing  glass-ware.  Elsewhere,  they  maintained  the 
proud  reputation  of  the  State,  and  received  the  high  praises  of  general 
officers  and  of  intelligent  correspondents. 

It  is  well  known  that  General  Sherman's  operations  in  the  Carolinas  met 
with  the  highest  approbation  of  the  country  and  of  criticism,  except  his  famous 
* '  arrangement' '  with  the  rebel  authorities  near  Raleigh.  This  was  a  matter 
of  diplomacy,  and  not  of  war.  It  is-  not  strange,  therefore,  that  herein 
William  T.  Sherman  failed.  Diplomacy,  falsely  called  an  "art,"  for  it  is 

«  The  officers  of  the  Thirty-ninth  regiment  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1865,  were,  as  officially 
stated  by  the  Adjutant-General : 

Lieutenant- Colonel  Joseph  M.  Griffiths  commanding;  Major  George  N.Elliott;  Adjutant  George 
C.  Ticheuor,  (in  fact  serving  on  General  Dodge's  staff,  with  the  rank  of  Major) ;  Surgeon  Peter  N. 
Woods,  Assistants  William  L.  Leonard,  E.  P.  Davis ;  Quartermaster  Frederick  Mott ;  Chaplain  Peter 
T.  Russell. 

Captains— Charles  Van  Gorder,  Isaac  D.  Marsh,  Lloyd  D.  Bennett,  John  N.  Coulter,  Adolphus 
Bradfield,  Charles  A.  Cameron,  Henry  R.  Benjamin,  Robert  C.  Hunter,  William  F.  Bennett;  First 
Lieutenants  Samuel  S.  Guiberson,  (commanding  Company  A),  Franklin  R.  Thurber,  Joseph  W. 
Price,  William  T.  Mathews,  William  Anderson,  Jerry  K.  Wetzel,  Wesley  Wright,  Erastus  Scott, 
Milligan  J.  Cain ;  Second  Lieutenants  Owen  D.  Russell,  Jasper  Carter,  H.  C.  Crawford,  William  C. 
Ghost,  there  being  two  subalterns  iu  Companies  C,  D,  E,  and  G  only. 


728  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

simple  rascality,  originated  in  cowardice,  and  has  been  carried  on  ever  since 
by  falsehood.  God  be  praised  that  Sherman  failed  in  a  matter  where  words 
are  used  to  conceal  ideas.  It  was  because  he  had  no  particle  of  cowardice, 
no  particle  of  falsehood  in  all  his  nature,  that  he  was  overreached  by  the 
diplomatic,  or  in  other  words,  the  villainous  Breckinridge.  The  Secretary 
of  War  condemned  the  arrangement  too  harshly,  and  Halleck,  in  command 
at  Richmond  after  the  fighting  had  all  been  done,  added  insult  to  injury, 
besides  violating  military  law,  by  coarsely  commanding  disobedience  to 
Sherman's  lawful  authority.  Lieutenant-General  Grant  proceeded  in 
person  to  North  Carolina,  in  an  unexceptionable  manner  annulled  the 
arrangement,  and  Johnston  capitulated  to  Sherman,  who  had  done  more  to 
crush  the  rebellion  than  any  other  person,  except,  perhaps,  General  Grant 
himself. 

The  army  marched  with  great  rapidity  from  Raleigh  to  Alexandria,  and 
there  went  into  camp,  in  full  view  of  the  magnificent  dome  of  the  national 
capitol.  It  was  soon  announced  that  there  would  be  a  review  of  all  the 
troops  encamped  near  the  city  of  Washington.  The  announcement  brought 
to  the  capital  large  numbers  of  people.  They  came  from  nearly  every 
northern  State,  so  that  on  the  morning  of  the  first  day's  review  the  city 
was  crowded  with  strangers.  A  booth  had  been  erected  in  front  of  the  Ex 
ecutive  Mansion.  There  was  the  Lieutenant-General,  the  reviewing  officer. 
Near  by  were  the  President,  Andrew  Johnson,  and  the  members  of  his 
cabinet,  among  them  the  honorable  JAMES  HARLAN,  of  Iowa,  who  had 
recently  been  sworn  into  office  as  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  Not  a  few 
representatives  of  foreign  governments  were  present,  whilst  many  Ameri 
cans,  distinguished  in  politics,  in  science,  and  in  literature  beheld  the 
saviours  of  our  country  pass  in  final  review  before  the  Lieutenant-General. 
Among  the  noted  persons  present  were  Honorable  James  F.  Wilson,  and 
William  B.  Allison,  representatives  in  Congress  from  our  first  and  third 
districts.  These,  with  many  other  lowans,  stood  near  the  Treasury  Depart 
ment,  where  there  was  a  vast  concourse  of  citizens,  for  the  grand  display 
on  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  from  this  point  to  the  capitol  (a  distance  of  more 
than  a  mile)  was  in  full  review. 

There  were  no  troops  from  Iowa  in  the  first  day  of  the  review,  but  on  the 
second  day,  the  regiments  which  have  already  been  noted  in  this  chapter  as 
present  at  Savannah  at  the  commencement  of  the  year,  marched  in  the 
column.  Brevet  Major-General  John  M.  Corse  must  have  been  gratified 
with  the  fine  reception  given  him,  as  his  division  wheeled  by  the  grand 
colonnade  of  the  Treasury.  That  of  Brigadier-General  Elliott  W.  Rice, 
commanding  a  brigade  in  the  same  division,  was  no  less  enthusiastic.  Not 
far  apart  in  this  portion  of  the  line  were  the  Second,  Sixth,  Seventh,  Tenth, 
and  Thirty-ninth  regiments.  Their  torn  banners  gave  evidence  of  long 


THIRTY-NINTH     INFANTRY.  729 

service,  and  many  a  bloody  battle.  Belmont,  Donelson,  Champion  Hills, 
Jackson,  Missionary  Ridge,  and  Allatoona  shone  brightly  from  the  honored 
folds,  and  Corse's  Division  passed  by  the  White  House  through  a  grand 
storm  of  cheers.  Stone's  Iowa  Brigade  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps  soon 
marched  up.  Here  were  the  Fourth,  Ninth,  Twenty-fifth,  Twenty-sixth, 
Thirtieth,  and  Thirty-first  regiments,  their  banners  blazing  with  the  names 
of  great  battles  from  Pea  Ridge  to  Bentonsville.  It  was  about  the  largest 
brigade  in  the  whole  column,  and  its  appearance  on  this  great  day  was  un 
surpassed  by  that  of  any  brigade  that  passed  by  the  Executive  Mansion. 
Next  came  the  thinned  and  honored  Seventeenth  regiment,  and  not  far  be 
hind,  the  Iowa  Brigade  commanded  by  the  distinguished  General  W.  W. 
Belknap,  who  inherited  fine  soldierly  talents  from  his  father  and  most 
admirably  improved  them  throughout  the  war.  Here  was  the  Eleventh 
regiment,  then  the  Thirteenth,  the  Fifteenth,  and  the  Sixteenth — men  who 
had  first  met  the  enemy  in  the  forest  by  Shiloh  Church,  and  had  gone 
through  four  years  of  as  gallant  warfare  as  any  troops  who  ever  fought. 
General  Belknap  and  his  command  were  cheered  till  the  echoes  rang  again 
with  huzzas  for  the  Iowa  Brigade.  In  all  the  display,  it  was  only  equaled 
by  Stone's  Iowa  Brigade  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps.  General  Vandever,  who 
has  been  libelled  by  some  penny-a-liners,  but  who  was  nevertheless  one  of 
our  best  officers,  commanded  a  brigade  in  Davis'  Fourteenth  Corps.  He, 
too,  was  heartily  cheered  by  the  lowans  and  the  crowds  generally.  There 
were  no  men  at  Washington  who  felt  prouder  and  better  than  the  citizens 
of  Iowa,  when  the  grand  display  was  over.  They  walked  with  erect  bear 
ing  and  satisfied  air  that  night,  and,  generally,  behaved  very  much  as  the 
men  of  the  "Old  Bay  State"  behaved  the  night  after  Webster  slew  Hayne 
in  the  Senate. 

When  the  troops  of  Iowa  went  into  encampment  near  Washington,  they 
were  visited  by  Mrs.  ANNIE  WITTENMYER,  who  here,  at  the  close  of  the 
war,  closed  her  labors  of  benevolence,  which  had  begun  near  the  commence 
ment  of  hostilities  and  had  never  ceased — labors  which  won  for  her  the 
gratitude  of  countless  thousands  and  the  admiration  of  the  world. 

With  the  great  review  closed,  essentially,  the  marchings  of  the  Iowa 
regiments  in  Sherman's  army.  The  Thirty-ninth  marched  to  a  fine  encamp 
ment  not  many  miles  north  of  the  city,  and  very  soon  began  preparations 
for  muster-out.  These  were  completed  in  due  time,  and  the  regiment 
moved  to  Clinton,  Iowa,  where  it  was  disbanded.  The  men  were  joyously 
received  there,  more  joyously  still  at  Des  Moines,  the  warm-hearted  capital 
of  as  warm-hearted  people  as  benignant  heaven  ever  blessed  the  earth 
withal.  There  were  few  regiments  in  the  service  which  gained  more  con 
spicuous  renown  than  the  Thirty-ninth  Iowa.  It  was  not  engaged  nearly 

92 


730  IOWA    AND     THE     KEBELLION. 

BO  frequently  as  many  of  our  regiments,  but  it  always  behaved  well,  and  at 
the  Pass  of  Allatoona  fought  with  a  bravery  and  tenacity  which  may  chal 
lenge  comparison  with  the  conduct  in  battle  of  any  troops  of  whom  histo 
rians  have  written.  Leonidas  and  Thermopylae  will  be  forgotten  as  soon  as 
Corse  and  Allatoona,  or  the  heroic  REDFIELD  and  the  Thirty-ninth  Iowa 
Volunteers. 


CHAPTER    LII. 

EIGHTH    INFANTRY. 

ORGANIZED  AT  DAVENPORT  IN  THE  SUMMER  OF  1861— CAMPAIGNING  UNDER 
FREMONT— WINTER  QUARTERS— THE  REGIMENT  CAPTURED  AT  SHILOH— REOR 
GANIZATION— SHORT  CAMPAIGN  IN  MISSOURI— VICKSBURG— SERVICES  IN  TENN 
ESSEE—THE  MERIDIAN  EXPEDITION— PROVOST  GUARD  OF  MEMPHIS— DEFENCE 
OF  THE  CITY  AGAINST  FORREST'S  ATTACK— THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  JfO- 
JilLE—TllE  ASSAULT  OF  SPANISH  FORT— THE  COLLAPSE  OF  THE  REBEL 
LION—SUBSEQUENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  REGIMENT. 

THE  Eighth  Iowa  Volunteers  were  recruited  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
summer  of  1861,  under  the  call  of  the  President  which  followed  the  defeat 
of  Bull  Run.  The  regiment  was  composed  of  troops  enrolled  in  the  coun 
ties  of  Clinton,  Scott,  Washington,  Benton,  Linn,  Marion,  Keokuk,  Iowa, 
Mahaska,  Monroe,  and  Louisa,  and  was  organized  in  the  month  of  Septem 
ber  at  Davenport,  where  the  different  companies  entered  the  service  at 
various  times  during  that  month.  Frederick  Steele,  of  the  regular  army, 
since  the  distinguished  major-general  of  volunteers,  was  appointed  colonel. 
James  L.  G-eddes,  a  fighting  Scotchman  who  had  seen  service  abroad,  was 
commissioned  lieutenant-colonel,  and  John  C.  Ferguson,  major.  The  regi 
ment  was  about  nine  hundred  and  twenty  strong  at  the  time  of  organiza 
tion,  when  the  staff  officers  consisted  of  George  H.  McLoughlin,  adjutant; 
William  McCullough,  quartermaster;  James  Irwin,  surgeon;  George  H. 
Noyes,  Prentiss  B.  Clark,  assistants ;  and  Reverend  Cyrus  G.  Van  Der- 
veer,  chaplain.1 

1  The  officers  of  this  regiment,  up  to  January,  1865,  as  shown  by  the  Adjutant-General's  Report, 
were:  Colonels,  Frederick  Steele,  James  L.  Geddes;  Lieutenant-Colonels,  James  L.  Geddes,  John  C. 
Ferguson,  William  B.  Bell ;  Majors,  John  C.  Ferguson,  Joseph  Andrews,  William  Stubbs ;  Adjutants, 
George  H.  McLoughlin,  Samuel  E.  Rankin,  Marion  Campbell ;  Quartermasters,  William  McCullough, 
William  Downard;  Surgeons,  James  Irwin,  A.  W.  Hoffmeister,  Samuel  D.  Cook;  Assistant  Surgeons, 
George  H.  Noyes,  Prentiss  B.  Clark,  A.  W.  Hoffmeister,  Charles  McGovern,  Samuel  D.  Cook,  Isaac 
M.  Houston;  Chaplains,  Cyrus  G.  Vanderveer,  William  Poston.  Captains,  Charles  Steams,  Frank 
A.  Cleaveland,  William  B.  Bell,  James  L.  Geddes,  Andrew  Geddes,  John  L.  McCormick,  Joseph 
Andrews,  William  F.  Hogin,  William  Stubbs,  Frederick  S.  Palmer,  Henry  C.  Markham,  Calvin  Kel- 
»ey,  Henry  H.  Benson,  Henry  Muhs,  James  Moore,  Samuel  E.  Rankin,  David  Ryan,  John  C.  Ken- 
nan,  Charles  Scott,  Jr.,  Charles  S.  Wells,  Charles  P.  Searle,  Lysander  Wicks,  Frederick  P.  Ketten- 

731 


732  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

The  regiment  left  Davenport  for  St.  Louis  very  soon  after  organization, 
and,  being  equipped  for  the  field,  in  about  a  fortnight  moved  to  Syracuse 
where  it  joined  the  forces  under  Fremont,  about  to  march  against  Price's 
rebel  army  in  Southwestern  Missouri.  The  most  of  the  volunteers  who 
made  this  march  were,  like  those  of  the  Eighth  Iowa,  raw  troops,  and  suf 
fered  severely  from  the  forced  marches  over  the  bad  roads.  Almost  every 
camping  ground  became  the  grave-yard  of  soldiers  who  died  from  exhaus 
tion.  The  Eighth  regiment  lost  heavily.  It  returned  to  Sedalia  near  the 
middle  of  November.  From  this  time  till  it  moved  to  join  the  forces  under 
Grant  in  Tennessee,  the  regiment  performed  the  usual  duties  of  troops  in 
"winter  quarters"  in  Missouri,  and  which  were  without  incident  of  import 
ance.  Early  in  February,  1862,  Colonel  Steele  was  appointed  a  brigadier- 
general  of  volunteers.  His  career  in  the  army  as  a  general  officer  is  well 
known.  Some  of  his  campaigns  in  Arkansas  and  his  administration  of 
affairs  at  Little  Rock  have  been  severely  censured,  and  with  justice.  But 
it  is  certain  that  in  the  campaign  of  Vicksburg,  and  also  that  of  Mobile, 
he  did  that  which  was  given  him  to  do — and  in  each  instance  it  was  much — 
with  great  skill  and  success.  He  was  succeeded  in  the  command  of  the 
Eighth  Iowa  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Geddes,  promoted.  Major  Ferguson 
received  the  lieutenant-colonelcy,  and  Captain  Joseph  Andrews  of  Com 
pany  F,  the  majority. 

The  12th  of  March,  the  regiment  embarked  at  St.  Louis  for  Pittsburg 
Landing,  and  arrived  five  days  afterwards,  having  lost  three  men  killed  and 
five  wounded  on  the  voyage  up  the  Tennessee.  The  heroic  part  taken  by 
the  regiment  in  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  April  6th,  has  been  already  described. 
Late  in  the  evening  of  that  bloody  day,  Colonel  Geddes  surrendered  his 
command  to  the  enemy.  He  had  fought  for  ten  consecutive  hours,  the 
regiment  all  the  while  well  in  hand,  all  the  while  presenting  an  unbroken 
front  to  the  enemy,  and  at  last  passing,  in  an  organized  body,  under  the 
yoke  of  captivity,  with  the  heroic  few  who  had  saved  the  army.2 

ring.  Lieutenants,  Henry  Muhs,  II.  Browning,  De  Witt  C.  Stearns,  Spencer  Smith,  Miles  P.  Benton, 
Enos  Tichenor,  Jr.,  F.  P.  Kettenring,  Samuel  E.  Rankin,  Edward  B.  Plumb,  James  C.  Maxwell, 
Alfred  A.  Rodman,  Joseph  A.  Boyer,  George  W.  Marsden,  John  C.  Keenan,  John  W.  McGuire, 
Alexander  Harper,  Jacob  L.  Tinkham,  David  Ryan,  Henry  B.  Cooper,  Alexander  M.  Clark,  Solomon 
E.  Start,  A.  S.  Irwin,  Rufus  H.  Law,  William  F.  Hogin,  John  W.  Ward,  Peter  L.  Eckley,  Charles 
Scott,  Jr.,  William  McCullough,  Dewey  Welch,  Henry  Vineyard,  David  J.  Craigie,  Charles  S.  Wells, 
John  S.  Lytle,  John  G.  Harron,  Charles  P.  Searle,  Andrew  Robb,  George  F.  Dawson,  John  Haver, 
William  T.  Hayes,  John  N.  Beatty,  Samuel  A.  Thompson. 

2  Besides  the  captured,  the  loss  of  the  Eighth  at  Shiloh  in  killed  and  wounded  was  very  severe. 
The  following  list  is  compiled  from  the  Adjutant-General's  Report:  Colonel  James  L.  Geddes, 
Major  Joseph  Andrews,  wounded. 

Company  A — Killed,  Privates  Nelson  Howard,  Augustus  Haun;  Wounded,  Sergeant  John  R. 
McDougall ;  Jerome  Lucas,  Daniel  Welch,  R.  F.  Welker,  A.  J.  Plummer ;  George  Heller,  (died  in 
captivity),  A.  H.  Swearingen. 

Company  B— Killed,  Zalmon  W.  Kelly,  Robert  D.  Moody,  William  Penrose ;  Wounded,  Lieutenant 
Enos  Tichenor ;  Sergeant  John  D.  Tichenor ;  Corporal  John  S.  Christian ;  Privates  Hiram  Barber. 


EIGHTH     INFANTRY.  733 

The  history  of  the  regiment,  during  its  captivity,  was  similar  to  that  of 
the  Twelfth  and  Fourteenth  Infantry,  which  has  been  briefly  related  in  my 
account  of  the  former  regiment.  That  part  of  the  command  not  captured 
went  into  the  "Union  Brigade,"  and  took  part  in  the  further  campaigns  of 
the  summer  and  fall  in  Tennessee  and  Mississippi.  The  command  was 
specially  distinguished  at  the  battle  of  Corinth. 

The  regiment  was  reorganized  at  St.  Louis  early  in  1863,  and  very  shortly 
thereafter  made  a  journey  to  Holla,  but  returned  without  having  seen  the 
enemy.  The  first  week  of  April  had  not  passed,  when  Colonel  Geddes  left 
St.  Louis,  to  join  the  grand  army  under  Grant  in  the  splendid  campaign  of 

Nicholas  Frylinger,  William  H.  Goulder,  Simon  Guttrode,  Whitaker  Jayne,  George  E.  Lacy,  Chris 
tian  Lemberg,  W.  B.  Lockwood,  William  C.  Logan,  L.  J.  McCulloch,  Amos  Merritt,  John  Moody, 
Rudolph  Murray,  William  Platts,  John  A.  Rowan,  A.  H.  Sauerman,  S.  A.  Walker,  Jacob  Walker, 
John  N.  Purcell. 

Company  C— Killed,  James  H.  Yonng.  Wounded,  Sergeant  James  G.  Hight,  (mortally);  Corporal 
Daniel  J^Palmer ;  Privates  James  Marshal,  (mortally) ;  Michael  McLancy,  John  McMurray,  (died 
in  captivity),  David  Parrish,  (mortally),  William  T.  Randall,  Franklin  H.  Smith,  Daniel  W.  Van 
Ormand. 

Company  D— Kitted,  Corporal  Samuel  Smith.  Wounded,  Corporals  Samuel  B.  Jones,  R.  H.  Kirk- 
patrick,  James  Gardner,  (mortally) ;  Privates  L.  M.  Blakely,  Peter  Forshee,  (mortally),  Julius  C. 
Gardner,  Mason  Ogan,  Henry  N.  Thompson,  John  A.  Angle. 

Company  E — Killed,  Corporals  John  H.  Patterson,  Joseph  C.  Finley,  Albert  Groom ;  Privates 
Joseph  Conwell,  Francis  McConnell,  James  Patterson,  Wieger  Vanderkolk,  T.  J.  Woodward. 
Wounded,  Corporals  B.  F.  Wolfe,  Lemuel  Kinkead ;  Privates  Harlan  Allen,  B.  F.  Banta,  Francis  M. 
Boughman,  (mortally),  Melvin  H.  Deem,  Zebina  Fowler,  Thomas  Hughes,  (mortally),  William  Law- 
head,  (died  in  captivity),  Henry  B.  May,  (died  in  captivity),  William  M.  McFarling,  William  Roe 
buck,  William  H.  Wolfe. 

Company  F— Killed,  Captain  William  F.  Hogin ;  Corporal  George  Johnson ;  Privates  Calvin  L. 
Bland,  James  Carlile,  Timothy  Hensley,  Thomas  V.  Lain,  John  D.  Monicall,  William  M.  Torrence. 
Wounded,  Privates  William  H.  Clark,  William  Conger,  Augustus  Crakaal,  (died  in  prison),  B.  F.  Cox, 
Robert  D.  Hagan,  (mortally),  George  W.  Hodson,  William  Kreger,  John  Kelley,  (died  in  prison), 
William  F.  Konkright,  Alvin  T.  Mathews,  (died  in  prison),  Samuel  M.  Shockley,  Benjamin  F.  Ste 
venson,  Adolph  Seibel,  Newton  Sloan,  (died),  Is'aac  M.  Williams. 

Company  G — Killed,  Corporal  William  P.  Bush ;  Private  James  Patterson.  Wounded,  Corporals 
John  Johnson,  (mortally),  Nathaniel  Cloud,  (mortally),  Jonathan  Sprague,  Albert  Stage  (died  in 
captivity) ;  Privates  William  Fitzgerald,  Levi  Gaumer,  Jacob  J.  Harr,  A.  D.  Marvin,  Michael  Ma- 
loney,  (mortally),  George  W.  O'Neil,  Daniel  E.  Talbott,  (died),  H.  B.  Watterville,  Richard  Waltham, 
(mortally). 

Company  H— Killed,  John  Murphy,  Jeremiah  Patrie.  Wounded,  Captain  Frederick  S.  Palmer; 
Lieutenants  David  J.  Craigie,  Charles  S.  Wells ;  Sergeants  II.  W.  H.  Widows,  (died  in  captivity), 
Charles  Blanchard,  Jacob  Fredrick,  (mortally);  Corporals  Jonathan  Platz,  George  McDevitt ;  Pri 
vates  E.  M.  Blizzard,  Jacob  L.  Billings,  Luther  Colvin,  J.  S.  Davis,  Morton  D.  Groves,  Joseph  F. 
Lyon,  Henry  H.  Lower,  Charles  McDevitt,  William  Phillips,  Stephen  D.  Rorer,  William  M.  Wilcox, 
Marion  F.  Crull,  William  Kirkpatrick,  Isaac  Noel,  (mortally),  Isaac  H.  Zane,  L.  Colins,  W.  M.  Wil- 
cup,  J.  Dann. 

Company  I— Killed,  Sergeant  Thomas  R.  Robb ;  Corporal  Henry  C.  Gordon ;  Privates  John  W. 
Badger,  Charles  McClain,  John  Murphey.  Wounded,  Privates  H.  Applegate,  Samuel  R.  Boyce, 
Charles  E.  Fox. 

Company  K— Killed,  Abram  C.  Hunsicker,  John  McQueen,  Abner  W.  Tompkins.  Wounded,  Cap 
tain  Henry  H.  Benson ;  Lieutenant  William  T.  Hayes ;  Corporals  Thomas  Mcllenry,  Robert  Ster- 
rett,  (died),  Samuel  Reynolds,  Edgar  A.  Brass,  Lee  Tharp,  Jesse  F.  Stoneman,  (died),  Michael  Ryan ; 
Privates  John  L.  Guthrie,  (mortally),  Samuel  Hulick,  Francis  A.  Undervent,  John  Story. 

A  number  of  the  wounded  were  also  captured  with  the  regiment.  About  four  hundred,  embrac 
ing  most  of  the  officers  and  men  at  the  time  fit  for  duty,  surrendered  to  the  enemy. 


734  IOWA     AND     THE     REBELLION. 

Yicksburg.  The  regiment,  in  Tuttle's  Division,  took  part  in  the  battle  of 
Jackson,  and  assisted  in  the  destruction  of  rebel  property  which  followed 
the  capture  of  that  city.  It  marched  under  Tuttle  to  Vicksburg,  and  took 
part  in  the  assault  of  the  22d,  in  the  siege  for  more  than  thirty  days,  when 
it  moved  to  the  Big  Black  with  the  army  of  observation.  It  moved  with 
Sherman's  army  against  Jackson,  and  took  a  very  prominent  part  in  the 
pursuit  of  the  rebels  to  Brandon,  in  which  movement  Colonel  Geddes  com 
manded  a  brigade  which  did  good  service  and  good  fighting. 

Returning  to  the  vicinity  of  Vicksburg,  the  regiment  had  a  considerable 
period  of  rest.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Ferguson  here  died  of  disease.  He 
was  an  excellent  man  and  a  fine  officer.  A  Pennsylvanian  by  birth,  he 
came  to  Iowa  several  years  before  the  war,  and,  locating  at  Knoxville, 
earned  an  honest  livelihood  as  a  practical  carpenter.  He  afterwards  studied 
law  with  the  honorable  James  Matthews,  and  was  admitted  to  the  practice 
at  Indianola,  in  1859,  when  he  passed  an  unusually  fine  examination. 
Attorney-General  Rice  was  one  of  the  examining  committee.  Ferguson 
always  behaved  handsomely  in  the  army,  where,  as  well  as  at  home,  his 
death  was  deeply  deplored. 

About  the  middle  of  October,  Colonel  Geddes  moved  with  the  forces 
under  McPherson  to  Brownsville,  but  returned  without  noteworthy  incident. 
Early  in  November  he  moved  to  Memphis,  soon  afterwards  to  La  Grange, 
and  thence  to  Pocahontas  where  he  remained  till  ordered  to  Vicksburg 
again,  to  take  part  in  the  Meridian  Raid.  Very  shortly  after  the  return  of 
the  regiment  to  Vicksburg,  it  went  to  Iowa  on  veteran  furlough,  a  large 
proportion  of  the  command  having  reenlisted.  The  veteran  furlough  hav 
ing  expired,  the  Eighth  proceeded  to  Memphis.  There  it  remained, 
provost  guard  of  the  city  during  the  rest  of  the  year,  and  during  the  first 
two  months  of  1865.  The  most  noted  event  of  this  long  period  of  general 
quiet  was  the  occasion  of  Forrest's  attack  on  the  city,  on  the  21st  of  August. 
That  attack  was  repulsed,  and  Generals  Washburne  and  Hurlbut  saved  from 
capture,  and  the  city  from  sack,  by  Colonel  Geddes  and  his  command.  The 
Iowa  Gray -Beard  regiment,  Colonel  Kincaid,  was  also  honorably  engaged. 
In  this  affair  Lieutenant  A.  S.  Irwin  was  slain,  Captain  C.  P.  Searle,  Lieu 
tenants  J.  A.  Boyer  and  J.  L.  Tinkham  wounded,  and  Lieutenant  John 
Haver  captured.  The  loss  of  the  regiment  was  more  than  forty.3 

The  good  conduct  of  the  regiment  at  Memphis  in  repelling  Forrest  not 
only,  but  at  all  times,  made  it  popular  with  commanding  officers  and  the 
loyal  citizens.  It  was  presented  with  a  fine  stand  of  colors  during  the 

3 The  following  are  the  names  of  the  killed  and  wounded: — Killed,  Lieutenant  A.  S.  Irwin. 

Wounded,  Captain  C.  P.  Searle,  Lieutenant  J.  A.  Boyer,  Lieutenant  J.  L.  Tinkham,  Sergeant  Wil 
liam  Carris,  Corporal  John  P.  Dawson,  Corporal  S.  W.  Thornton,  Corporal  S.  W.  Reynolds ;  Privates 
A.  H.  Lincoln,  A.  J.  McCutcheon,  W.  H.  Pripp,  W.  W.  Bcardsley  (mortally),  J.  M.  York,  Alfred 
Garrett.  Between  twenty-five  and  thirty  were  captured. 


EIGHTH     INFANTRY.  735 

summer,  on  an  occasion  warmly  commemorated  by  the  city  papers.  Colo 
nel  Geddes  received  the  honored  emblem  of  the  Union  in  a  speech  which 
might  serve  as  a  model  of  eloquence  and  of  brevity.  He  is  one  of  the  few 
men  who  can  both  talk  and  fight  admirably. 

Early  in  March,  1865,  the  regiment  moved  to  New  Orleans,  but  stopping 
there  only  a  few  days,  proceeded  by  steamer  "Guiding  Star"  to  Dauphin 
Island,  whence  it  soon  joined  in  the  last  general  campaign  of  the  war, 
namely, 

THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  MOBILE. 

This  campaign,  of  which  the  Wilson  raid  was  an  essential  part,  began 
about  the  20th  of  March,  by  the  cavalry  in  Northern  Alabama,  and  by  the 
forces  immediately  under  the  command  of  Canby  from  Southern  Alabama 
and  Pensacola,  in  Florida.  Generals  Gordon  Granger,  and  A.  J.  Smith, 
commanding  respectively,  the  Thirteenth  and  Sixteenth  Army  Corps, 
marched  up  the  eastern  shore  of  Mobile  Bay,  whilst  General  Steele,  with 
an  independent  column,  marched  from  Pensacola  by  Pollard.  Both 
columns  had  many  difficulties  to  overcome  on  the  march — the  enemy  har 
assing  in  some  force,  and  the  worst  roads,  perhaps,  that  any  troops  ever 
saw.  There  were  Iowa  troops  in  both  columns.  The  march  having  been 
buccessfully  made,  Mobile  was  invested  near  the  close  of  the  month. 

The  defences  of  the  city  were  very  strong,  but  Spanish  Fort  on  our  left 
and  Fort  Blakeley  on  our  right  were  the  works  which  covered  Mobile,  and 
which  it  was  necessary  that  our  troops  should  carry.  They  were  several 
miles  apart,  and  between  were  ordinary  earthworks  and  redoubts,  so  that 
when  the  army  sat  down  in  investment  of  Mobile,  it  was  before  works  well 
nigh  impregnable,  had  they  been  furnished  with  a  sufficient  garrison.  On 
the  27th,  the  Thirteenth  and  Sixteenth  Corps  marched  into  position  in 
investment  of  Spanish  Fort,  Smith  on  the  right  and  Granger  on  the  left. 
Our  lines,  overcoming  great  difficulties — torpedoes,  obstructions  by  wires, 
trees,  ditches,  etc., — were  advanced  steadily,  under  a  constant  fire  from 
many  guns  and  from  musketry.  It  was  like  the  siege  of  Vicksburg.  It  so 
continued,  our  troops  slowly  gaining  ground,  from  day  to  day,  and  from 
night  to  night.  On  the  night  of  April  8th,  an  assault  was  ordered.  Colo 
nel  Geddes  commanding  a  brigade,  moved  against  the  enemy's  works,  from 
north  of  Spanish  Fort,  and  in  a  few  hours,  by  as  fine  and  skilful  a  move 
ment  as  the  war  exhibited,  compelled  the  rebels  to  evacuate  the  fort,  leav 
ing  in  our  possession  a  large  number  of  guns  and  many  prisoners.  The 
Eighth  Iowa  alone  captured  several  hundred  men,  and  the  whole  garrison 
would  doubtless  have  fallen  into  our  hands,  then  and  there,  had  Colonel 
Geddes  not  been  ordered  to  halt  and  intrench. 

Meanwhile  Steele' s  column  had  invested  Blakeley,  on  our  extreme  right. 


736  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

When  news  of  Colonel  Geddes'  fine  achievement  passed  cheeringly  through 
the  army  on  the  morning  of  the  9th,  Steele  moved  in  assault  of  the  strong 
works  before  him.  No  troops  ever  behaved  more  handsomely  than  those 
under  Steele  in  the  assault  of  Blakeley,  and  among  those  none  were  more 
conspicuous  than  those  serving  with  Brigadier-General  C.  C.  Andrews. 
The  march  against  the  works  was  made  by  the  troops  with  the  greatest  en 
thusiasm,  notwithstanding  the  obstructions  which  met  them  at  almost 
every  step,  and  they  swept  into  the  fort  with  cheers  which  made  the  wel 
kin  ring.  Garrison,  guns,  everything,  fell  into  our  possession,  and  Mobile 
became  ours  through  the  splendid  charge  of  Steele  at  Blakeley. 

With  the  admirable  campaign  of  Mobile  by  the  troops  under  Canby,  the 
rebellion  collapsed.  That  campaign  was  of  special  interest  to  Iowa.  Major- 
General  Steele,  the  original  colonel  of  our  Eighth  regiment,  most  justly  won 
the  admiration  of  the  country  for  his  brave,  skilful,  intensely  energetic  con 
duct  throughout  the  campaign.  His  conduct  here,  as  during  the  Vicks- 
burg  campaign,  merited  the  unmixed  respect  of  all  men.  Nor  was  there 
any  staff  officer  in  the  army  who  behaved  more  handsomely  than  his  assist 
ant  adjutant-general,  Captain  John  F.  Lacey,  of  Iowa.  We  had  in  the 
campaign,  the  Eighth,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Bell,  the  Twelfth,  Major  Knee, 
the  Nineteenth,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Bruce,  the  Twentieth,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Leake,  the  Twenty-first,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Van  Anda,  the 
Twenty-third,  Colonel  Glasgow,  the  Twenty-seventh,  Lieutenant- Colonel 
Lake,  the  Twenty-ninth,  Colonel  Benton,  the  Thirty-second;  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Eberhart,  the  Thirty-third,  Colonel  Mackay,  the  Thirty-fourth. 
Colonel  Clark,  and  the  Thirty-fifth,  Colonel  Keeler.  General  Gilbert, 
Colonel  Geddes,  Colonel  Glasgow  commanded  brigades.  No  troops  fought 
more,  worked  more,  or  gained  more  honors  than  those  from  Iowa,  whilst 
it  is  universally  conceded  that  Colonel  Geddes'  assault  of  Spanish  Fort  was 
the  most  gallant  and  brilliant  performance  of  the  campaign ;  and  in  that 
performance  his  own  regiment  took  the  most  prominent  part.  The 
Colonel,  in  his  official  report  of  the  assault,  speaks  in  terms  of  glowing 
praise  of  the  conduct  of  his  command,  and  especially  mentions  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Bell,  and  Lieutenant  Henry  Vineyard,  for  gallantry. 

The  regiment  moved  to  Montgomery  shortly  after  the  fall  of  Mobile,  and 
has  been  serving  in  Alabama  ever  since.  It  will,  doubtless,  soon  be  mus 
tered  out  of  the  service.  When  it  returns  to  Iowa,  it  should  meet  with  a 
rousing  reception,  for  amongst  all  the  survivors  of  the  republic,  no  regiment 
fairly  earned  more  reputation  than  the  Eighth  Iowa  Volunteers. 


CHAPTER   LIIL 

REBEL  PRISONS— CHARITY. 

BRIEF  NOTICE  OF  IOWA  TROOPS  WHO   SUFFERED   REBEL  IMPRISONMENT  —  PUBLIC 
BENEVOLENCE— ORPHANS'  HOME. 

WE  have  seen  in  the  preceding  pages  that  considerable  portions  of  the 
Eighth,  Twelfth,  and  Fourteenth  regiments  were  captured,  after  the  most 
useful  and  persistent  fighting  of  the  day,  at  Shiloh ;  that  the  Sixteenth 
was  nearly  all  surrendered  at  Atlanta;  the  Seventeenth  at  Tilton;  the 
Nineteenth  at  Sterling  Farm ;  the  Thirty-sixth  at  Mark's  Mill.  Many  of 
our  troops  besides,  in  the  many  battles  in  which  our  regiments  fought,  were 
captured.  The  captured  of  the  Eighth,  Twelfth,  and  Fourteenth  regiments 
were  not  compelled  to  suffer  the  hardships  and  indignities  which  character 
ized  the  imprisonment  of  those  taken  later  in  the  war ;  after  the  rebels  had 
reduced  their  cruelties  to  a  degree  which  makes  the  mere  contemplation  of 
them  a  horror.  The  cruelties  of  Andersonville  are  well  known,  but  they 
were  no  more  terrible  than  those  of  the  prison-pen  at  Tyler,  Texas,  where 
our  Nineteenth  and  Thirty-sixth  regiments  suffered  for  many  long  months. 

There  were  many  heroic  escapes  from  rebel  imprisonment,  but  none  more 
remarkable  than  that  of  Lieutenant,  afterwards  Captain,  John  F.  Skelton, 
Seventeenth  Iowa,  from  the  famous  Libbey  prison  of  Richmond.  He  was 
severely  wounded  at  the  storming  of  Jackson,  Mississippi,  June  14th, 
1863.  When  the  city  was  evacuated  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy, 
and  was  carried  to  Libbey,  where  he  suffered  nameless  indignities  and 
cruelties  for  many  months.  By  the  exercise  of  the  finest  strategy,  he 
escaped  in  December,  and  after  incredible  hardships  and  difficulties,  reached 
our  lines  near  Fortress  Monroe,  and  was  most  warmly  received  by  Major- 
General  Butler.  He  was  again  captured  at  Tilton,  in  October,  1864,  but 
he  and  Captain  George  W.  Deal  managed  to  elude  the  guard  and  escape. 
They  went  down  the  Chattahoochee  in  an  old  skiff,  and  reached  one  of  our 
ships  in  Pensacola  Bay.  There  is  no  more  romantic  story  of  the  war  than 
that  of  Captain  Skelton' s  imprisonment  and  escapes,  but  many  other  Iowa 
officers  had  experience  of  a  similar  nature,  and  all  of  them,  as  well  as  all 
of  the  men  captured,  suffered  the  tortures  of  rebel  infliction  with  a  patience 

93  737 


738  IOWA    AND     THE     KEBELLION. 

which  would  have  won  the  admiration  and  the  considerate  care  of  men  not 
wholly  depraved  by  human  slavery  and  by  sin. 

— Having  now  related,  briefly  and  imperfectly  I  must  confess,  the  part 
borne  by  the  troops  of  Iowa  in  the  great  war  for  the  establishment  of  Union 
and  Freedom,  and  noted  the  sufferings  of  many  of  them  who  passed  into 
captivity,  it  will  be  well  to  speak  of  what  the  men  and  women  of  the  State 
did  for  those  troops  in  the  way  of  alleviating  their  sufferings  when  wounded, 
and  providing  for  their  families,  when  those  sufferings  ended  in  death. 

No  single  result  of  the  war  was  more  admirable  than  the  charity  (under 
stood  in  the  noblest  sense  of  the  highest  of  Christian  virtues)  which  accom 
panied  it.  The  "  sanitary  fairs  "  which,  beginning  at  Chicago,  and  followed 
in  all  the  great  cities  of  the  country,  called  forth  the  praises  of  Christiana 
throughout  Christendom,  made  up,  after  all,  but  a  small  part  of  the  benig 
nant  generosity  of  the  American  people.  It  was  easy  to  attend  these  fairs 
and  contribute  to  swell  the  aggregate  of  their  receipts  to  fabulous  amounts. 
This  the  wealthy  and  the  refined  could  do  without  annoyance.  It  was 
harder  to  visit  in  person  the  battle-fields  where  the  saviours  of  the  Republic 
suffered  the  agonies  of  wounds  and  of  death ;  to  care  for  them  in  hospitals 
of  which  those  who  had  official  charge  belonged  to  a  profession  generally 
considered  heartless  and  feelingless.  The  first  step  in  the  way  of  bringing 
about  those  grand  general  results  of  charity  just  noted,  was  this  visiting  of 
battle-fields,  this  care  of  sick  and  wounded  at  hospitals.  Nor  was  it  pos 
sible,  perhaps,  that  these  initiatory  movements  which  brought  about  a 
marked  advance  in  Christian  philanthropy  in  our  country,  placing  its  sublime 
deeds  of  charity  in  bright  contrast  to  those  of  all  other  countries — it  was 
not  possible,  I  say,  that  these  initiatory  movements  could  have  been  made 
save  by  woman  alone.  They  were  above  the  capacity,  the  self-sacrifice,  the 
devotion,  the  moral  courage  of  the  sterner  sex.  The  qualities  which  make 
up  an  admirable  father,  husband,  brother,  are  more  useful  to  the  world  than 
the  qualities  which  make  up  a  great  statesman,  but  they  pale  their  ineffec 
tual  fires  before  the  qualities  which  form  an  admirable  mother,  wife,  sister. 
Wherever  good  is  to  be  done  for  the  sake  of  the  good  the  power  of  woman 
is  supreme.  Men  in  high  station,  as  well  generals  who  conduct  cam 
paigns  as  rulers  who  control  political  affairs,  bow  before  the  majesty  and 
might  of  her  devotion,  and  even  Red  Tape  loosens  its  stout  grasp  at  her 
command.  No  man  of  woman  born  could  have  braved  the  insolence  of 
Halleck,  except  by  braining  him  on  the  spot.  But  women  compelled  him 
to  pursue  better  courses  and  to  put  on  an  appearance  at  least  of  a  knowledge 
of  the  rules  of  gentlemanly  demeanor,  as  well  as  the  adoption  of  ideas  not 
based  upon  the  ground  that  sick  and  wounded  American  soldiers  were  like 
the  mere  brutes  which  perish.  Other  generals,  not  insolent,  but  satisfied 
with  "established  regulations"  (regulations  well  enough  for  an  army  of 


REBEL     PRISONS — CHARITY.  739 

twenty  thousand  but  utterly  inadequate  to  the  wants  of  an  army  becoming 
fifty  times  as  large)  were  likewise  taught  the  same  valuable  lessons.  The 
heroic  conduct  of  Florence  Nightingale  in  the  Crimean  war  has  been  most 
justly  celebrated  in  many  eulogiums  of  oratory,  of  history,  and  of  song,  but 
the  American  war  against  rebellion  produced  many  Florence  Nightingales  ; 
many  who  were  greater  than  she.  If  their  names  shall  not  all  be  blazoned 
on  the  pages  of  history,  the  neglect  will  in  no  degree  militate  against  the 
fact 

Txill  many  a  gem  of  purest  ray  serene, 

The  dark,  unfathomed  caves  of  ocean  bear; 

Full  many  a  flower  is  born  to  blush  unseen, 

And  waste  its  sweetness  on  the  desert  air." 

Every  loyal  State  of  the  Union  had  many  women  who  devoted  much 
time  and  great  labor  toward  relieving  the  wants  of  our  sick  and  wounded 
soldiery.  Miss  Dix,  of  New  York,  sister  to  General  John  A.  Dix,  made 
the  war  a  new  field  for  the  exercise  of  her  broad  philanthropy,  which  had 
for  years  before  been  exercised  in  other  great  and  noble  ways.  Miss  Anna 
Dickenson,  of  Philadelphia,  the  most  eloquent  public  speaker  of  our  coun 
try  except  Wendell  Philips,  was  more  eloquent  upon  this  subject  than  any 
other.  Nearly  every  State  had  one  or  more  women  who  achieved  national 
reputation  by  their  benevolence.  But  I  claim  for  the  State  of  Iowa  the 
honor  of  inaugurating  the  movements  which  at  last  culminated  in  making 
of  the  nation  the  greatest  benevolent  society  which  ever  existed  save  that 
whose  founder  was  God  himself.  Mrs.  Harlan,  wife  of  the  honorable 
James  Harlan,  then  United  States  Senator,  now  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
was  the  first  woman  of  our  country  among  those  moving  in  what  we  call 
the  high  circles  of  society,  and  which  in  a  free  country  should  be  based 
upon  worth  alone,  who  personally  visited  the  army,  and  ministered  to  the 
wants  of  our  suffering  soldiery.  She  visited  the  army  at  Pittsburg  Land 
ing,  and  thousands  of  men  are  alive  to-day,  who  but  for  her  ministering 
visits  to  the  field  of  Shiloh,  but  for  her  energy,  for  her  "  out-ranking  Hal- 
leek,"  might  have  been  rudely  buried  on  that  bloody  field.  She  had  but 
recently  lost  a  lovely,  beautiful  daughter— Jessie  Fre'mont  Harlan— and  it 
seemed  that  the  stream  of  her  wounded  motherly  affections  ran  ever  in 
benignant  care  of  our  troops.  She  at  first  devoted  her  energies  to  caring 
for  the  volunteers  from  our  own  State,  but  afterwards  gave  her  time  and 
labors  to  the  general  cause,  for  the  good  of  which  she  braved  the  storms  of 
ocean,  many  journeys  to  the  army,  many  sneers  of  upstart  officers,  but  lived 
to  see  her  efforts  crowned  with  splendid  success,  and  her  name  blessed  in 
nearly  every  city,  town,  and  hamlet  in  the  land. 

In  many  of  her  visits  to  the  army,  Mrs.  Harlan  was  accompanied  by  Mrs, 
Joseph  T.  Fales,  wife  of  the  first  State  Auditor  of  Iowa,  himself  one  of  our 


740  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

most  earnest  patriots  of  the  democratic  party.  I  believe  that  Mrs.  Fales  is 
entitled  to  the  praise  of  being  the  first  lady  in  the  United  States  to  visit 
the  camps  of  our  soldiery  and  minister  to  the  wants  of  the  sick.  I  per 
sonally  saw  her  on  one  of  those  visits  early  in  June,  1861,  near  the  city  of 
Washington,  where  her  husband  has  an  honorable  position  in  the  govern 
ment.  She  has  been  constant,  earnest  ever  since,  and  after  the  close  of  the 
war  her  irrepressible  benevolence  has  continued  in  behalf  of  the  oppressed 
and  despised  blacks — oppressed  and  despised  by  those  only  who  see  not  the 
difference  between  a  mere  fact  and  a  right,  and  continue  to  keep  true  the 
assertion  of  the  poet  that  man's  inhumanity  to  man  makes  countless 
thousands  mourn. 

But  it  would  require  a  volume  to  print  even  the  names  of  the  noble 
women  of  Iowa  who  devoted  their  time  to  the  care  of  the  soldiery.  Every 
county,  every  city,  every  town,  every  neighborhood  in  the  State  had  these 
true  heroines,  whose  praises  can  never  be  fully  known  till  the  final  render 
ing  of  all  accounts  of  deeds  done  in  the  body.  The  contributions  of  the 
State  to  "  Sanitary  Fairs "  during  the  war  were  enormous,  amounting  to 
many  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Highly  successful  fairs  were  held  at 
Dubuque,  Muscatine,  Burlington,  and  Marshalltown,  whilst  all  the  towns 
contributed  most  generously  to  fairs  of  a  less  general  nature. 

But  the  greatest  achievement  of  charity,  of  Christian  benevolence,  of 
which  any  State  can  boast,  is  the  Iowa  Soldiers'  Orphans  Home.  In 
response  to  my  inquiries,  I  received  from  one  of  our  editors  the  following 
account  of  this  institution : 

' '  This  is  an  institution  of  peculiar  character,  and  of  wider  compass  than 
any  similar  work  of  which  there  is  any  account  given  in  history ;  for  it  con 
templates  in  its  organization  all  that  is  embraced  in  the  name  'Home,' 
and  the  system  of  common  schools,  with  the  design  of  reaching  the  grade 
of  an  academy  of  learning,  and  also  the  practical  advantages  of  an  agricul 
tural  college.  In  this,  Iowa  has  taken  an  early  and  bold  step,  and  has 
already  gained  the  demonstration  of  a  grand  success.  Some  of  the  greatest 
minds  and  best  people  of  the  State,  anticipated,  as  early  as  December,  1863, 
the  disastrous  results  of  bereavements  certain  to  be  caused  by  the  war,  and 
at  that  time  associated  themselves  in  a  body  corporate  for  the  purpose  of 
meeting  the  coming  calamity,  by  that  high  duty  which  is  enjoined  in  being 
a  'father  to  the  fatherless,  and  causing  the  widow's  heart  to  sing  for  joy.' 
These  persons  were  thirty-one  in  number,  and  their  names  as  follows: 
Caleb  Baldwin,  George  Gr.  Wright,  Ralph  P.  Lowe,  Samuel  J.  Kirkwood, 
William  M.  Stone,  J.  W.  Cattell,  N.  H.  Brainard,  C.  C.  Cole,  Oran 
Faville,  John  R.  Needham,  S.  S.  Deming,  Mrs.  Hancock,  Mrs.  New- 
comb,  Isaac  Pendleton,  Mrs.  L.  B.  Stephens,  James  Gr.  Day,  Mrs.  S.  Bagg, 
Mrs.  Cadle,  H.  C.  Henderson,  Mrs.  Andrews,  Mrs.  Crandall,  Mrs.  C.  B. 


SOLDIERS'   ORPHANS    HOME.  741 

Darwin,  E.  H.  Williams,  J.  B.  Howell,  Mrs.  Shields,  Mrs.  Annie  Witten- 
myer,  Miss  Mary  Kibben,  Miss  Mary  E.  Shelton,  Elijah  Sells,  Doctor 
Horton,  and  C.  Dunham.  One  vice-president  and  two  trustees  were 
chosen  from  each  of  the  six  Congressional  Districts  in  the  State,  and  were 
all  included  in  the  names  of  the  corporators  given  above,  except  one  of  the 
vice-presidents,  Mrs.  G.  G.  Wright,  and  one  trustee,  Professor  T.  S. 
Parvin. 

"The  present  officers  of  the  association  are — Honorable  C.  C.  Cole, 
President;  Vice-Presidents — Honorable  R.  P.  Lowe,  Honorable  J.  A. 
Parvin,  General  William  Vandever,  Mrs.  J.  Meyer,  Honorable  J.  W.  Cattell, 
P.  Melendy,  Esq. ;  the  Trustees — Mrs.  C.  B.  Darwin,  Mrs.  Annie  Witten- 
myer,  Honorable  Hiram  Price,  Mrs.  L.  B.  Stephens,  Honorable  J.  A. 
Elliott,  Reverend  Z.  B.  Scoby,  Honorable  J.  R.  Needham,  Mrs.  N.  H. 
Brainard,  Honorable  James  Wright,  General  T.  H.  Benton,  G.  M.  Wood- 
bury,  Esq. ,  and  Honorable  Isaac  Pendleton ;  Treasurer — B.  F.  Allen,  Esq. ; 
Miss  Mary  Kibben,  Recording  Secretary ;  and  P.  P.  Ingalls,  Corresponding 
Secretary  and  General  Agent. 

' '  In  the  origin  and  general  success  of  this  enterprise,  the  greater  credit 
is  due  the  women  of  Iowa.  The  first  mention  of  this  contemplated  effort 
to  any  considerable  number,  was  made  in  a  convention  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty-eight  ladies,  which  was  called  by  the  Soldiers'  Aid  Societies, 
and  held  at  Muscatine,  in  October,  1863.  One  of  their  number,  Mrs. 
Annie  Wittenmyer,  secured  the  association  of  names  in  the  incorporation, 
which  was  really  the  key  to  the  rise  and  progress  of  this  great  work.  But 
in  their  efforts  throughout  the  State,  by  aid  societies,  committees,  and  as 
individuals,  it  is  impossible  to  give  due  credit  distinctively. 

"The  influence  of  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  and 
their  devotion  to  this  cause,  has  been  a  consideration  of  great  potency  in  its 
becoming  the  pride  and  glory  of  our  noble  Iowa.  Their  counsel  has  been 
indispensable  from  the  beginning.  They  have  held  meetings  and  made 
addresses  to  the  people.  Judge  Cole  has  given  to  it  much  time,  thought, 
and  effort.  He  came  to  the  presidency  of  the  association  at  a  time,  and 
filled  the  office  in  a  period,  embracing  the  practical  organization  of  the 
'Home,'  the  inaugurating  of  a  system  of  management,  defining  the  dis 
tinctive  duties  of  the  officers  and  employe's,  and  instituting  plans  which 
shall  govern  the  education,  industry,  and  health  of  the  children.  For 
ability,  and  for  zeal  and  energy  in  this  important  position,  his  superior  and 
probably  his  equal,  could  not  be  found. 

"The  Christian  ministry  constituted  a  leading  influence  in  establishing 
this  enterprise  and  giving  it  high  position  and  character. 

"Representative  men  and  women  of  all  classes  of  worthy  society  have 
led  in  efforts  for  this  cause  in  the  various  localities.  The  work  is  eminently 


742  IOWA    AND     THE     REBELLION. 

characteristic  of  Iowa.  Her  best  citizens  were  largely  in  the  army.  In 
the  annals  of  the  war  she  has  made  one  of  the  brightest  pages.  For  the 
purity  and  permanency  of  the  Government  the  position  of  Iowa  is  the 
highest  attainable  among  the  States.  How  clear  the  sequence  then  from 
her  real  character  to  this  holy  work  for  orphan  children.  Her  own  warm 
pulse  beats  to  its  sacredness,  and  her  great  heart  responds  to  all  of  its  de 
mands.  There  never  has  been  any  one  work  in  the  State  that  has  convened 
so  many  people  in  large  and  enthusiastic  assemblies,  filled  so  many  churches 
and  halls,  thrilled  so  many  hearts,  awakened  so  much  emotion,  suffused  with 
tears  so  many  eyes,  commanded  such  great  liberality,  elicited  so  many 
prayers,  prompted  so  many  praises,  or  enlisted  so  many  great  minds  as  the 
'  Soldiers'  Orphans  Home. ' 

t(But  the  action  of  the  Iowa  Army  is  most  worthy  to  be  mentioned  and 
had  in  remembrance.  The  magnanimity  and  benevolence  of  our  soldiers 
afford  a  new  sight  to  the  world,  showing  that  more  men  of  high  moral  and 
intellectual  worth  were  associated  in  our  regiments  than  ever  met  in  an  army 
before.  Their  approval  and  influence  were  sought  by  the  association,  which 
they  gave ;  and  by  their  own  promptings  contributed  the  astonishing  sum 
of  $45,226  62.  The  association  has  sustained  the  'Home'  for  eighteen 
months  with  great  success,  having  at  this  time  four  hundred  children,  and 
providing  in  expectation  of  more  than  twice  that  number.  The  citizens  be 
stow  great  attention  upon  them,  and  award  them  a  position  of  credit  and 
honor.  The  grounds  and  buildings  now  occupied  are  valued  at  $60,000, 
while  there  is  an  equal  amount  in  the  treasury,  and  a  large  outstanding 
subscription.  And  while  the  enterprise  is  yet  young,  the  work,  as  already 
established  and  proven,  enables  Iowa  to  challenge  the  world  and  all  history 
her  sister  States  and  all  Christendom,  to  produce  a  similar  institution,  s<_ 
built  on  solemn  obligation  and  pure  justice,  so  raised  up  by  intelligence  and 
heart,  and  coming  so  near  the  mind  and  commands  of  God  as  the  '  Home ' 
for  the  orphan  children  of  her  brave  and  noble  dead. 

' '  To  the  fidelity,  energy  and  ability  of  Reverend  Pearl  P.  Ingalls,  th( 
General  Agent  of  the  Association,  the  great  success  it  has  attained,  i& 
largely  attributable.  Himself,  fully  comprehending  the  magnitude,  the 
patriotism  and  the  holiness  of  the  cause,  with  his  large  heart  and  remark 
able  powers  as  a  speaker,  he  entered  upon  the  work  with  a  purity  and  zeal, 
equalled  only  by  the  ready  comprehension  and  generous  response  of  the 
soldiers  and  people  to  his  appeals.  His  name  and  memory  will  be  grate 
fully  cherished  by  every  soldier's  widow  and  orphan  in  Iowa. 

' '  The  '  Home '  is  most  fortunate  in  its  location  at  Davenport  and  Cedar 
Falls.  At  the  first-named  place  it  is  in  possession  of  government  buildings 
which  have  been  remodeled  and  are  found  to  be  admirably  adapted  to  this 
purpose.  The  grounds  are  high  and  rolling,  with  beautiful  groves  of 


SOLDIERS'  ORPHANS  HOME.  743 

thrifty  oaks.  The  citizens  of  Davenport  and  Scott  county  are  already 
proven  to  be  among  the  best  possible  for  the  associations  of  the  home.  In 
gifts  they  have  been  liberal,  individual  subscriptions  in  the  city  reaching 
live  hundred  dollars.  In  attention  to  the  children  there  is  every  influence 
of  the  cordial,  and  the  elevating  to  character.  This  home  now  contains 
over  three  hundred  children,  and  can  be  made  to  accommodate  a  thousand. 
The  people  of  the  north  of  Iowa  are  making  available  for  the  home  at 
Cedar  Falls  all  that  enterprise  and  energy  of  character,  so  characteristic  of 
them,  can  do.  The  citizens  of  that  place  prepared  the  building,  and  are 
now  succeeding  in  making  this  'Home '  a  model  for  all  such  institutions." 

Colonel  Thomas  H.  Benton,  Jr. ,  of  the  Twenty-ninth  regiment,  summed 
up  the  fine  conduct  of  our  people,  as  shown  especially  by  the  establishment 
of  the  Soldiers'  Orphans  Home,  in  as  apt  an  expression  as  was  ever  made. 
The  State  of  Iowa,  said  he,  has  shown  itself  to  be  "A  FATHER  IN  JUSTICE, 


THE   END. 


RETURN  CIRCULATION  DEPARTMENT 

">  Main  Librar  649 


SENT  ON  ILL 


^.BERKELEY 


.General  Library 
Uoivers^CalifJrnia 


3^C£ 


